RIP Phil Niekro

Phil Niekro pitched for 24 seasons in Major League Baseball, spending 20 of those seasons with the Braves, both in Milwaukee and Atlanta. Niekro’s 318 career victories are the most by a knuckleball pitcher and rank 16th on MLB’s all-time wins list. He won the NL Gold Glove Award five times, was selected for five All-Star teams, and led the league in victories twice and in ERA once.

Niekro also earned the Lou Gehrig Award, the Roberto Clemente Award, and the Brian Piccolo Award for his humanitarian service off the field. He also served on the Hall of Fame’s Board of Directors since 2009. Niekro was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1997.

Phil Niekro died December 26, 2020 after a battle with cancer. He was 81 years old.

phil_niekro - wikipedia
Wikipedia

Quote of the day

I didn’t understand anything about playing baseball. I started playing, and it was enjoyable. Most of my life, I played with older people on my team, in my league. I learned a lot about life. Every day in my life, I learned something new from somebody.

~Ernie Banks

ernie banks
Chicago Mayor’s Office

Three is a snowball

Growing up, my brothers and I used to do that thing that I think all kids do: hitting a snowball with a baseball bat just to see it explode. I don’t recall that we ever tried pitching a snowball, though. There would definitely have to be rules against iceballs and packing those damned rocks inside, for certain.

charlie brown baseball snow

Infographic: World Series Fun Facts

I’m not sure when this infographic was created, but it has a lot of fun information on it. It’s at least as recent as 2005, as it references the White Sox-Astros Series that year.

Edit: A friend pointed out the graphic must have been created in 2012, since it mentions it had been 104 years since the Cubs last won the Series.

infographic World Series fun facts

This day in baseball: Umpire vision requirements are instituted

During a session held on December 15, 1910 at the Hotel Breslin in New York, National League president Tom Lynch announced to owners that umpires would be required to take what he called a “severe” eye test before the start of the season. As a result of the decree, any arbitrator found to have defective eyesight would not be permitted to work.

To this day, MLB umpires are required to demonstrate 20/20 vision, either with or without corrective lenses.

See the source image

Quote of the day

I’m thankful God has given us the technology where we can see each other through Skype on the computer. It’s not the same thing, but at least we can see each other. Imagine the time before when that wasn’t available and people had to go defend our country. It’s really hard. I go two weeks without seeing my family and I go crazy.

~Albert Pujols

Albert Pujols, Tom Hallion
Albert Pujols in 2019 (Wikipedia)