Phil Niekro TTM Success

Another success in my 1981 Fleer Star Sticker project, and a Hall of Famer, to boot.

“Wait’ll it stops rolling, then go pick it up.” 

“Niekro stuck out a hitter once and I never touched the bal. It hit me in the shinguard, bounced to Clete Boyer at third base and he threw out the runner at first. Talk about a weird assist: 2-5-3 on a strikeout.” 

Bob Uecker

Sent: 4/15/2020 | Received: 4/23/2020 | 8 days
1/1: 1981 Fleer Star Sticker
Address: Home (Flowery Branch, GA) from SportsCollectors.Net

Surely there’s some irony to be found in the game’s most notorious knuckleballer also being one of the most consistently speedy TTM returns.

Niekro won 318 games (16th on MLB’s all-time wins list) over a 24-year career in the bigs. Yet crazily he only had six wins and on MLB start by the time he was 28 years old. Of course, the knuckleball lent itself to incredible longevity (he’d pitch into his age-48 season). He won 121 games after he turned 40, the most by anyone over that age in baseball history

He was a five-time All Star and Gold Glover. He led the NL in wins twice (1974, 1979). He was the MLB leader in ERA in 1967 (1.87) and led the NL in strikeouts in 1977 (262).

On August 5, 1973, he pitched a no-hitter against the Padres.

He and the late Joe Niekro are the all-time leaders in wins by brothers (539), besting Jim and Gaylord Perry (529).

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1981 Fleer Star Sticker Set Progress: 36 of 125 (28.8%)