Joe Niekro

Position: Pitcher

Bats: Right • Throws: Right

6-1, 185lb (185cm, 83kg)

Born: November 7, 1944 in Martins Ferry, OH us

Died: October 27, 2006 in Tampa, FL

Buried: Cremated

Draft: Drafted by the Cleveland Indians in the 7th round of the 1966 MLB January Draft-Regular Phase from West Liberty University (West Liberty, WV) and the Chicago Cubs in the 3rd round of the 1966 MLB June Draft-Secondary Phase from West Liberty University (West Liberty, WV).

High School: Bridgeport HS (Bridgeport, OH)

School: West Liberty University (West Liberty, WV)

Last Game: April 29, 1988 (Age 43-174d)
vs. BOS 3.0 IP, 6 H, 3 SO, 6 BB, 5 ER

Rookie Status: Exceeded rookie limits during 1967 season

Agents: Bruce Church

Full Name: Joseph Franklin Niekro

Pronunciation: \KNEE-kro\

View Player Info from the B-R Bullpen

Relatives: Brother of Phil Niekro; Father of Lance Niekro

+12

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SUMMARY

Career

WAR

29.7

221

204

ERA

3.59

702

500

3584.1

1747

WHIP

1.319

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Year	Age	AgeDif	Tm	Lg	Lev	Aff	W	L	W-L%	ERA	RA9	G	GS	GF	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	BK	WP	BF	WHIP	H9	HR9	BB9	SO9	SO/W
1966	21		3 Teams	3 Lgs	AA-A-Rk	CHC	6	6	.500	2.08	2.92	17	14		4	2		108.0	92	35	25	2	22	3	71	0	1	1		1.056	7.7	0.2	1.8	5.9	3.23
1966	21	-2.2	Dallas-Fort Worth	TL	AA	CHC	5	4	.556	2.51	3.19	12	10		3	2		79.0	71	28	22	2	15	2	50	0	1	1		1.089	8.1	0.2	1.7	5.7	3.33
1966	21	0.1	Quincy	MIDW	A	CHC	1	2	.333	1.08	2.52	4	3		1	0		25.0	17	7	3	0	6	1	14	0	0	0		0.920	6.1	0.0	2.2	5.0	2.33
1966	21	1.9	Treasure Valley	PION	Rk	CHC	0	0		0.00	0.00	1	1		0	0		4.0	4	0	0	0	1	0	7	0	0	0		1.250	9.0	0.0	2.3	15.8	7.00
1967	22	-5.4	CHC	NL	Maj	CHC	10	7	.588	3.34	3.61	36	22	9	7	2	0	169.2	171	68	63	15	32	7	77	2	0	1	706	1.196	9.1	0.8	1.7	4.1	2.41
1968	23	-4.4	CHC	NL	Maj	CHC	14	10	.583	4.31	4.72	34	29	4	2	1	2	177.1	204	93	85	18	59	8	65	3	0	3	769	1.483	10.4	0.9	3.0	3.3	1.10
1969	24		2 Teams	NL	Maj	CHC-SDP	8	18	.308	3.70	4.07	41	34	6	8	3	0	221.1	237	100	91	18	51	9	62	0	0	4	928	1.301	9.6	0.7	2.1	2.5	1.22
1969	24	-3.0	CHC	NL	Maj	CHC	0	1	.000	3.72	4.19	4	3	0	0	0	0	19.1	24	9	8	3	6	0	7	0	0	0	86	1.552	11.2	1.4	2.8	3.3	1.17
1969	24	-3.0	SDP	NL	Maj	SDP	8	17	.320	3.70	4.05	37	31	6	8	3	0	202.0	213	91	83	15	45	9	55	0	0	4	842	1.277	9.5	0.7	2.0	2.5	1.22
1970	25	-2.2	DET	AL	Maj	DET	12	13	.480	4.06	4.52	38	34	2	6	2	0	213.0	221	107	96	28	72	4	101	3	0	1	914	1.376	9.3	1.2	3.0	4.3	1.40
1971	26	-0.9	DET	AL	Maj	DET	6	7	.462	4.49	4.56	31	15	5	0	0	1	122.1	136	62	61	13	49	3	43	2	0	2	540	1.512	10.0	1.0	3.6	3.2	0.88
1972	27	2.0	Toledo	IL	AAA	DET	2	0	1.000	0.64	0.64	2	2		2	1	0	14.0	6	1	1	0	3	0	11	0	0	1		0.643	3.9	0.0	1.9	7.1	3.67
1972	27	-0.2	DET	AL	Maj	DET	3	2	.600	3.83	3.83	18	7	4	1	0	1	47.0	62	20	20	3	8	1	24	1	0	2	199	1.489	11.9	0.6	1.5	4.6	3.00
1973	28	3.1	Toledo	IL	AAA	DET	7	10	.412	3.71	4.66	26	20		8	0	0	143.0	148	74	59	10	47	2	77	9	0	2		1.364	9.3	0.6	3.0	4.8	1.64
1973	28	0.7	ATL	NL	Maj	ATL	2	4	.333	4.13	4.13	20	0	11	0	0	3	24.0	23	11	11	2	11	1	12	0	0	3	99	1.417	8.6	0.8	4.1	4.5	1.09
1974	29	3.7	Richmond	IL	AAA	ATL	8	1	.889	2.08	2.42	30	0		0	0	7	52.0	44	14	12	2	18	2	50	0	0	0		1.192	7.6	0.3	3.1	8.7	2.78
1974	29	1.8	ATL	NL	Maj	ATL	3	2	.600	3.56	3.98	27	2	9	0	0	0	43.0	36	19	17	5	18	2	31	2	0	3	178	1.256	7.5	1.0	3.8	6.5	1.72
1975	30	5.7	Iowa	AA	AAA	HOU	1	0	1.000	5.00	6.00	7	0		0	0	1	9.0	7	6	5	1	7	0	9	0	0	0		1.556	7.0	1.0	7.0	9.0	1.29
1975	30	2.9	HOU	NL	Maj	HOU	6	4	.600	3.07	3.27	40	4	21	1	1	4	88.0	79	32	30	3	39	4	54	2	0	2	378	1.341	8.1	0.3	4.0	5.5	1.38
1976	31	3.6	HOU	NL	Maj	HOU	4	8	.333	3.36	4.58	36	13	5	0	0	0	118.0	107	60	44	8	56	1	77	1	0	8	515	1.381	8.2	0.6	4.3	5.9	1.38
1977	32	4.7	HOU	NL	Maj	HOU	13	8	.619	3.04	3.29	44	14	12	9	2	5	180.2	155	66	61	14	64	3	101	1	1	5	737	1.212	7.7	0.7	3.2	5.0	1.58
1978	33	5.0	HOU	NL	Maj	HOU	14	14	.500	3.86	4.31	35	29	2	10	1	0	202.2	190	97	87	13	73	1	97	9	0	9	861	1.298	8.4	0.6	3.2	4.3	1.33
1979	34	5.8	HOU	NL	Maj	HOU	21	11	.656	3.00	3.48	38	38	0	11	5	0	263.2	221	102	88	17	107	1	119	7	0	19	1095	1.244	7.5	0.6	3.7	4.1	1.11
1980	35	6.7	HOU	NL	Maj	HOU	20	12	.625	3.55	4.18	37	36	1	11	2	0	256.0	268	119	101	12	79	3	127	4	0	12	1096	1.355	9.4	0.4	2.8	4.5	1.61
1981	36	7.3	HOU	NL	Maj	HOU	9	9	.500	2.82	3.25	24	24	0	5	2	0	166.0	150	60	52	8	47	4	77	0	0	7	676	1.187	8.1	0.4	2.5	4.2	1.64
1982	37	8.3	HOU	NL	Maj	HOU	17	12	.586	2.47	2.63	35	35	0	16	5	0	270.0	224	79	74	12	64	1	130	5	0	19	1067	1.067	7.5	0.4	2.1	4.3	2.03
1983	38	9.5	HOU	NL	Maj	HOU	15	14	.517	3.48	3.93	38	38	0	9	1	0	263.2	238	115	102	15	101	5	152	3	1	14	1113	1.286	8.1	0.5	3.4	5.2	1.51
1984	39	10.9	HOU	NL	Maj	HOU	16	12	.571	3.04	3.77	38	38	0	6	1	0	248.1	223	104	84	16	89	4	127	4	1	12	1027	1.256	8.1	0.6	3.2	4.6	1.43
1985	40		2 Teams	2 Lgs	Maj	HOU	11	13	.458	3.83	4.31	35	35	0	4	1	0	225.1	211	108	96	24	107	6	121	5	1	21	983	1.411	8.4	1.0	4.3	4.8	1.13
1985	40	11.8	HOU	NL	Maj	HOU	9	12	.429	3.72	4.23	32	32	0	4	1	0	213.0	197	100	88	21	99	6	117	5	1	21	925	1.390	8.3	0.9	4.2	4.9	1.18
1985	40	11.6	NYY	AL	Maj	NYY	2	1	.667	5.84	5.84	3	3	0	0	0	0	12.1	14	8	8	3	8	0	4	0	0	0	58	1.784	10.2	2.2	5.8	2.9	0.50
1986	41	12.8	NYY	AL	Maj	NYY	9	10	.474	4.87	6.02	25	25	0	0	0	0	125.2	139	84	68	15	63	3	59	1	1	10	571	1.607	10.0	1.1	4.5	4.2	0.94
1987	42		2 Teams	AL	Maj	MIN-NYY	7	13	.350	5.33	6.18	27	26	0	1	0	0	147.0	155	101	87	15	64	0	84	10	0	13	655	1.490	9.5	0.9	3.9	5.1	1.31
1987	42	13.4	NYY	AL	Maj	NYY	3	4	.429	3.55	4.44	8	8	0	1	0	0	50.2	40	25	20	4	19	0	30	4	0	0	211	1.164	7.1	0.7	3.4	5.3	1.58
1987	42	13.4	MIN	AL	Maj	MIN	4	9	.308	6.26	7.10	19	18	0	0	0	0	96.1	115	76	67	11	45	0	54	6	0	13	444	1.661	10.7	1.0	4.2	5.0	1.20
1988	43	14.5	MIN	AL	Maj	MIN	1	1	.500	10.03	10.03	5	2	2	0	0	0	11.2	16	13	13	2	9	0	7	0	3	2	59	2.143	12.3	1.5	6.9	5.4	0.78
Year	Age	AgeDif	Tm	Lg	Lev	Aff	W	L	W-L%	ERA	RA9	G	GS	GF	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	BK	WP	BF	WHIP	H9	HR9	BB9	SO9	SO/W
Majors (22 seasons)					Majors		221	204	.520	3.59	4.07	702	500	93	107	29	16	3584.1	3466	1620	1431	276	1262	71	1747	65	8	172	15166	1.319	8.7	0.7	3.2	4.4	1.38
Minors (5 seasons)					Minors		24	17	.585	2.82	3.59	82	36		14	3	8	326.0	297	130	102	15	97	7	218	9	1	4		1.209	8.2	0.4	2.7	6.0	2.25
All Levels (23 Seasons)							245	221	.526	3.53	4.03	784	536	93	121	32	24	3910.1	3763	1750	1533	291	1359	78	1965	74	9	176	15166	1.310	8.7	0.7	3.1	4.5	1.45

AAA (4 seasons)					Minors		18	11	.621	3.18	3.92	65	22		10	1	8	218.0	205	95	77	13	75	4	147	9	0	3		1.284	8.5	0.5	3.1	6.1	1.96
AA (1 season)					Minors		5	4	.556	2.51	3.19	12	10		3	2		79.0	71	28	22	2	15	2	50	0	1	1		1.089	8.1	0.2	1.7	5.7	3.33
A (1 season)					Minors		1	2	.333	1.08	2.52	4	3		1	0		25.0	17	7	3	0	6	1	14	0	0	0		0.920	6.1	0.0	2.2	5.0	2.33
Rk (1 season)					Minors		0	0		0.00	0.00	1	1		0	0		4.0	4	0	0	0	1	0	7	0	0	0		1.250	9.0	0.0	2.3	15.8	7.00