Knuckleballer Joe Niekro’s Long Career Had a Short, Memorable Stop in Minnesota 

Everybody loves a knuckleball, right? The slow, floating pitch is unpredictable, erratic, and just plain different. It’s a challenge to hit and even a challenge to catch. There have been very few knuckleball pitchers (estimates say around 70) of the more than 11,000 pitchers in Major League Baseball. That’s less than 1 in 1,000. When I think “knuckleball pitcher and the Minnesota Twins,” the first person who comes to my mind is Joe Niekro in 1987 and 1988. Let’s take a closer look at Joe’s extensive career, which finished with parts of two seasons in Minnesota. 

Joseph Franklin Niekro was born November 7, 1944, in Martins Ferry, Ohio, a small town on the opposite side of the Ohio River from Wheeling, West Virginia. He was the younger brother of Baseball Hall of Famer and fellow knuckleballer Phil by five years. The Niekros came from a baseball family, and it was their father who first taught them to throw the knuckleball. Joe graduated from high school in nearby Bridgeport, Ohio, in 1962. From there, he attended West Liberty University in West Virginia. 

Joe Niekro would grow to 6'1" and 185 pounds. The right-handed pitcher was first selected in the seventh round of the January phase of the 1966 draft by Cleveland but did not sign. He was selected again in the June phase of the 1966 draft by the Cubs in the third round. This time, he signed and began his professional career. At this point, Joe was primarily a “regular” pitcher and was not a knuckleball pitcher.

Joe Niekro won ten games in his first MLB season of 1967. But for the most part, he was inconsistent and bounced through four organizations in his first eight MLB seasons, struggling to find a home and consistent success. But that fourth organization was the Atlanta Braves, where his older brother was excelling. The older brother won 33 games in those two seasons (1973 and 1974). Perhaps because of watching his brother Phil’s success, Joe, who had gotten away from the knuckleball, reacquainted himself with the pitch at that time. This change ultimately propelled the younger Niekro to greater MLB success, but it wouldn’t be with his brother. Just before the 1975 season, the Houston Astros purchased Joe's contract from the Braves for $35,000. Joe would make the most of that fresh start.

In Houston, Joe found a home for the next 11 seasons. He played for the Astros from 1975 to 1985. More than half of his career innings and wins came with the Astros. He was the first Astro to win 20 games in consecutive seasons (1979 and 1980). His career peaked in 1979 when he made his lone All-Star appearance and was The Sporting News National League Pitcher of the Year. He led the league with 21 wins, including five shutouts. That season, he pitched to a 3.00 ERA across 263 2/3 innings. Brother Phil also won 21 games, so they shared the league lead for wins, the only time brothers accomplished this feat. 

In 1980, the Astros and Niekro had another fine season. Joe again won 20 games, and the Astros and Dodgers tied for the NL West Division title, each with a record of 92-70. On October 6, a one-game tiebreaker would be held to determine the division winner. Joe was given the starting pitching assignment for Game 163 and responded with a complete game, allowing six hits and one run. The Astros won the game 7-1 and won the division title. In Game 3 of the 1980 National League Championship Series, he started and pitched 10 innings of shutout baseball before the Astros finally beat the Phillies in 11 innings. However, the Astros ultimately lost the NLCS three games to two, ending their season against the eventual World Series Champion Phillies. 

1981 was a strike year, which resulted in a split season. The division winners from the first half of the season would play a short series against the division winners from the second half to determine who would advance to the League Champion Series. Houston won the NL West division in the second half and faced the Dodgers. Joe had a 9-9 record in the shortened season but carried a 2.82 ERA into the playoffs. In 1980, he had a similar outstanding performance in an 11-inning playoff win again. Niekro went eight scoreless innings before the Astros won again, this time over the Dodgers. However, Niekro’s performance, again, did not enable the Astros to win the series; the Dodgers prevailed three games to two. 

Joe Niekro would pitch three and a half more seasons in Houston, but the team would not return to the playoffs in his remaining time there. Niekro’s statistics stayed strong. He had double-digit wins each season (also double-digit losses) and was highly durable, throwing the less taxing knuckleball. He started at least 35 games from 1982 to 1985, including 38 starts in both 1983 and 1984, which led the NL both years. In 1985, he became the all-time winningest pitcher in Astros history and still holds that distinction today (one win more than Roy Oswalt). 

In September of 1985, Joe was traded to the New York Yankees (which very briefly reunited him with brother Phil). He pitched parts of three mediocre seasons (for Niekro and New York) before being traded to the Twins on June 7, 1987, for Mark Salas. The Twins' record at the time of the trade was 28-26. They had a strong offense but were having trouble finding consistent and reliable pitching. The Twins had Frank Viola and Hall of Famer Bert Blyleven, of course, but filling out the rest of the rotation was a constant battle. This is where Joe Niekro fits. 

The 42-year-old Niekro started 18 games for the Twins during the remainder of the 1987 regular season. He earned the win in his first two starts, but from that point on, he generally performed poorly. His record was 4-9 with a 6.26 ERA. But, hey, he filled a rotation spot.

One of the funniest episodes in Twins history occurred on August 3, 1987, thanks to Mr. Niekro. The Twins were in a 2-2 battle with the California Angels. While pitching in the bottom of the fourth inning, Niekro was caught on the pitching mound with an emery board in his back pocket and was immediately ejected from the game. He would be suspended for 10 games for cheating – scuffing the baseball. On August 15, while serving the suspension, Niekro accepted an invitation to appear on Late Night with David Letterman, mocking the entire incident. He showed up with a belt sander, nail file, and Vaseline and made fun of the whole situation. I encourage everyone to take a break from this article, go to YouTube, and find those two videos for a good laugh. This ball-scuffing incident is the most memorable thing about Niekro’s Twins career. Oh, and by the way, the Twins won the game in California, 11-3.

The Twins ended up winning the AL West division, but Niekro was dropped from the starting rotation for the playoffs. Manager Tom Kelly decided to go with a three-man starting pitcher rotation, which would allow Viola to pitch Games 1, 4, and 7. Blyleven was slated for Games 2 and 5. The last spot went to rookie Les Straker. Niekro’s 18 starts were fifth on the team in 1987, while veteran Mike Smithson had started 20. However, Straker had started 26 and was viewed as a better option. Straker’s ERA, ERA+, and WHIP were all better than the veterans. 

Joe Niekro did not pitch in the ALCS against Detroit but made a World Series appearance with two innings of scoreless relief against the St. Louis Cardinals during the Game Four “Tom Lawless game.” That brought Niekro’s career postseason record to 20 innings pitched without allowing a single earned run. 

As we all know, the Twins won that World Series, and everyone lived happily ever after. Niekro was a free agent and re-signed to return to Minnesota for the 1988 season. He was signed to be a swingman, able to start and relieve. During the sixth game of the season, Joe came in to pitch the seventh and eighth innings against Cleveland with the Twins down, 6-3. The Twins scored four runs late, and Joe got the win, which would be the last win of his career. Niekro got two more relief appearances and did fine. He also received two more starts, which were not fine – he gave up 7 and 5 runs, respectively. After that second start on April 29, 1988, the Twins decided they had seen enough and released Joe Niekro, thus ending his 22-year career at the age of 43.

In his 22-season-long career, Niekro amassed 221 wins. His brother Phil won 318. The Niekros’ total of 539 wins remains the most combined wins by brothers in MLB history. Joe’s 221 wins are the third most of any knuckleballer, behind two Hall of Famers, his brother Phil (318) and Ted Lyons (260).

In addition to the 221 wins, Joe had 204 losses and 16 saves. He struck out 1,747 batters in 3,584 1/3 innings. His WHIP was 1.319. His walk rate was 3.2 per 9 innings, which seems pretty darn good for a knuckleball pitcher. His career ERA was 3.59, and his ERA+ was 98.

As a pitcher in the National League for many years, Joe occasionally got to step up to the plate. A right-handed batter, Niekro was not particularly good with the bat (.156/.188/.188). However, he did have one single home run in 1,165 plate appearances, and it came against…his brother, Phil Niekro.

Joe’s sons also excelled in baseball. His first son, Lance, played parts of four seasons in the show for the Giants. He was a first baseman. Joe’s other son, JJ, has been a pitcher in the Braves system for the last five seasons. 

In 2006, Joe died of a brain aneurysm just short of his 62nd birthday. 

Have there been other knuckleballers in Twins History? I can think of R.A. Dickey and current Triple-A prospect Cory Lewis. Are there others? Please add any other names in the comments below. 

If you like looking back at the Twins' past, check out my previous articles at Twins Daily History.

Sources include Baseball Reference and Wikipedia.

Are you interested in Twins history? Then check out the Minnesota Twins Players Project, a community-driven project to discover and collect great information on every player to wear a Twins uniform!