Phil Niekro, baseball player, 1964-1987

Phil Niekro

⭐ Hall of Fame 1997

Born: 4/1/1939 in Blaine, OH, USA

Died: 12/27/2020 in Flowery Branch, GA, USA

MLB Debut: 1964-04-15 | Final Game: 1987-09-27

Bats: R | Throws: R | Height: 6'1" | Weight: 180 lbs

Full name: Philip Henry Niekro

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Biography

Phil Niekro, born in 1939, was a renowned pitcher who played from 1964 until his retirement on September 27, 1987. His career spanned over two decades, during which he established himself as one of the premier knuckleball pitchers in baseball history. Niekro's mastery of the knuckleball allowed him to achieve a remarkable career record of 318 wins and 274 losses, complemented by an impressive earned run average (ERA) of 3.35. He accumulated 3,342 strikeouts, showcasing his ability to confound hitters and dominate games. Additionally, he recorded 29 saves, further demonstrating his versatility on the mound. Niekro was selected as an All-Star five times, reflecting his consistent performance and impact on the game during the 1970s and 1980s. His contributions to baseball were recognized with his induction into the Hall of Fame in 1997, solidifying his legacy as one of the great pitchers of his era. Throughout his career, Niekro exemplified skill, longevity, and sportsmanship, attributes that resonated with fans and fellow players alike. His unique pitching style and remarkable achievements have left an enduring mark on the sport, making him a celebrated figure in baseball history.

Career Pitching Statistics

W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
318 274 864 716 245 45 29 5404.3 5044 2012 482 1809 3342 3.35 0

Career ERA 3.35 vs. league average 3.71 across their career seasons — 9.7% better than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Year Team Lg W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER BB SO ERA Lg ERA Pitcher PIV
1964 ATL NL 0 0 10 0 0 0 0 15.0 15 8 7 8 4.80 3.58 (-34%) -
1965 ATL NL 2 3 41 1 0 0 6 74.7 73 24 26 49 2.89 3.50 (+17%) -
1966 ATL NL 4 3 28 0 0 0 2 50.3 48 23 23 17 4.11 3.52 (-17%) -1121.0
1967 ATL NL 11 9 46 20 10 1 9 207.0 164 43 55 129 1.87 3.30 (+43%) 2951.4
1968 ATL NL 14 12 37 34 15 5 2 257.0 228 74 45 140 2.59 2.98 (+13%) 1985.0
1969 ATL NL 23 13 40 35 21 4 1 284.3 235 81 57 193 2.56 3.61 (+29%) 6376.8
1970 ATL NL 12 18 34 32 10 3 0 229.7 222 109 68 168 4.27 3.89 (-10%) -3128.6
1971 ATL NL 15 14 42 36 18 4 2 268.7 248 89 70 173 2.98 3.47 (+14%) 1303.0
1972 ATL NL 16 12 38 36 17 1 0 282.3 254 96 53 164 3.06 3.26 (+6%) 2968.3
1973 ATL NL 13 10 42 30 9 1 4 245.0 214 90 89 131 3.31 3.75 (+12%) -100.2
1974 ATL NL 20 13 41 39 18 6 1 302.3 249 80 88 195 2.38 3.63 (+34%) 4731.6
1975 ATL NL 15 15 39 37 13 1 0 275.7 285 98 72 144 3.20 3.71 (+14%) -746.6
1976 ATL NL 17 11 38 37 10 2 0 270.7 249 99 101 173 3.29 3.51 (+6%) 623.3
1977 ATL NL 16 20 44 43 20 2 0 330.3 315 148 164 262 4.03 4.00 (-1%) 2306.2
1978 ATL NL 19 18 44 42 22 4 1 334.3 295 107 102 248 2.88 3.69 (+22%) 8322.6
1979 ATL NL 21 20 44 44 23 1 0 342.0 311 129 113 208 3.39 4.00 (+15%) -1464.0
1980 ATL NL 15 18 40 38 11 3 1 275.0 256 111 85 176 3.63 3.84 (+5%) -63.4
1981 ATL NL 7 7 22 22 3 3 0 139.3 120 48 56 62 3.10 3.58 (+13%) 308.6
1982 ATL NL 17 4 35 35 4 2 0 234.3 225 94 73 144 3.61 3.86 (+7%) 776.4
1983 ATL NL 11 10 34 33 2 0 0 201.7 212 89 105 128 3.97 3.87 (-3%) -1918.3
1984 NYY AL 16 8 32 31 5 1 0 215.7 219 74 76 136 3.09 3.81 (+19%) -
1985 NYY AL 16 12 33 33 7 1 0 220.0 203 100 120 149 4.09 3.89 (-5%) -
1986 CLE AL 11 11 34 32 5 0 0 210.3 241 101 95 81 4.32 3.97 (-9%) -5223.9
1987 CLE AL 7 11 22 22 2 0 0 123.7 142 81 53 57 5.89 4.29 (-37%) -2950.4
1987 TOR AL 0 2 3 3 0 0 0 12.0 15 11 7 7 8.25 4.29 (-92%) -1050.8
1987 ATL NL 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 3.0 6 5 6 0 15.00 — 0.0

Career Batting Statistics

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
866 1537 80 260 42 1 7 109 0 17 314 0.169 0.183 0.211 0.395 -11043.1

Career AVG .169 vs. league average .255 across their career seasons — 33.8% below league average.

Career OBP .183 vs. league average .321 across their career seasons — 43.0% below league average.

Career SLG .211 vs. league average .379 across their career seasons — 44.3% below league average.

Career OPS 0.395 vs. league average 0.701 across their career seasons — 43.7% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Year Team Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG Lg AVG Lg OBP Lg SLG Lg OPS PIV
1964 ATL NL 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1965 ATL NL 42 10 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0.100 — — — — 0.0
1966 ATL NL 28 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 0.000 — — — — 0.0
1967 ATL NL 46 57 4 7 2 0 0 2 0 1 16 0.123 .242 (-49%) .306 (-46%) .357 (-56%) .663 (-51%) -465.0
1968 ATL NL 37 77 3 8 1 0 2 7 0 0 22 0.104 .236 (-56%) .298 (-65%) .340 (-43%) .638 (-53%) -640.6
1969 ATL NL 40 95 11 20 4 0 0 7 0 2 21 0.211 .248 (-15%) .320 (-29%) .369 (-32%) .689 (-30%) -490.4
1970 ATL NL 34 79 5 12 0 0 1 3 0 2 17 0.152 .253 (-40%) .325 (-48%) .385 (-51%) .711 (-49%) -665.7
1971 ATL NL 42 92 3 14 1 0 0 4 0 0 20 0.152 .249 (-39%) .316 (-50%) .365 (-55%) .682 (-53%) -803.7
1972 ATL NL 38 93 7 18 1 0 1 4 0 1 22 0.194 .243 (-21%) .310 (-30%) .353 (-33%) .664 (-32%) -481.4
1973 ATL NL 42 82 3 10 4 0 1 2 0 1 26 0.122 .256 (-53%) .325 (-56%) .378 (-45%) .703 (-50%) -711.1
1974 ATL NL 41 104 5 20 2 0 0 11 0 3 18 0.192 .256 (-25%) .324 (-32%) .369 (-43%) .693 (-38%) -659.1
1975 ATL NL 39 99 5 17 2 1 0 10 0 1 18 0.172 .257 (-33%) .327 (-46%) .374 (-43%) .701 (-45%) -777.8
1976 ATL NL 38 94 5 18 3 0 1 12 0 0 8 0.191 .255 (-25%) .320 (-38%) .360 (-29%) .681 (-33%) -536.5
1977 ATL NL 44 109 2 19 1 0 0 7 0 0 15 0.174 .264 (-34%) .329 (-45%) .401 (-54%) .730 (-50%) -954.5
1978 ATL NL 45 120 5 27 4 0 0 10 0 3 25 0.225 .257 (-13%) .323 (-23%) .378 (-32%) .702 (-28%) -573.6
1979 ATL NL 44 123 10 24 6 0 0 12 0 1 19 0.195 .265 (-27%) .329 (-36%) .397 (-39%) .727 (-37%) -812.1
1980 ATL NL 40 90 2 12 5 0 0 5 0 1 19 0.133 .264 (-50%) .326 (-56%) .387 (-51%) .714 (-54%) -828.8
1981 ATL NL 22 52 1 4 0 0 0 1 0 0 11 0.077 .255 (-70%) .320 (-76%) .368 (-79%) .688 (-78%) -637.6
1982 ATL NL 35 87 6 17 4 0 1 7 0 0 16 0.195 .261 (-25%) .324 (-40%) .388 (-29%) .712 (-34%) -526.7
1983 ATL NL 34 65 3 12 2 0 0 5 0 1 12 0.185 .260 (-29%) .324 (-40%) .389 (-45%) .714 (-43%) -478.6
1984 NYY AL 32 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1985 NYY AL 33 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1986 CLE AL 34 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1987 CLE AL 22 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1987 TOR AL 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1987 ATL NL 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 — — — — 0.0

Postseason Statistics

Playoff Career Batting

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
2 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0.000

Playoff Batting by Year

Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
1982 NLCS ATL 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .000
1969 NLCS ATL 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0.000

Playoff Career Pitching

W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
0 1 2 2 0 14.0 15 6 8 9 3.86

Playoff Pitching by Year

Year Round Team W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
1982 NLCS ATL 0 0 1 1 0 6.0 6 2 4 5 3.00
1969 NLCS ATL 0 1 1 1 0 8.0 9 4 4 4 4.50

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Position G GS PO A E DP
P 864 716 386 878 37 83

Season-by-Season Fielding

Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1964 ML1 P 10 0 0 2 0 1
1965 ML1 P 41 1 6 17 1 2
1966 ATL P 28 0 2 18 0 1
1967 ATL P 46 20 10 40 4 4
1968 ATL P 37 34 18 59 4 4
1969 ATL P 40 35 24 51 3 4
1970 ATL P 34 32 14 38 1 4
1971 ATL P 42 36 19 44 2 6
1972 ATL P 38 36 26 40 4 4
1973 ATL P 42 30 30 41 4 4
1974 ATL P 41 39 22 42 0 3
1975 ATL P 39 37 21 41 0 2
1976 ATL P 38 37 19 41 2 2
1977 ATL P 44 43 20 51 0 5
1978 ATL P 44 42 17 65 2 4
1979 ATL P 44 44 31 56 1 3
1980 ATL P 40 38 18 40 1 6
1981 ATL P 22 22 10 22 0 2
1982 ATL P 35 35 18 38 1 4
1983 ATL P 34 33 15 27 2 6
1984 NYA P 32 31 13 36 1 4
1985 NYA P 33 33 11 20 0 5
1986 CLE P 34 32 9 32 4 2
1987 CLE P 22 22 12 17 0 1
1987 TOR P 3 3 1 0 0 0
1987 ATL P 1 1 0 0 0 0

Career Games by Position

Position Games
Pitcher 864

Awards & Honors

Year Award Notes
1985 Player of the Week Week of 1985-10-04
1983 Gold Glove P
1982 Gold Glove P
1982 Player of the Week Week of 1982-10-01
1980 Gold Glove P
1980 Roberto Clemente Award
1979 Gold Glove P
1979 Lou Gehrig Memorial Award
1978 Gold Glove P
1978 Player of the Week Week of 1978-06-09
1974 Player of the Week Week of 1974-08-02

Salary History

Year Team League Salary
1986 CLE AL $300,000
1985 NYA AL $600,000
Total Career Earnings $900,000

Award Voting History

Year Award League Finish Points Won Points Max Votes First
1982 Cy Young Award NL 5th 18.0 120 0
1979 Cy Young Award NL 6th 3.0 120 0
1979 Most Valuable Player NL 20th 11.0 336 0
1978 Cy Young Award NL 6th 10.0 120 0
1978 Most Valuable Player NL 17th 8.0 336 0
1974 Cy Young Award NL 3rd 15.0 120 1
1969 Cy Young Award NL 2nd 1.0 24 1
1969 Most Valuable Player NL 9th 47.0 336 0