[zeprock]

We just lost Phil Niekro the day after Christmas. Niekro, a master of the knuckleball, pitched 20 of his 24 MLB seasons with the Braves. He was a five-time All-star and a five-time Gold Glove Award winner who threw a no-hitter and led his league in victories twice and ERA once. In 1979 he became the last pitcher to win and lose 20 games in the same season. The 539 wins amassed by Phil and his brother, Joe, combined are the most by brothers in MLB history with Phil accounting for 318 of them. He set a Major League record by playing 24 seasons without a World Series appearance. As of this posting, I have 229 different Beckett recognized cards of Phil. Here are nine from my collection.

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1965 Topps #461 Rookie Stars/Clay Carroll RC/Phil Niekro (This is Phil's second Rookie Stars card. I showed you his first back in post #130 when I displayed nine of my 1964 cards.)
1966 Topps #28 Phil Niekro
1968 Topps #257 Phil Niekro

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1971 Topps #30 Phil Niekro
1972 Topps #620 Phil Niekro
1987 Topps #694 Phil Niekro Autographed (I wrote to Phil and sent him a couple of cards to sign but he declined and sent my cards back. This was signed but not for me.)

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1993 Nabisco All-Star Autographs #4 Phil Niekro (Got this when I sent away for the complete set after eating a ton of Ritz crackers.)
2004 SP Legendary Cuts Historic Swatches #PN Phil Niekro Jsy (I love the baby blue swatch.)
2005 Sweet Spot Classic Materials #CMPN Phil Niekro Jsy