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While this has been mention elsewhere totally out of topic, I'll place this here where other HoFers that past have.
Niekro was age 81 and died of cancer.
Don't let his number of losses fool you. Atlanta was not good early in his career.
Niekro won 318 games and had a lifetime ERA of 3.35. Great for anyone pitching 5404 innings of which only 3 others have done in major league history and no one after the end of the "deadball" era.
Pitched 24 seasons and retired at age 48. 19 of those seasons, he pitched over 200+ innings, including 4 seasons over 300 innings. He did all but 140 innings after age 28.
He had 3342 strikeouts which is 11th in MLB history. He won 5 Gold Glove Awards.
I didn't check this, but I believe only 5 other HoF pitchers had a better WAR than Niekro.
He was the 7th HoF to pass this year.
Niekro was age 81 and died of cancer.
Don't let his number of losses fool you. Atlanta was not good early in his career.
Niekro won 318 games and had a lifetime ERA of 3.35. Great for anyone pitching 5404 innings of which only 3 others have done in major league history and no one after the end of the "deadball" era.
Pitched 24 seasons and retired at age 48. 19 of those seasons, he pitched over 200+ innings, including 4 seasons over 300 innings. He did all but 140 innings after age 28.
He had 3342 strikeouts which is 11th in MLB history. He won 5 Gold Glove Awards.
I didn't check this, but I believe only 5 other HoF pitchers had a better WAR than Niekro.
He was the 7th HoF to pass this year.