phil niekro is in a couple of my other collections, too

it's phil niekro week i guess. a couple of days ago, i showed his card that i have in my hall of famer collection. today, here are a couple of cards i picked up over the last few months of the hall of fame knuckleballer.

first is a 2006 upper deck sp legendary cuts legendary materials relic card

niekro is standing in dodger stadium with a nice look at the multi-colored seating strata behind him. these bolder colored seats are how i remember dodger stadium looking. in fact, i have a pair of the yellow field level seats in my basement that i picked up when the dodgers replaced the seating back around 2005 or so.

now here's a 2004 upper deck legends timeless teams bronze parallel card

as you probably know, i really like the 2004 legends set, and i will pick up these parallels every once in a while when i come across them. i have compiled a list of cards i don't have for the parallel sets, but i have no expectations of ever completing any of them.  i also like these cards that show grips of different pitches. when i threw a knuckleball, i held it more like a two-seamer which may explain why i never did throw it from the mound in a game.

i'll end with a reminder that niekro was no older than 46 when these photos were taken.