Since the 1994 season when I began to pay more attention to professional baseball, I have been a Braves fan. I have garnered an appreciation for the likes of John Schuerholz, Bobby Cox, Chipper Jones, John Smoltz, Andruw Jones, etc., but I realized that I didn’t know a lot about the history of the Braves or the people before 1994. Unfortunately, I have found this to be a common theme about baseball fans in general, so I am starting a series on the history of the Braves focusing on players, managers, and events from the Braves’ past. About every week or so, I’ll publish an article about someone or something in Braves’ history. This week: Phil Niekro.
Born on April Fool’s Day, 1939 in Blaine, Ohio, Phil Niekro is a former Braves pitcher and hall-of-famer. Although boyhood friends with future basketball hall-of-famer John Havlichek, Niekro chose baseball as his passion. Known for his knuckleball, Niekro was able to play baseball for over 20 years, and he didn’t retire until the ripe old age of 48 (Julio Franco anyone?). Over his career, he won 318 games and was beloved not only for his ability to pitch but for his charity and loyalty to a team the often had losing seasons.
On July 19, 1958, Niekro signed a contract with the then-Milwaukee Braves at the age of 19. He toiled in the minors for 5 years until debuting in 1964. Niekro would play the next 20 seasons in Atlanta, including moving with the team to Atlanta in 1966, until being released October 7, 1983. During his time with the Braves, he won 268 games, won five Gold Gloves, was in the top six of the Cy Young voting five times, won the league ERA title in 1967, and made four All-Star appearances. In 1980, Niekro won the Roberto Clemente Award for his play on the field and, especially, for his service to the community. From 1968-1980, the knuckleballer averaged 284 2/3 innings a season, including pitching the most innings in 1974, 1977-1979, and from 1968-80, he was in the top ten in innings pitched each season. However, from 1981-1983, Niekro’s innings began to decline as he no longer could pitch 40 games a season. Therefore, in 1983, he was released.
In January of 1984, Niekro signed with the Yankees as a free-agent, and after an initial season with a 3.09 ERA, his ERA went up to 4.09 the next season. He was released following the 1985 season. In January of 1986, Niekro initially signed with the Yankees again, but he was released and subsequently signed in March and April, respectively. After having a 4.32 ERA in 1986 and a 6.10 ERA in 1987, Niekro was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays who released him a month later in August of 1987. As a publicity and charitable move, Atlanta re-signed Niekro in September 1987, allowing him to end his career as a Brave.
Niekro retired that off-season and went to coach the Colorado Silver Bullets, an all-women baseball team, and he was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1997.
Fun Facts:
- Nephew is Lance Niekro who played for the Giants and is now with the Astros.
- Phil and his brother Joe have the most combined wins for brothers at 539.
- Never played in a World Series in his 24 seasons (a baseball record).
- On August 5, 1973, Niekro no-hit the Padres (the first for the team since moving to Atlanta).
- His 5,404 1/3 innings is the most in the live-ball era.
- Won his 300th game in a shut-out without throwing his knuckleball until the final batter.
I’m still waiting for him to come out of retirement and pitch for the Braves like he keeps promising.
Comment by rlgv — March 19, 2008 @ 9:53 pm
Knucksie is a great guy. My grandfather and him were friends growing up, so when I was young I got to meet him few times when he was coaching in Atlanta. He never really showed me how to throw the knuckleball, but we went over grips and what not. Pretty neat stuff. I ended up throwing it every now and then when I pitched and still find it fun to throw when playing catch. It’s funny to see people freak out when they don’t know it is coming at them.
Comment by Tanner — March 20, 2008 @ 10:44 am
Another little tidbit: Back in 1992 when the Braves were going against the Pirates in the NLCS Tim Wakefield was a rookie for those Pirates. Niekro threw to the Braves in BP to help them prepare for the knuckballer. Unfortunately it didn’t help much because Timmy threw two complete games and went 2-0. Wakefield won game 6 which lead to the game seven victory that Braves fans will never forget with Francisco Cabrera’s two-out, two-run pinch-hit single in the bottom of the ninth giving the Braves a 3-2 win!
Comment by Kyle James — March 22, 2008 @ 11:02 am
i appreciate the interest in Braves history, and I tend to agree that many baseball fans–certainly many Atlanta Braves fans–are lacking in their knowledge of the history of the game.
A few minor additions/corrections to your Phil Niekro bio…though he won 23 games for the Braves in ‘69, most consider 1982 (at age 43)to be his next best season, going 17-4 and leading both leagues in winning percentage. Incidentally, Phil began 1982 on the disabled list, after having been hit by a line drive in spring training (this was the year the Braves opened the season with a record 13 consecutive wins). Many fans were outraged by Phil’s unceremonial release after the ‘83 season (I myself very nearly swore the Braves off for good).
Knucksie was released from the New York Yankees at the end of March 1986, not after the ‘85 season. He had signed a conditional contract(meaning he had to make the team again) with the Yankees in January of ‘86, after having won 32 games for the Yankees in the previous two years. They released him with ten days remaining in spring training, after which he signed with the Cleveland Indians for the ‘86 and ‘87 seasons. Toward the end of the ‘87 season, Cleveland traded him to the Toronto Blue Jays, who released him three weeks later. Phil signed a contract for $1 so that he could retire an Atlanta Brave at the end of ‘87.
I believe Phil served as a bench/bullpen coach for the Atlanta Braves in 1989, and I know he served as manager of the AAA Richmond Braves in 1991. He (and brother Joe) became involved with the Colorado Silver Bullets as manager (and pitching coach) for the ‘94 and ‘95 seasons, eventually becoming their general manager in ‘97.
Phil made the All-Star team five times, four with the Braves and once with the New York Yankees.
Phil won five Gold Gloves, was an excellent bunter (he once led the league in sacrifice bunts), and was a decent clutch hitter. One of his most memorable at-bats came against the San Diego Padres at the end of the ‘82 season that helped secure the division title–he hit a 2-run homer off Eric Show, in addtion to pitching a shut-out.
Both Niekros coached Tim Wakefield in spring training in the mid’90s, and the Boston Red Sox actuaully hired Phil as Wakefield’s instructor for a couple years.
Joe hit the only homerun of his career off of Phil in 1976. Joe’s homerun was the difference in the game.
Joe and Phil faced each other 9 times, with Joe holding the edge, 5 to 4.
Phil is the oldest pitcher to ever throw a 9-inning shutout, which he did in 1985 for his 300th victory.
(BTW, nephew Lance was released by the Astros in May. Though he was an effective pitcher in high school and college, he thought he’d have a better shot at the bigs with his bat, and was actually a Rookie of the Year contender with the San Francisco Giants in 2001. Injuries have sidetracked him, however, and he may be toying with the idea of picking up the knuckler again.)
Comment by Jean Gilliland — September 25, 2008 @ 4:12 pm