Phil Niekro (born April 1, 1939, Blaine, Ohio, U.S.—died December 26, 2020) was arguably the greatest knuckleball pitcher in the history of Major League Baseball (MLB). He employed the pitch—which has become a rarity and is difficult to master but is less taxing on a pitcher’s arm than other pitches—in a 24-year MLB career that took him to the All-Star Games five times and landed him in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Pitching mostly for the Atlanta Braves, he recorded a career total of 318 wins and threw 5,404 innings, the fourth highest total in MLB history.