phil niekro is in my hall of famer collection

for a short time after i started following baseball and collecting cards, i associated phil niekro with nolan ryan. that was because they shared the 1978 topps strikeout league leader card. i quickly came to understand that they were different pitchers, however, as i was able to follow both pretty closely thanks to local angel and dodger coverage (this was back when the braves were in the national league west and seemed to play the dodgers every other week).  so, it's no surprise that phil niekro is in my hall of famer collection as a brave with this 2017 panini donruss recollection collection 1983 donruss buyback autograph numbered 13 of 33.

here's the back:

i recall being amazed at the back of niekro's 1978 topps card, with his 20 losses from the season prior staring at me. it failed to compute that he could be good enough to pitch for so long and lead the league in k's but still lose so many games. that was my first lesson in the fallibility of wins as a measure of a pitcher. 

niekro lost 20 games again in 1979, but also led the league with 21 wins and so in 1980 i found him on a league leader card once again - this time sharing space with his brother joe who also won 21 that year.  the fact that both were knuckleballers was amazing to me, and i was left to wonder why the dodgers' own knuckler, charlie hough, didn't have that same success.  turns out, he just needed to go to the american league and become a starter.

niekro helped the braves edge out the dodgers in 1982 for the nl west title, as he threw a shutout during the final weekend of the season to keep the dodgers from tying the braves with a couple of games left to play. that set the stage for joe morgan to crush my hopes of a back-to-back world championship run on the final day of the season. i'm sure that will come up again when i get to morgan's entry in this collection.

anyway, there hasn't been a knuckleballer as successful as niekro although several have tried. tom candiotti once said something along the lines of you have to be a pitcher first and a knuckleballer second, which makes sense, so it is a testament to the pitch and to niekro that even those who have tried to learn the pitch after having success as a pitcher have not been able to master the craft.  

one of my little league teammate's dad was able to throw a pretty good knuckleball, and it was fun to try to catch it. he never threw us batting practice, however, so i don't think i've ever tried to hit one. i assume i was like most kids by trying to throw a knuckler while playing catch, and i got to the point where i could throw what i thought was a decent one every once in a while. so much so that i considered throwing a knuckleball in babe ruth as a pitcher a couple of times, but i chickened out in the moment, even though once it was working ok during warmups.

there is a small possibility that i saw niekro pitch in person once. the first big league game i attended was in 1974 between the braves and dodgers in los angeles. unfortunately, i don't know the exact date. niekro did pitch at dodger stadium on may 18 that year, earning a no-decision despite throwing nine innings of two-hit ball. andy messersmith threw 10 shutout innings, and the dodgers won on a 13th inning walk-off single, courtesy of steve garvey. i have no recollection of the game, so it really doesn't matter, i guess.

here's my hall of famer collection as its been documented so far:

babe ruth - 2003 topps tribute world series edition world series tribute relic 351/425

honus wagner - 2001 topps tribute relic

tris speaker - 2011 topps tribute dual relic green parallel 53/75

george sisler - 2004 topps tribute hall of fame tribute relic

dizzy dean - 2001 topps tribute relic

bob feller - 2001 topps archives certified autograph

jackie robinson - 2004 topps clubhouse collection clubhouse relic

ted williams - 1992 upper deck baseball heroes autograph 1067/2000

yogi berra - 1998 donruss signatures significant signatures 1640/2000

roberto clemente - 2005 donruss greats hall of fame souvenirs relic

warren spahn - 1999 upper deck century legends epic signatures

mickey mantle - 2000 upper deck legends legendary game jerseys relic

willie mays - 1997 topps willie mays reprints certified autograph

al kaline - 2001 fleer greats of the game autograph

duke snider - 2003 upper deck sp authentic chirography hall of famers 144/250

bob gibson - 2001 fleer greats of the game autograph

hank aaron - 2004 topps originals 1979 topps all-time record holders rbi 03/32

frank robinson - 1995 upper deck autograph

harmon killebrew - 2000 upper deck legends legendary signatures

pee wee reese - 2001 topps tribute relic

jim hunter - 1998 donruss signature series significant signatures 0736/2000

willie stargell - 2000 upper deck legends legendary signatures 

gaylord perry - 2003 topps finest finest moments autograph

rollie fingers - 2018 topps archives signature series 1978 topps buyback 1/3

reggie jackson - 2018 topps tier one tier one talent autograph 19/60

steve carlton - 2018 topps five star career year autograph 43/45

mike schmidt - 2002 topps archives autoproof 1980 topps buyback 048/147

phil niekro - 2017 panini donruss recollection collection 1983 donruss buyback autograph 13/33

don sutton - 2001 fleer greats of the game autograph

tony perez - 2004 fleer national pastime 2002 fleer greats authentic autograph buyback 30/59

dave winfield - 2003 upper deck sp authentic chirography hall of famers 121/350

ozzie smith - 2019 topps finest finest origins autograph

gary carter - 1999 fleer sports illustrated greats of the game autograph collection

dennis eckersley - 2017 topps archives signature series 1984 topps buyback 47/99

paul molitor - 2016 topps museum collection archival autographs 021/125

bruce sutter - 2003 topps all-time fan favorites certified autograph

jim rice - 2005 upper deck past time pennants past time signatures

andre dawson - 2000 fleer greats of the game autograph

pedro martinez - 2018 topps high tek portraitek autograph 09/60

tim raines - 2018 topps tribute tribute autograph green parallel 26/95

alan trammell - 2001 fleer greats of the game autograph

roy halladay - 2017 topps archives signature series 2004 topps buyback 15/23

pete rose* - 2018 panini flawless legendary signatures 15/25

barry bonds* - 2001 bowman heritage autographs

you can find the full list of hall of famers (and some not - yet) that i aim to include in this collection at my want list site.

*not currently a member of the hall of fame