![Joe Niekro, 61, a Master of the Knuckleball, Is Dead - The New York Times](https://www.si.com/.image/ar_1:1%2Cc_fill%2Ccs_srgb%2Cfl_progressive%2Cq_auto:good%2Cw_1200/MTc3ODEzMjY0NzIwMjA5NTEy/phil-niekro.jpg)
Phil Niekro, knuckleball specialist, dies at 81 - Sports Illustrated
![Joe Niekro, 61, a Master of the Knuckleball, Is Dead - The New York Times](https://www.si.com/.image/ar_4:3%2Cc_fill%2Ccs_srgb%2Cfl_progressive%2Cq_auto:good%2Cw_1200/MTc3ODEzMjY0NzIwMjA5NTEy/phil-niekro.jpg)
Phil Niekro, knuckleball specialist, dies at 81 - Sports Illustrated
![Joe Niekro, 61, a Master of the Knuckleball, Is Dead - The New York Times](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/gl8Kyy6Rtlw/maxresdefault.jpg)
Remembering Phil Niekro, King of the Knuckleballers (1939-2020)
![Joe Niekro, 61, a Master of the Knuckleball, Is Dead - The New York Times](https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/sharonherald.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/0/14/0144218a-48b6-11eb-8bd8-671cd3b00130/5fe945e69d982.image.jpg?resize=409%2C500)
Baseball Hall-of-Famer, knuckleballer Phil Niekro dies at 81, Sports
![Joe Niekro, 61, a Master of the Knuckleball, Is Dead - The New York Times](https://img.mlbstatic.com/mlb-images/image/private/t_16x9/t_w1024/mlb/lv10wa4eecltfkyajkta)
Ranking the best Cy Young Award winners
![Joe Niekro, 61, a Master of the Knuckleball, Is Dead - The New York Times](https://media.tegna-media.com/assets/WOI/images/c0fb9bc5-dae5-4da9-b736-c5e1fb95525c/c0fb9bc5-dae5-4da9-b736-c5e1fb95525c_1140x641.jpg)
Baseball great Phil Niekro dies of cancer at 81
![Joe Niekro, 61, a Master of the Knuckleball, Is Dead - The New York Times](https://img.mlbstatic.com/mlb-images/image/private/t_16x9/t_w1024/mlb/aeh8veflnaexuzlm4zzl)
Ranking the best Cy Young Award winners
![Joe Niekro, 61, a Master of the Knuckleball, Is Dead - The New York Times](https://qph.cf2.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-3c1b2c53da54a81b9da722efa5e73229-lq)
Why are there no knuckleballers in professional baseball anymore? Is it a physiological issue, the difficulty catching a knuckleballer, or something else? - Quora
![Joe Niekro, 61, a Master of the Knuckleball, Is Dead - The New York Times](https://img.mlbstatic.com/mlb-images/image/private/ar_16:9,g_auto,q_auto:good,w_1280,c_fill,f_jpg,dpr_2.0/mlb/d7lzoabymeuk8tx03xcl)
Remembering Phil Niekro, King of the Knuckleballers (1939-2020)
![Joe Niekro, 61, a Master of the Knuckleball, Is Dead - The New York Times](https://qph.cf2.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-05a1fd625ea36e1a8b7698199f173222-pjlq)
Why are there no knuckleballers in professional baseball anymore? Is it a physiological issue, the difficulty catching a knuckleballer, or something else? - Quora