Joe Niekro
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Joe Niekro autograph on a 1981 Fleer baseball card - 1981 Series, #54 |
Joseph Franklin Niekro (born
November 7,
1944 in
Martins Ferry, Ohio) was a
Major League Baseball player, brother of
Hall of Famer Phil Niekro, and father of current player
Lance Niekro.
Niekro, like his brother, specialized in throwing the
knuckleball, and his 221 career victories make him one of the most successful knuckleball pitchers of all time. The Niekro brothers combined for 539 total wins, making them the most successful brother combination in baseball history.
Joe Niekro was much more traveled than his brother, pitching for the
Chicago Cubs,
San Diego Padres and
Detroit Tigers with only occasional success before joining Phil with the
Atlanta Braves in
1973. Initially a fastball/curveball pitcher, Joe perfected his knuckleball while pitching for Atlanta alongside brother Phil, and two years later joined the
Houston Astros, where he would become the most successful pitcher in Astros history. The knuckleball became an essential part of his arsenal though never his sole pitch. Joe threw harder than Phil and could set up batters nearly as effectively with his fastball in combination with his excellent change-up. In
1976, he hit his first and only big league home run in 973 lifetime at bats, off his brother Phil Niekro. He was an All-Star in
1979, a year in which he led the National League in wins with 21, threw a league-leading five shutouts, and finished second in voting for the National League
Cy Young Award.
The Niekro brothers were briefly reunited again in
1985 when Joe was acquired by the
New York Yankees. In June
1987, the Yankees traded Niekro to the
Minnesota Twins. A month later, on
August 3,
1987, with the pennant race heating up and the Twins leading the
American League West, Niekro was ejected for having a
nail file on the mound. Niekro claimed he had been filing his nails in the
dugout and stuck the file in his back pocket when the inning started and had not been doctoring baseballs. The league president didn't believe him and suspended Niekro for 10 days.
When Niekro appeared in the
1987 World Series, he set a record for the longest period of time elapsed between a player's major league debut and his first appearance in the World Series.
On
May 4,
1988, after compiling a 10.03 earned run average in his first five games, the Twins released Niekro, ending his 22-year career.
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Chicago Cubs (
1967-
1969)
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San Diego Padres (1969)
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Detroit Tigers (
1970-
1972)
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Atlanta Braves (
1973-
1974)
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Houston Astros (
1975-
1985)
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New York Yankees (1985-
1987)
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Minnesota Twins (1987-
1988)
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Joe Niekro's statistics on the Baseball Reference site
