Phil Niekro

Full Name: Philip Henry Niekro	Primary Position: P
Height/Weight: 6' 1"/180	First Game: April 15, 1964
Birthdate: April 1, 1939	Final Game: September 27, 1987
Birthplace: Blaine, Ohio	MLB Experience: 24 years
Bat/Throw: Right/Right

Rate this Player

4.00

(7 votes)

Inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1997

1 Biography
2 Statistics
3 Transactions
4 Trivia
5 Video Gallery
6 Picture Gallery
7 See Also
8 Categories

[edit] Biography

Born on April 1, 1939 in Blaine, Ohio, Phil Niekro (Philip Henry Niekro) played for the Milwaukee Braves, Atlanta Braves, New York Yankees, Cleveland Indians and Toronto Blue Jays over the course of his 24 year career. Niekro broke into the bigs on April 15, 1964 with the Milwaukee Braves, and put up a 2.89 ERA in 74.2 innings pitched in 1965, his rookie year.

Most people believe that Phil Niekro's best season was 1969, when he posted a 2.56 ERA, won 23 games and struck out 193 batters.

With 318 career victories, Niekro is the most successful knuckleball pitcher of all time. He was also an excellent fielder, winning the National League Gold Glove award five times. Together with his brother and sometime teammate Joe, the Niekro brothers are the winningest brother combination in baseball history, with 539 wins between them. Phil Niekro's 121 career victories after the age of 40 is a major league record, and his longevity is attributed to the knuckleball, which, while a difficult pitch for pitchers to master, is easy on the arm and difficult for batters to hit. He is also the uncle of current MLB player Lance Niekro.

Niekro pitched for 20 seasons for the Atlanta Braves (two of those seasons when the team was still in Milwaukee) and was popular in the city of Atlanta for remaining loyal to a team that often had a losing record, as well as for his contributions to Atlanta charities. On August 5, 1973, he threw a no-hitter against the San Diego Padres.

The Braves released the 45-year-old Niekro in 1984, who then signed with the New York Yankees and went on to win 16 games and make the last of his five All-Star appearances. It was while pitching for the Yankees that Niekro gained entry into the exclusive 300 win club with a shutout win over the Toronto Blue Jays on October 6, 1985. At 46, Niekro became the oldest pitcher to pitch a shutout in the major leagues, and became the only pitcher to throw a complete game shutout for his 300th win. Ironically, he did not throw his trademark knuckleball until the final hitter.

After two seasons in New York, Niekro pitched for the Cleveland Indians and Toronto Blue Jays in 1986 and 1987. The Blue Jays released him after he pitched ineffectively, and as a publicity stunt, the Braves brought him back for one last start to wrap up his career late in the 1987 season. At the age of 48, Niekro was the oldest player in major league history to play regularly, and his 24 seasons in the major leagues without a World Series appearance is a major league record. He only appeared in the post season twice, making a playoff start in 1969 and again in 1982, both for Braves teams that would go on to lose the series.

After the end of his professional baseball career, Niekro managed the all-women Colorado Silver Bullets baseball team. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1997.

[edit] Statistics

[edit] Pitching Stats

Year	Team		G	GS	W	L	ERA	K	R	ER	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	HR	BB	IB	WP	HBP
1964	MIL	N	10	0	0	0	4.80	8	10	8	0	0	0	15	15	1	7	0	1	1
1965	MIL	N	41	1	2	3	2.89	49	32	24	0	0	6	74.2	73	5	26	3	9	3
1966	ATL	N	28	0	4	3	4.11	17	32	23	0	0	2	50.1	48	4	23	5	3	2
1967	ATL	N	46	20	11	9	1.87	129	64	43	10	1	9	207	164	9	55	3	19	7
1968	ATL	N	37	34	14	12	2.59	140	83	74	15	5	2	257	228	16	45	3	16	5
1969	ATL	N	40	35	23	13	2.56	193	93	81	21	4	1	284.1	235	21	57	7	15	5
1970	ATL	N	34	32	12	18	4.27	168	124	109	10	3	0	229.2	222	40	68	2	6	6
1971	ATL	N	42	36	15	14	2.98	173	112	89	18	4	2	268.2	248	27	70	6	8	3
1972	ATL	N	38	36	16	12	3.06	164	112	96	17	1	0	282.1	254	22	53	3	10	5
1973	ATL	N	42	30	13	10	3.31	131	103	90	9	1	4	245	214	21	89	4	11	5
1974	ATL	N	41	39	20	13	2.38	195	91	80	18	6	1	302.1	249	19	88	3	6	6
1975	ATL	N	39	37	15	15	3.20	144	115	98	13	1	0	275.2	285	29	72	3	15	11
1976	ATL	N	38	37	17	11	3.29	173	116	99	10	2	0	270.2	249	18	101	7	14	8
1977	ATL	N	44	43	16	20	4.03	262	166	148	20	2	0	330.1	315	26	164	12	17	8
1978	ATL	N	44	42	19	18	2.88	248	129	107	22	4	1	334.1	295	16	102	5	11	13
1979	ATL	N	44	44	21	20	3.39	208	160	129	23	1	0	342	311	41	113	8	18	11
1980	ATL	N	40	38	15	18	3.63	176	119	111	11	3	1	275	256	30	85	3	9	3
1981	ATL	N	22	22	7	7	3.10	62	56	48	3	3	0	139.1	120	6	56	2	2	1
1982	ATL	N	35	35	17	4	3.61	144	106	94	4	2	0	234.1	225	23	73	1	4	3
1983	ATL	N	34	33	11	10	3.97	128	94	89	2	0	0	201.2	212	18	105	3	6	2
1984	NY	A	32	31	16	8	3.09	136	85	74	5	1	0	215.2	219	15	76	0	2	3
1985	NY	A	33	33	16	12	4.09	149	110	100	7	1	0	220	203	29	120	1	5	2
1986	CLE	A	34	32	11	11	4.32	81	126	101	5	0	0	210.1	241	24	95	1	9	6
1987	TOR	A	3	3	0	2	8.25	7	11	11	0	0	0	12	15	4	7	0	1	0
1987	CLE	A	22	22	7	11	5.89	57	83	81	2	0	0	123.2	142	18	53	1	9	4
1987	ATL	N	1	1	0	0	15.00	0	5	5	0	0	0	3	6	0	6	0	0	0
1987	Total		26	26	7	13	6.30	64	99	97	2	0	0	138.2	163	22	66	1	10	4
1987	TOT	A	25	25	7	13	6.10	64	94	92	2	0	0	135.2	157	22	60	1	10	4
Total	NL		740	595	268	230	3.20	2912	1922	1645	226	43	29	4622.2	4224	392	1458	83	200	108
Total	AL		124	121	50	44	4.23	430	415	367	19	2	0	781.2	820	90	351	3	26	15
Total			864	716	318	274	3.35	3342	2337	2012	245	45	29	5404.1	5044	482	1809	86	226	123

[edit] Fielding Stats

Year	Team		POS	G	GS	INN	PO	A	ERR	DP	PB	SB	CS	PkO	AVG
1964	MIL	N	P	10	0	15	0	2	0	1	1	0	0	0	1.000
1965	MIL	N	P	41	1	74.2	6	17	1	2	5	3	0	1	.958
1966	ATL	N	P	28	0	50.1	2	18	0	1	3	6	1	2	1.000
1967	ATL	N	P	46	20	207	10	40	4	4	25	21	6	3	.926
1968	ATL	N	P	37	34	256.2	18	59	4	4	11	8	5	7	.951
1969	ATL	N	P	40	35	284.1	24	51	3	4	24	17	5	5	.962
1970	ATL	N	P	34	32	229.2	14	38	1	4	12	25	6	0	.981
1971	ATL	N	P	42	36	268.2	19	44	2	6	15	10	6	3	.969
1972	ATL	N	P	38	36	282.1	26	40	4	4	23	10	5	2	.943
1973	ATL	N	P	42	30	245	30	41	4	4	12	26	12	3	.947
1974	ATL	N	P	41	39	302.1	22	42	0	3	20	18	13	1	1.000
1975	ATL	N	P	39	37	275.2	21	41	0	2	15	20	14	4	1.000
1976	ATL	N	P	38	37	270.2	19	41	2	2	18	27	7	1	.968
1977	ATL	N	P	44	43	330.1	20	51	0	5	26	47	32	4	1.000
1978	ATL	N	P	44	42	334.1	17	65	2	4	25	34	12	4	.976
1979	ATL	N	P	44	44	342	31	56	1	3	17	40	11	2	.989
1980	ATL	N	P	40	38	275	18	40	1	6	8	17	13	2	.983
1981	ATL	N	P	22	22	139.1	10	22	0	2	5	16	9	1	1.000
1982	ATL	N	P	35	35	234.1	18	38	1	4	5	17	16	3	.982
1983	ATL	N	P	34	33	201.2	15	27	2	6	2	27	11	2	.955
1984	NY	A	P	32	31	215.2	13	36	1	4	7	9	12	0	.980
1985	NY	A	P	33	33	220	11	20	0	5	14	22	5	1	1.000
1986	CLE	A	P	34	32	210.1	9	32	4	2	0	13	6	1	.911
1987	TOR	A	P	3	3	12	1	0	0	0	0	2	1	0	1.000
1987	CLE	A	P	22	22	123.2	12	17	0	1	0	10	7	0	1.000
1987	ATL	N	P	1	1	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
1987	Total		P	26	26	138.2	13	17	0	1	0	12	8	0	1.000
1987	TOT	A	P	25	25	135.2	13	17	0	1	0	12	8	0	1.000
Total			P	864	716	5404	386	878	37	83	293	445	215	52	.972

[edit] Batting Stats

Year	Team		G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG	OBP	SLG	2B	3B	BB	SO	HBP	SH	GDP
1964	MIL	N	10	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1965	MIL	N	42	10	0	1	0	0	.100	.100	.100	0	0	0	3	0	0	0
1966	ATL	N	28	8	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	0	0	0	6	0	3	0
1967	ATL	N	46	57	4	7	0	2	.123	.167	.158	2	0	1	16	2	6	2
1968	ATL	N	37	77	3	8	2	7	.104	.104	.195	1	0	0	22	0	18	0
1969	ATL	N	40	95	11	20	0	7	.211	.227	.253	4	0	2	21	0	9	1
1970	ATL	N	34	79	5	12	1	3	.152	.171	.190	0	0	2	17	0	6	1
1971	ATL	N	42	92	3	14	0	4	.152	.160	.163	1	0	0	20	1	7	0
1972	ATL	N	38	93	7	18	1	4	.194	.216	.237	1	0	1	22	2	11	2
1973	ATL	N	42	82	3	10	1	2	.122	.143	.207	4	0	1	26	1	7	4
1974	ATL	N	41	104	5	20	0	11	.192	.220	.212	2	0	3	18	1	9	1
1975	ATL	N	39	99	5	17	0	10	.172	.176	.212	2	1	1	18	0	4	1
1976	ATL	N	38	94	5	18	1	12	.191	.198	.255	3	0	0	8	1	9	3
1977	ATL	N	44	109	2	19	0	7	.174	.180	.183	1	0	0	15	1	12	3
1978	ATL	N	45	120	5	27	0	10	.225	.248	.258	4	0	3	25	1	4	3
1979	ATL	N	44	123	10	24	0	12	.195	.213	.244	6	0	1	19	2	7	1
1980	ATL	N	40	90	2	12	0	5	.133	.143	.189	5	0	1	19	0	5	2
1981	ATL	N	22	52	1	4	0	1	.077	.077	.077	0	0	0	11	0	3	0
1982	ATL	N	35	87	6	17	1	7	.195	.193	.276	4	0	0	16	0	3	4
1983	ATL	N	34	65	3	12	0	5	.185	.194	.215	2	0	1	12	0	6	7
1984	NY	A	32	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1985	NY	A	33	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1986	CLE	A	34	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1987	TOR	A	3	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1987	CLE	A	22	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1987	ATL	N	1	1	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1987	Total		26	1	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1987	TOT	A	25	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	NL		742	1537	80	260	7	109	.169	.183	.211	42	1	17	314	12	129	35
Total	AL		124	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total			866	1537	80	260	7	109	.169	.183	.211	42	1	17	314	12	129	35

[edit] Transactions

Signed as an amateur free agent by Milwaukee Braves (July 19, 1958).
Released by Atlanta Braves (October 7, 1983).
Signed by New York Yankees (January 5, 1984).
Granted free agency (November 12, 1985).
Signed by New York Yankees (January 8, 1986).
Released by New York Yankees (March 28, 1986).
Signed by Cleveland Indians (April 3, 1986).
Traded by Cleveland Indians to Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for Darryl Landrum and a player to be named later (August 9, 1987); Cleveland Indians received Don Gordon (August 10, 1987).
Released by Toronto Blue Jays (August 31, 1987).
Signed by Atlanta Braves (September 23, 1987).

[edit] Trivia

led Nebraska State League pitchers with 23 appearances while playing for McCook Braves in 1959
led Texas League pitchers with 51 appearances while playing for the Austin Braves in 1961
gave up pitcher Fred Kuhaulua's first and only major league hit and RBI {Jack Murphy Stadium -- September 20, 1981}

[edit] Video Gallery

Add Videos

[edit] Picture Gallery

Add Pictures

[edit] See Also

[edit] Categories

Retrieved from "http://www.armchairgm.com/Phil_Niekro"

This page was last modified 15:27, 8 November 2007. Content is available under the GFDL.