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Joseph Franklin Niekro
Chicago Cubs
Pitcher
Born: November 7, 1944, Martins Ferry, OH
Drafted: Drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the 3rd round of the 1966 amateur draft, June 7, 1966
Major League Teams: Chicago Cubs 1967-1969; San Diego Padres 1969; Detroit Tigers 1970-1972; Atlanta Braves 1973-1974; Houston Astros 1975-1985; New York Yankees 1985-1987; Minnesota Twins 1987-1988
World Series Appearances: Minnesota Twins 1987
Died: October 27, 2006, Tampa, FL (age 61)
Like his older brother Phil Niekro (#355), Joe Niekro relied on a deceptive knuckle ball to baffle batters over 22 seasons in the major leagues. Joe Niekro spent eight seasons with the Cubs, Padres, Tigers and Braves before being sold to the Astros on April 6, 1975, for $35,000. He'd pitch in 11 seasons for the Astros, enjoying the most productive years of his lengthy career. His best season came in 1979 when he was 21-11 with a 3.00 ERA for the Astors in 38 starts. Niekro led the league in wins and with five shutouts, finishing as runner-up to Bruce Sutter in that year's Cy Young Award voting.
The durable Niekro won at least 10 games in 11 different seasons, and led the league in games started twice, in 1983 and 1984 with 38 each year. He'd win a World Series ring with the Twins in 1987, the same season he was suspended for 10 games when an emery board and sandpaper flew out of his pocket during a mound visit by the umpires. For his career, Niekro was 221-204 in 702 games pitched with a 3.59 ERA and 1,747 strikeouts over 3,584 1/3 innings pitched. He made exactly 500 career starts, which is currently 49th on the all-time list. His 172 wild pitches, courtesy of his knuckle ball, are currently 24th on the all-time list. The Niekro brothers' combined win total of 539 is still the major league record for wins by a pair of brothers. Nikero's son, Lance Niekro, played in parts of the four seasons with the Giants between 2003 and 2007.
Died: October 27, 2006, Tampa, FL (age 61)
Like his older brother Phil Niekro (#355), Joe Niekro relied on a deceptive knuckle ball to baffle batters over 22 seasons in the major leagues. Joe Niekro spent eight seasons with the Cubs, Padres, Tigers and Braves before being sold to the Astros on April 6, 1975, for $35,000. He'd pitch in 11 seasons for the Astros, enjoying the most productive years of his lengthy career. His best season came in 1979 when he was 21-11 with a 3.00 ERA for the Astors in 38 starts. Niekro led the league in wins and with five shutouts, finishing as runner-up to Bruce Sutter in that year's Cy Young Award voting.
Building the Set / Card #99
March 12, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)
In mid-March, Doug and I attended the Philadelphia Sports Collectors Show, held within the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania. My main focus for this show was accumulating as many 1969 Topps commons as possible, which I did by adding a grand total of 193 cards to our set. That's almost 30% of the entire set added in one enjoyable afternoon. I wrote a full summary of the show in a post over at The Phillies Room, found here.
This is the 22nd of the 193 commons and semi-stars purchased, pulled and stacked from the first two neon green binders housing 1969 Topps cards at the multi-table spread of Uncle Dick's Cards from Babylon, New York. My method was simple - I pulled up a chair, found a card I needed, picked the best of the group from the binder page and set it aside. After each 100 cards, I'd ask the dealer to tell me how much damage I had done so far. With a budget in mind, I kept going twice, continuing after card #100 and card #200, and stopping at card #298. The final amount due was 17% off the sticker price for the pile of 193 cards, with this card costing me a surprisingly low $1.25. If I stick to composing posts five times a week, and I'm already slipping off that pace a little, I should go through the stack and be caught up by the week of January 22, 2024!
The Card / Cubs Team Set / Accuracy Index +5
The photo used here likely dates from 1966, and similar photos were used for Niekro's 1967 and 1968 Topps cards. The cartoon on the back is amusing, with the cartoon Brave kind of looking like Phil Niekro. The write-up on the back discusses his 14 wins in 1968, and his 11 RBIs at the plate in 1967. Niekro was a lifetime .156 batter with one home run to his name. Appropriately enough, the home run was hit off his older brother Phil on May 29, 1976, in a game the Astros would win over the Braves by a score of 4-3.
Accuracy Index: Niekro was with the Cubs for four games at the start of the 1969 season (see below), so this card scores a 5 for accuracy.
1969 Season
On April 25, 1969, Niekro, Frankie Libran and Gary Ross (#404) were traded to the expansion Padres for Dick Selma (#197). Despite his 8-17 record with the Padres, Niekro was the club's best pitcher, making 31 starts and earning a 3.70 ERA in 202 innings pitched. His 111 strikeouts were two short of the team lead, held by Clay Kirby (#637) who was 7-20 in 35 starts for San Diego. Niekro's time with the Padres was short, as he was dealt to the Tigers on December 4th for Dave Campbell (#324) and Pat Dobson (#231).
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First Mainstream Card: 1967 Topps #536
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (22): 1967-1988
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2004 Upper Deck Yankees Classics #37
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 164 in the Beckett online database as of 5/29/23.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / Wikipedia
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