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Phil Niekro made two starts in the 1982 National League Championship Series versus the Cardinals. Only one counted.

A right-handed knuckleball master who pitched in the majors until he was 48, Niekro earned 318 wins in the majors and was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame, but he never pitched in the World Series.

In 1982, when he was 17-4 for the West Division champion Braves, Niekro was the choice of manager Joe Torre to start Game 1 of the National League Championship Series. Niekro shut out the Cardinals for 4.1 innings and had a 1-0 lead before the game was called off because of rain. Niekro was two outs away from completing the five innings needed for an official game.

Three days later, Niekro started Game 2. He pitched six innings, allowed two runs and was lifted for a pinch-hitter with the Braves ahead, 3-2, but the Cardinals rallied against Gene Garber and won, 4-3.

Knuckle under

Niekro, 43, ended the 1982 regular season on a roll, winning 11 of his last 12 decisions. His last two wins were shutouts.

“That’s what you expect from someone who wants something as badly as he wants this championship,” Torre told the Atlanta Constitution.

As the Braves headed into the best-of-five National League Championship Series, Niekro was matched against Joaquin Andujar in Game 1. 

Niekro was 1-0 with a 1.29 ERA in 21 innings pitched against the Cardinals in the 1982 regular season. Many of the Cardinals struggled against him throughout their careers. The list included Keith Hernandez (.233 batting average against), Gene Tenace (.211), George Hendrick (.178), Tommy Herr (.143) and Willie McGee (.100). An exception was Lonnie Smith (.514).

“What makes Niekro so tough is there’s no telling where the ball will go,” Herr told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “I don’t even think he knows. You have to wait longer to swing because the ball is going to move.”

Tenace said, “His ball does everything and anything. It gets to the plate and it explodes up there. I’d just as soon take a beating as to have to hit that thing.”

In batting practice the day before the series opener, Cardinals coach Hal Lanier threw knuckleballs to try to help the hitters prepare for Niekro, “but it’s not quite the same,” said Hernandez.

“He’s not unhittable,” Hernandez said of Niekro, “but you have to be a disciplined hitter. You have to relax and wait until the last possible second before you pull the trigger.” Video of Niekro knuckler

Mind games

In the series opener on Oct. 6 at St. Louis, the Braves got a run in the first inning when Claudell Washington doubled and scored on a Chris Chambliss single.

The Cardinals threatened, loading the bases in the first and getting a runner to third base in the third, but couldn’t score against Niekro.

“I’ve seen him better,” Hernandez told the Atlanta Constitution. “I’ve seen his knuckleball do more. He wasn’t as sharp, and he still got us out. He’s smart.”

Niekro said it was the “worst knuckler I had in a couple of months.”

Cardinals manager Whitey Herzog, seeking an edge, complained to the umpires that Niekro regularly was committing a balk by not coming to a set position with a runner on base.

“I think he balked about seven or eight times,” Herzog said to the Post-Dispatch. “It’s a farce … There’s no doubt in my mind he doesn’t pause at all. I’ll guarantee you if one of my pitchers did that it would be a balk.”

Niekro, who was called for one balk during the 1982 season, responded, “If I was doing something wrong, it would have been called.”

Wiped out

Pitching in a light rain in the bottom of the fifth, Niekro got one out before plate umpire Billy Williams halted play. The forecast showed heavy rain was on the way. Williams indicated a playoff game shouldn’t be decided in a mere five innings, and that was likely to happen if he allowed the inning to be completed. 

“I didn’t want to rush and play two outs, and then have the outcome decided because we didn’t have common sense,” Williams told the Post-Dispatch. “I would have done the same thing if the score was 4-0 or 10-0.”

With rain continuing after a delay of two hours and 28 minutes, National League president Chub Feeney made the decision to call off the game.

“I’ve pitched many times when it was raining much harder than it was when the game was called,” Niekro said to the Atlanta Constitution. “I’m confident they would have completed the inning in the regular season. I’m really disappointed I didn’t get an opportunity to get two more outs.”

Torre, a former Cardinal, said he he understood the decision by Williams to stop play when he did. Torre told the Post-Dispatch, “I don’t think a team should play 162 games and then lose a playoff game in five innings. What I mean is, we don’t want to come in here and steal a game.”

Niekro had a different point of view: “It really doesn’t matter how you win a playoff game as long as you win it,” he said.

Series sweep

The rescheduled Game 1 was played the next day, Oct. 7, with Pascual Perez starting for the Braves against Bob Forsch. Forsch pitched a three-hit shutout and the Cardinals won, 7-0. Boxscore

Game 2, scheduled for Oct. 8, was rained out, enabling Torre to start Niekro when it was rescheduled for Oct. 9 at St. Louis.

In the seventh, with the Braves ahead, 3-2, they had runners on first and second, one out, when Torre sent Biff Pocoroba to bat for Niekro against Doug Bair. Pocoroba grounded out.

“I felt I could have gone two or three more innings,” Niekro told the Atlanta Constitution. “I can’t say I wasn’t disappointed. You start a ballgame, you want to finish it. I thought I had a good knuckleball. It was moving quite a bit.”

Facing closer Gene Garber, the Cardinals scored a run in the eighth and another in the ninth, and won, 4-3. Boxscore

The next night, at Atlanta, with Rick Camp starting for the Braves, the Cardinals completed the sweep, winning 6-2, and advanced to a World Series for the first time in 14 years. Boxscore

Summarizing the disappointment of the Braves falling short in their bid for a pennant, Niekro said, “How can you be so close and be so far at the same time?”

Niekro pitched five more seasons, including stints with the Yankees, Indians and Blue Jays, but never got to pitch in a World Series.