Blow Out the Candles April 1

Hall of Fame knuckleballer, Phil Niekro is celebrating his 73rd birthday today.

 1969 Topps #355

Phil won 318 games in his 24 seasons (16th all-time). 268 of them were with the Braves.  His 3342 strikeouts is 11th all-time and only three men pitched more innings in their careers than Phil's 5404 (Cy Young, Pud Galvin and Walter Johnson).

1965

Phil pitching a no-hitter against the padres on August 5, 1973.

Phil pitching at Wrigley in the 80's

"Trying to hit him was like trying to eat Jell-O with chopsticks."

--Bobby Murcer

Phil was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1997.

The great Rusty Staub is 67 today.

 1964 Topps #109

Rusty a .279 lifetime hitter with 2,716 hits is the only major leaguer with 500 hits with four different teams, (Astros, Expos, Mets and Tigers)

"Le Grand Orange"

This is a great video if you have time to watch it.

Fun with Stats: A Tim Wakefield Coincidence

I'm not even sure how this post got started  in the first place but it starts with Tim Wakefield who, coincidentally is announcing his retirement today.

Knuckleballer Tim Wakefield is currently 7th on the all time list of hit batsmen with 186.  He's accomplished this in just 3226 innings.  That's 1 batter hit for every 17.3 innings pitched.

43rd on the list is fellow knuckleballer Phil Niekro who plunked 123 batters in 5404 innings during his long career.  That's 1 for every 43.9 innings.

Future Hall of Famer Greg Maddux appears on the list at #31 with 137 hit batsmen in 5008 innings, or 1 in every 36.6.

Which is more surprising here, that knuckler Niekro hit so few batters compared to Wakefield or that pinpoint control pitcher Maddux hit more than Niekro?

A couple of others for comparison?

Tom Seaver 76 HBP in 4783  IP = 1/62.9

Charlie Hough 174 HBP in 3801 IP = 1/21.8

Big Cards Need Love Too -- #'s 9-12

I guess I'm in the minority but I think these 3-1/2" x 5", 1983 Donruss Action All-Stars are nice.   Here they are in numerical order. (Click to enlarge particularly if you want to read the backs).

 Andre sang "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" today at Wrigley.  He did a nice job.  If you've seen the bottom of the 7th interviews you'll know that the guest usually has on a personalized Cubs jersey.  Interestingly Andre was wearing a 1918 throwback.  When asked about it he said that he had seen the Cubs wearing them in a game this year and liked them.  Here's Starlin Castro from the game:

"Moon-Man" was an All-Star in 1982.  He finished with 10-4 with 30 saves and a 1.83 ERA.

 Terry was peaking in 1983.  He would finish the year with a career high 98 RBI and made the NL All-Star team.

 Phil was coming off his best year Winning Percentage-wise.  In 1982 he was 17-4, .810.

Blow Out the Candles April 1

Hall of Fame knuckeballer, Phil Niekro is celebrating his 72nd birthday today.

 1969 Topps #355

Phil won 318 games in his 24 seasons (16th all-time). 268 of them were with the Braves.  His 3342 strikeouts is 11th all-time and only three men pitched more innings in their careers than Phil's 5404 (Cy Young, Pud Galvin and Walter Johnson).

1965

Phil pitching a no-hitter against the padres on August 5, 1973.

Phil pitching at Wrigley in the 80's

"Trying to hit him was like trying to eat Jell-O with chopsticks."

--Bobby Murcer

Phil was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1997.

The great Rusty Staub is 67 today.

 1964 Topps #109

Rusty a .279 lifetime hitter with 2,716 hits is the only major leaguer with 500 hits with four different teams, (Astros, Expos, Mets and Tigers)

"Le Grand Orange"

This is a great video if you have time to watch it.

Phil and Joe Together

Phil and Joe Niekro are the winningest pair of brothers in MLB history.  Together they won 539 games.

Twice in their careers the brothers Niekro were teammates.

This pair of 1974 Topps cards represent the only time Joe and Phil were together for an entire season.  The Braves acquired Joe off waivers from the Tigers on August 7, 1973  and sold him to the Astros on April 6, 1975.

The two were reunited,  only briefly, in 1985 when the Yankees acquired Joe in a trade from Houston on September 15.  The cards below became a fantasy when Phil was released by the Yanks on  March 28, 1986.

Phil, 71, is currently an advisor on a baseball line for a toy company in Georgia.  Younger brother Joe died of a brain aneurysm in 2006 at age 61.

Target Markdowns -- UD All-Star Classics -- Pack 3

Still loving these cards.  Sharp photos, great color, borderless, nice gloss and a great assortment of players.

Here's pack 3 of 5:

2005 UD Signature Decades -- the 1980's

I have a fair amount of certified auto cards but my favorite set is Upper Deck's 2005 Signature Decades. Overall the design is appealing and they are all on card autographs in a bright blue ink that stands out nicely against a white background.

Here are seven stars from the 1980's. Five are in the Hall of Fame.

1980's