Seven Gone

 

(Photo: Getty Images)

Phil Niekro died overnight.

Niekro -- "Knucksie" -- was known for exactly that: a knuckleball.

He threw a ton of them, except for his 300th win in 1985 (with the Yankees against the Blue Jays), when he supposedly didn't rely on it as much.

He won 32 games with the Yankees in 1985 and 1986 before heading to Cleveland in 1987. He started 1988 with the Indians before heading to Toronto and finally back to the Braves, where it all began. 

He was initially with the Milwaukee Braves for cups of coffee in 1964-1965. He finally began to find himself as the Braves relocated to Atlanta after the '65 season. He went on to win 268 games for the Braves.

This has been an awful year for the deaths of Hall of Famers.

Indeed, the MLB Network was in the middle of running highlights of the 1968 World Series (Tigers/Cardinals) when the news of Knucksie's death broke. For what it's worth, Niekro went 14-12 with a 2.59 ERA in '68. Following that show, they started a program called "Icons Lost" about -- yes -- the death of six Hall of Famers.

They soon broke in to officially add Niekro's name to this sad roll of honor.

So now the number of Hall of Famers to die in 2020 is seven.

- Phil Niekro
- Tom Seaver
- Lou Brock
- Joe Morgan
- Al Kaline
- Bob Gibson
- Whitey Ford

What's more glaring for guys like me is that we're getting into my contemporaries. I'm old enough to vaguely remember Kaline and Gibson and very much remember Niekro, Seaver, Brock, and Morgan.

I didn't see Whitey Ford pitch.

For the most part, these aren't the guys of a prior lifetime. There's always that hint of mortality when this happens.

I remember Niekro's 300th. The same with Seaver. I remember Joe Morgan with the Big Red Machine. I watched Lou Brock with the Cardinals.

Plus the pieces of Gibson and Kaline and many an Old Timer's Day with Whitey.

Great legends, all of them.

I see many posts on who does and who doesn't belong in the Hall of Fame. I generally feel like they're composed by people who don't really get it or are simply hung up on numbers. These seven shouldn't even be a question. Niekro pitched on a lot of bad teams while the others had certain levels of magic with the groups they played with.

Hall of Famers. No question

We can't take the plaque away. Debate them all you want but it's not coming down. You -- sitting behind your keyboard -- have no say. 

So let's just honor these seven individuals who pleased millions of fans for so many years.

Let's remember them. There's not a bad person in that bunch.

Rest in peace, legends.