Phil Niekro, at the age of 46 years, six months and five days, became the oldest pitcher to win his 300th Major League game.
The win came at the expense of the Toronto Blue Jays, in Toronto, on October 6, 1985.
Niekro didn’t exactly limp to his milestone win. He blew the Jays away on a 4-hit complete game shutout, and led the Yankees to an 8-0 win. Famous for his knuckle-ball, Niekro stifled Toronto with a full repertoire of pitches.
Twenty-one years and 299 victories into his career, Phil Niekro decided to prove he was more than just a knuckleball pitcher.
And for 26 outs Sunday, on his way to an 8-0 victory over Toronto, Phil Niekro, the knuckleballer, simply became Phil Niekro the pitcher. He threw curveballs, slip pitches, fastballs and screwballs. And for 8 innings, the Blue Jays could not touch him.
Then, on the threshold of the milestone only 18 other pitchers have achieved, sentiment took over, and the need to prove that he could win without the knuckler lost out.
“As hard as it may seem, I threw three knuckleballs, and that’s when Jeff Burroughs (the final batter) came up to the plate,” Phil Niekro said. “I figured if there’s anyway I’m going to win my 300th game by striking the guy out, I was going to do it with the pitch that won the first game for me.” Read more LA Times
He wasn’t finished yet.
Niekro’s 300th win, which came on the last day of the 1985, was far from his swan song. He won 18 more games before retiring in 1987 with a record of 318 wins against 274 losses.
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