October 6, 1985, the final game of the season between the New York Yankees and the Toronto Blue Jays.

At that time, Phil Niekro of the New York Yankees took the mound as the starting pitcher. He had reached 299 wins by the end of the season but had failed to secure his 300th win in four consecutive starts.
 

To make matters worse, he had to forgo the remaining games due to his father's critical illness.

As everyone was about to give up on his 300th win, Phil's father requested that he take the mound and win the season's final game. The day before the game, in an interview with reporters, Phil made a shocking statement.

"I won't throw a knuckleball until I face the last batter of the game."
- Phil Niekro, pre-game interview

Baseball fans consider three pitches in Major League Baseball to be virtually unhittable.

Greg Maddux's 「Two-Seam Fastball」, Mariano Rivera's 「Cut Fastball」, and Phil Niekro's 「Knuckleball」*.

*Knuckleball: Unlike other pitches that are thrown with a spin created by the fingertips, the knuckleball is thrown by pushing with the knuckles, hence its name. This pitch has minimal rotation, resulting in unpredictable and erratic movement.

Phil Niekro's knuckleball, often referred to as a *magic pitch, was the only pitch he could throw early in his career.

Due to his impoverished background, he never received formal baseball training. He learned to throw a knuckleball from his father, who was a coal miner, just for fun. With that one pitch, he joined a professional team. Later, under the guidance of Atlanta Braves manager Paul Richards, he perfected his knuckleball technique, becoming a Major Leaguer and achieving 262 wins with the Braves, establishing himself as the team's ace.

*Magic pitch: A breaking ball with such unrealistic movement that it is very difficult for a batter to hit.

"The ball seemed to be laughing at me as it passed by."

- Rick Monday, Dodgers outfielder who played during the same era as Phil Niekro

However, at the same time, he could not escape criticism as a "one-tool pitcher" or "a pitcher who can't do anything without a knuckleball." At his father's earnest request, Phil Niekro took the mound for the final game of the season, determined to prove that his success wasn't solely due to his knuckleball.

In a pre-game interview, he declared that he wouldn't throw a knuckleball during his 300th win game, and indeed, he didn't throw a single knuckleball while recording 26 outs* until 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th inning.

*Baseball consists of a total of 27 outs (3 outs per inning, across 9 innings).

Finally, with two outs in the bottom of the 9th inning, the count on the last batter, Jeff Burroughs, was 1-2. Niekro struck him out with his signature knuckleball to end the game. He pitched a complete game shutout*, allowing no runs through all nine innings.

*Complete game shutout: When a pitcher throws all nine innings without allowing any runs and wins the game.

With this game, Phil Niekro became the oldest pitcher to achieve a complete game shutout at the age of 46. He also became the 18th pitcher in Major League Baseball history to reach 300 wins and the 10th pitcher to achieve both 300 wins and 3,000 strikeouts.

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