I only have three of his cards; all of which are from his last two years in the majors.
Joe was the younger brother of MLB Hall of Fame pitcher Phil Niekro. Both threw the knuckleball and together they combined for the most wins by brothers. Phil had 318 wins and Joe had 221.
Joe's son Lance made it to the majors with the Giants and spent a couple seasons in San Fransisco before trying to make a comeback as a knuckleball pitcher in the Braves minor league system before ending his career.
Joe came up with the Cubs and was (briefly) a member of the infamous '69 squad - he's always been one of my favorite sort of "he was a Cub?" players to collect.
ReplyDelete