Legendary knuckler Niekro is dead at 81

Phil Niekro threw a pitch that baffled hitters and catchers.

But the knuckleball carried Niekro to more than 300 wins, earned him a spot in the Baseball Hall of Fame and left him with a nickname that stuck for the rest of his life.

Knucksie.

The longtime stalwart of the Atlanta Braves rotation died after a long fight with cancer, the team announced Sunday. He was 81.

The Braves said Niekro died Saturday night in his sleep. He lived in the Atlanta suburb of Flowery Branch, where a main thoroughfare bears his name.

Niekro won 318 games over his 24-year career, which ended in 1987 at age 48 after he made one final start with the Braves. The righthander was a five-time AllStar who had three 20-win seasons with Atlanta. Niekro finished with a career record of 318-274 and a 3.35 ERA. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1997.

Niekro also pitched for the New York Yankees, Cleveland Indians and Toronto Blue Jays late in his career. He had 121 wins after his 40th birthday.

A statue of Niekro delivering his trademark pitch is outside of Truist Park, the Braves’ stadium.

Niekro joined Lou Brock, Whitey Ford, Bob Gibson, Al Kaline, Joe Morgan and Tom Seaver as Hall of Famers who died in 2020 — the most ever to pass away in a calendar year, according to spokesman Jon Shestakofsky.

Padres finalizing deal for Snell: The San Diego Padres are close to finalizing a deal to acquire starting pitcher Blake Snell from the Tampa Bay in exchange for Luis Patino, Francisco Meja, Cole Wilcox and Blake Hunt. Multiple sources confirmed the deal.

Snell, 28, won the American Cy Young award in 2018.