"Joe suffered a disappointing campaign after being re-signed as a free agent to a three-year contract. The first blow came in spring training, when the Yankees released his brother, Phil. He never recovered emotionally from that.
He won his first four decisions for the best start of his career. He was 7-3 on June 10 when his season suddenly soured. Niekro won once from June 10 until August 30.
It was later revealed he had suffered a sore shoulder in June- the injury was diagnosed as a torn rotator cuff. Niekro failed to work as much as six innings in any of his last 12 starts. He generally fell behind hitters with his knuckleball and was hurt by his fastball and slider. He did not pitch after September 6.
This 213-game winner failed to finish in double figures in victories for only the second time in the last 10 years. Joe was runner-up in the National League Cy Young balloting in 1979 and was the winning pitcher for Houston in the one-game NL West playoff against Los Angeles in 1980. Born in Martins Ferry, Ohio, Joe was a third round draft choice of the Cubs June 1966."
-Tom Pedulla, The Complete Handbook of Baseball, 1987 Edition
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, and then it kept going bad. This was the story of Joe Niekro in 1986, his first full season in Pinstripes. The 42-year-old veteran knuckleballer was brought to New York from Houston in September of 1985 in order to lend some needed experience to the pitching staff. He was expected to continue that role in 1986.
After putting the spring release of brother Phil behind him, the younger Niekro started the year with four straight wins. Then the roof fell in. Joe could muster only five wins in his last fifteen decisions, finishing at a disappointing 9-10.
'You want to pitch well, and you feel bad when things aren't going well,' says Niekro. 'When you care about the game and you're not doing the job, it hurts.'
Another thing that hurt was a sore shoulder, which plagued the pitcher through much of the season. 'He still has the good knuckleball,' says pitching coach Mark Connor. 'With the proper rest and medication over the winter, he'll be back as a winning pitcher for us in 1987.'"
-The New York Yankees Official 1987 Yearbook
"Although he got off to the best start of his career in 1986, he was inconsistent for much of the year. Joe's 125.2 innings pitched were the fewest he's accumulated since his 118.0 innings pitched in 1976, and it was the first time he had more hits allowed (139) since 1980 (256.0 innings pitched, 268 hits). His walk total (63) exceeded his strikeouts (59) for the first time since 1971 (49 BB, 43 K's), and for only the second time in his major league career. 1986 also marked his first season since '76 that he failed to record a shutout or a complete game. Joe's last shutout came on June 8, 1985 while with Houston, beating San Francisco 5-0, and he threw his last complete game on August 13, 1985, also with Houston, losing to San Francisco 4-2.
Joe was 4-0 to start the season and had a 2.54 ERA by May 5 (six starts) with 11 earned runs in 39 innings pitched- his best start since going 3-0 in 1970 with Detroit. His second inning strikeout of Brook Jacoby on April 15 at Cleveland was career strikeout No. 1,600. He was 1-3 in his next five starts, May 11-30, allowing 16 earned runs in 28.2 innings pitched (5.02 ERA), raising his overall ERA to 3.59. Joe allowed two home runs on May 30 at Oakland, one each to Jose Canseco and Dave Kingman.
He won his following two starts on June 4 at California and on June 10 at Detroit. On June 4 Joe had a no-hitter going before Gary Pettis doubled with two out in the eighth- he retired Wally Joyner to end the inning, and Al Holland pitched a perfect ninth to preserve the 11-0 combined shutout. Joe allowed just one run in the June 10 start (Pat Sheridan's solo homer), combining for one run in 14.2 innings pitched in the two wins, raising his season record to 7-3 and lowering his ERA to 3.06.
Joe lost his next three starts, allowing 16 earned runs in 9.0 innings pitched with his season record falling to 7-6 with a 4.34 ERA. He gave up three home runs in 2.1 innings pitched on June 17 against Boston (Bill Buckner a two-run homers, Dwight Evans a pair of two-run homers); five runs in 5.0 innings pitched on June 22 at Toronto in a 15-1 New York loss; and four runs in 1.2 innings pitched on June 28 against Toronto. Joe was placed on the 15-day disabled list on June 30 with a raised fingernail on his right index finger, and was not activated until July 17.
He made nine starts after returning from the DL, going 2-4 with a 6.29 ERA (24 ER, 34.1 IP), failing to get past the sixth inning in any of the nine starts- in fact, he was unable to get past the sixth inning in any of his last 12 starts, going 2-7 with an 8.31 ERA (40 ER, 43.1 IP). Three of the four homers he allowed after returning from the DL were to Doug DeCinces: two on August 25 in New York and one on September 6 in Anaheim. Joe's last win came on August 30 at Seattle (second game of a doubleheader), allowing no runs on four hits in 5.0 innings pitched, and his last loss came on September 6 at California (his last appearance). Joe made his first career appearances against Seattle, Texas and Toronto in 1986.
Joe walked a season high six batters twice, April 25 against Cleveland and June 10 at Detroit, and struck out a season high five twice, April 25 against Cleveland and June 4 at California. Somewhat a victim of poor fielding, he was charged with 16 unearned runs, or 19% of his total runs allowed.
His 118 wins since and including 1979 ties him with Scott McGregor for third most in the majors, trailing Ron Guidry (122) and Jack Morris (140). He currently ranks eighth on the [career] win list of active pitchers with 213 (the list includes all pitchers playing in 1986). Joe has combined with older brother Phil to record 524 career wins, second only to Gaylord and Jim Perry's total of 529 for a brother duo.
Joe came to the Yankees from Houston in exchange for left-handed pitcher Jim Deshaies, minor league pitcher Dody Rather and minor league infielder Neder Horta on September 15, 1985 (the minor league players named on later dates). He was reunited with his brother Phil, as the two played for Atlanta in 1973-74. Joe was 9-12, 3.72 ERA with Houston in '85, completing an 11-year career [with the Astros]. He had 100+ strikeouts for the fifth straight year and ninth time in his career. Joe notched his 200th career win at San Diego on July 2, winning 3-2. He became Houston's all-time winningest pitcher at 144 wins.
He made three starts after joining the Yankees. A free agent after the season, he was re-signed by New York just hours prior to the midnight January 8 deadline.
Joe tossed a 1-hitter for Detroit against the Yankees on July 2, 1970, with Horace Clarke breaking up the no-hit bid with a one out single in the ninth inning. He tossed a seven inning perfect game in the minors for Toledo on July 15, 1972 at Tidewater. He has authored a 1-hitter, three 2-hitters and six 3-hitters in his career.
He won a 4-hitter while hitting a homer off his brother Phil on May 26, 1976. He holds a 5-4 edge over Phil with the last decision being a 5-3 triumph for Joe at Atlanta on September 13, 1982.
Joe recorded back-to-back 20-win seasons with Houston, going 21-11 in 1979 and 20-12 in 1980. He was the runner-up in the BBWAA voting for the 1979 Cy Young Award and placed fourth in 1980. In 1979 Joe was chosen as the NL Pitcher of the Year by the Sporting News. He tied for the NL lead with five shutouts that year. He was named to the '79 NL All-Star team as well as the the AP and UPI postseason All-Star squads. In 1980, Joe was the winning pitcher in the one-game playoff against Los Angeles to decide the National League Western Division title.
His 2.47 ERA in 1982 was second in the National League, and he also tied for second with five shutouts, was third with 16 complete games and fourth with 270 innings pitched. Joe had a career high 153 strikeouts in 1983.
A graduate of Bridgeport (OH) High School, Joe attended West Liberty (West Virginia) College where he won All-American honors in baseball. He is very active nationally with the Spina Bifida Association and has received many honors for his contributions. He greatly enjoys fishing. His brother Phil is a 23-year veteran of the major leagues and is currently pitching for the Cleveland Indians.
Joe's favorite spectator sport is golf and his favorite team growing up was the Pittsburgh Pirates. His favorite player is Phil Niekro, his toughest opponent is Tony Perez, and his favorite ballparks are Yankee Stadium and San Diego Stadium. His most memorable moment was beating the Dodgers for the NL West pennant. His favorite entertainer is Elton John."
-1987 New York Yankees Information Guide
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