Night Owl Cards

Today is Phil Niekro's 81st birthday. Are you sick of hearing about this? If so, blame, Matt . He is the No. 1 person I think of when "folks born on April Fool's Day" is mentioned. Although he's not the only person as Rusty Staub, Willie Montanez and Ron Perranoski were all born on April 1st. So was April Sargent, who you probably don't know, but I really need to do a Brush With Greatness post on her someday. But back to Niekro. This 1988 card was quite the ... heh ... score during Score's trading card debut. This is the only card in 1988 showing Niekro in his final MLB uniform. Niekro's last season was 1987 and he played in one game -- ONE GAME -- for the Braves at the end of the season. Here's how it went: Niekro was pitching for the Indians for much of 1987 when in early August, he was dealt to the Blue Jays, who were trying to win a pennant. He was then released by the Blue Jays at the end of August and his career was practically o...

I haven't done one of these in a while, so I'll take care of two players in one post. Since they are brothers and I talked to them at the same time, it works perfectly. Phil and Joe Niekro are the most successful brother pitching combination in major league history. Phil Niekro, a.k.a, "Knucksie," is in the Hall of Fame. He is the only Hall of Fame player I have interviewed (although there could be another one coming up. I'll feature him later). Both of them pitched a majorly long time, from the middish '60s until the late 1980s. Phil played for four teams, and Joe pitched for seven. They were teammates both with the Braves in the mid-70s and Yankees in the late '80s. I do not associate either player with the team they are with on this 1988 Topps card. Phil will always be a Brave, and Joe will always be an Astro. For those who like the quirkier aspects of baseball, Phil once won 20 games and lost 20 in the same season. That's when the Braves sucked. B...