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The words Niekro, knuckleball and Braves are closely linked in baseball history. Phil Niekro pitched for the franchise for more than 20 years, going with them from Milwaukee to Atlanta. He won a ton of games and embarrassed a ton of hitters along the way and wound up in the Hall of Fame. His brother Joe played a couple of years with the team as well in the middle of a journeyman career and shared the family's signature pitch, if not Phil's success. Now a third Niekro is trying to flutter his way into the franchise's heart. Lance Niekro, Joe's son, had 499 mostly unsuccessful at-bats with the Giants as a first baseman from 2003-2007. He learned the family secret from his father in his teens and the Braves called him when he was a free agent last year to see if he wanted to make the transition. He wasn't ready to do it then, but now he's signed a minor-league deal and will try to make it back to the bigs as a pitcher.
You should root for him. With all the advances that baseball has made over time, there's still nothing that's made it easier for a hitter to deal with a well-thrown knuckler. Every one that flutters toward the plate has baseball tradition riding with it, low-tech and ancient baseball history that makes powerful hitters look like little leaguers.
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