Joe Niekro

Did You Know?

• Joe Niekro died on October 27, 2006, at age 61, after suffering a brain aneurysm rupture the previous day.
• The Joe Niekro Foundation, created by his daughter Natalie, supports patients and families affected by brain aneurysms, AVMs, and hemorrhagic strokes.

Career

Niekro was drafted by the Cleveland Indians in the seventh round of the 1966 amateur draft but did not sign, then was drafted in the third round by the Chicago Cubs on June 7. In 1967 he went 10–7 with a 3.34 ERA and 77 strikeouts over 169.2 innings. On April 24, 1969, the Cubs traded Niekro, Gary Ross, and Frankie Librán to the expansion San Diego Padres for Dick Selma. That season he went 8–18 with a 3.70 ERA and 62 strikeouts in 221.1 innings, tying Al Santorini for the team lead in wins.

On December 4, the Padres traded him to the Detroit Tigers for Dave Campbell and Pat Dobson. Over three seasons with Detroit he went 21–22, with his best year in 1970 at 12–13, a 4.06 ERA, and a career-high 101 strikeouts in 213 innings. The Atlanta Braves selected him off waivers on August 7, 1973. Early in his career Niekro used a fastball and slider with mixed results.

With the Braves over two seasons he went a combined 5–6 with a 3.76 ERA in 67 innings, during which he reacquainted himself with the knuckleball taught by his father. The knuckleball became essential to his arsenal, though he never relied on it exclusively; he threw harder than his brother Phil and effectively combined his fastball with an excellent changeup. On April 6, 1975, the Houston Astros purchased his contract from the Braves for $35,000.

In Houston he perfected his knuckleball and blossomed into a dominant pitcher, going 21–11 in 1979 and 20–12 in 1980, becoming the first Astros pitcher to win 20 games in consecutive seasons. He made the National League All-Star team in 1979, leading the league with 21 wins and five shutouts, winning the TSN Pitcher of the Year Award, and finishing second in Cy Young Award voting behind Bruce Sutter. That year the Niekro brothers tied for the major league lead in wins, the only time two brothers have shared that statistic.

Statistics and records

Niekro's 221 career wins place him among the most successful knuckleball pitchers ever. He and his brother Phil combined for 539 wins, the major league record for most wins by a pair of brothers. On May 29, 1976, he hit the only home run of his career in 973 lifetime at bats, off his brother Phil. In the 1987 World Series with Minnesota, he set a record for the longest time between a major league debut and a first World Series appearance. On July 2, 1970, while with the Tigers, he took a no-hitter into the ninth inning against the New York Yankees; Horace Clarke broke it up with a one-out single, the only hit Niekro allowed in a 5–0 victory. Had his brother Phil pitched a no-hitter in 1973, the Niekros would have been the first brothers to throw major league no-hitters; the Forsch brothers later became the first and, as of 2014, the only ones to achieve that distinction.

Legacy

Joe Niekro once showed up to David Letterman’s late-night show in a carpenter’s apron, toting a power sander, while he was suspended for keeping a nail file on the pitcher’s mound. The Twins later put out a bobblehead set for their 1987 World Series champs, and Niekro’s figure had a nail file tucked in its back pocket. He entered the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame in 1992. His son JJ signed with the Atlanta Braves as an undrafted free agent following the 2021 MLB draft.