More than...

The Prodigal Beat Writer has this column on Phil Niekro, our Hall of Fame visitor to the ballpark last night.

"When I thought of the Hall of Fame, I always thought Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig and Ty Cobb and all those guys that played way back," Niekro said. "And then you get in there with that group and you say to yourself, 'What the hell am I doing here? I'm not as good as these guys are. These are the greatest players in the game.'

"And then you get on that stage up there, and they give you that induction plaque. And you turn around and there's Whitey Ford and Yogi Berra and (Al) Kaline and (Harmon) Killebrew and Brooks Robinson and Tom Seaver and Steve Carlton. And you say, 'Well, I played with these guys — hell, I didn't know I was that good.' It's probably the greatest compliment a player can have in his career."

Lots of good stuff over that covers the career of Niekro to show that he was more than a guy who just threw a knuckler.

There is this keeper from Niekro's 300th win:

Finally, did you know Niekro, then donning Yankees pinstripes, won his 300th without throwing his patented knuckler until the final batter he faced? He was 46 years old at the time. And he fanned the guy.

"(Toronto) beat us and clinched the (division) pennant, and I think they were so 'champagned-out', I don't think they knew who was pitching, who they were playing against or what I was throwing up there," he said with a laugh.

Thanks for coming out to the game last night.