Unwanted by Joe Torre and Bob Gibson with the Braves, Phil Niekro was coveted by the Cardinals.
Looking to bolster their starting pitching in 1984, the Cardinals made a pitch to Niekro, who asked for and received his release from the Braves after they told him he wasn’t in their plans.
Niekro was approaching his 45th birthday, but the Cardinals, and other clubs, were confident the knuckleball pitcher remained effective.
Old pro
In 1983, Niekro, 44, had a poor start to the season. After a loss to the Astros on June 21, his record was 2-6 with a 5.04 ERA.
“On 3-and-2 counts, he didn’t trust his knuckleball and, turning to his fastball, now semi-fast, he was often only setting himself up,” columnist Furman Bisher observed in The Sporting News.
Braves manager Joe Torre and pitching coach Bob Gibson lost confidence in Niekro, but, lacking a better option, kept him in the rotation.
Niekro and his knuckleball warmed with the weather. On Aug. 24, he beat the Cardinals, limiting them to two runs in seven innings. Boxscore
“I’m a better pitcher in the second half of the season,” Niekro told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “In the spring, I go out there and seem to try to throw the knuckleball through the catcher’s mitt. When it gets hot, it makes you slow down and think a lot better.”
Niekro finished the season 11-10 with a 3.97 ERA in 201.2 innings pitched. He was 1-1 with a 2.45 ERA in three starts against the Cardinals. It was the 16th time Niekro had achieved double-digit wins in a season for the Braves.
Power vs. finesse
Niekro’s good finish didn’t change the minds of Torre and Gibson. They informed Braves owner Ted Turner they didn’t want Niekro in the starting rotation in 1984.
Turner met with Niekro, suggested it was time to quit playing and offered him his choice of other jobs, including a chance to manage in the minors. Niekro said Turner also told him he would override the decision of Torre and Gibson if Niekro wanted, but Niekro instead asked for his release.
“The coaching staff does not want me to pitch here,” Niekro said to the Atlanta Constitution. “I’m not going into spring training holding Ted Turner’s hand, pitching under his shadow.”
Referring to Gibson, Niekro told Chris Mortensen of the Atlanta Constitution, “One of the coaches thought I should have retired in May or June. This coach stated, ‘Phil Niekro is 100 years old and he ought to quit right now.’ “
Regarding Torre, who was Niekro’s catcher in the 1960s, Niekro said, “I’ve gotten along with him about as well as any manager I’ve had. I just haven’t gotten along as well when it comes to pitching.”
Tim Tucker of the Atlanta Constitution wrote, “A lot of it has to do with the almost fanatical preference of Joe Torre and Bob Gibson for power pitchers. They simply would rather not have a knuckleballer on the staff.”
In his book “Stranger to the Game,” Gibson said, “I had been of the opinion that our talented young pitchers would be more of an asset to the ballclub than Niekro at age 45.
“I certainly believed in an organization’s loyalty to its cornerstone players, but at some point loyalty steps aside and good judgment takes over.”
Fitting in
Niekro’s unceremonious departure surprised many. Gibson acknowledged, “The Niekro affair had made me an unpopular figure in town and in certain parts of the front office.”
Noting that Niekro won his fifth Gold Glove Award in 1983, columnist Bill Conlin of The Sporting News wrote, “Niekro’s knuckleball is undiminished, he’s still among the best at holding runners on first and fielding his position, and he’s the kind of individual any manager would like to have around a young pitching staff.”
The Phillies’ Pete Rose told the Atlanta paper, “Are you telling me the Braves think they have 10 better pitchers than Phil Niekro? if so, I haven’t seen them.”
Pitcher Gaylord Perry said, “If he can get a park that suits his style, he can win 15 to 17 games again.”
The Cardinals considered Busch Memorial Stadium that kind of ballpark.
Of the five teams that pursued Niekro, the Cardinals appeared to have the strongest interest. Other suitors were the A’s, Pirates, White Sox and Yankees.
Niekro became a target after a proposed trade in which the Cardinals would send Neil Allen, Ken Oberkfell and Jim Adduci to the Orioles for Dennis Martinez, Tim Stoddard and Benny Ayala didn’t materialize, according to The Sporting News.
Money matters
At the 1983 baseball winter meetings, Cardinals manager Whitey Herzog said, “I’d like to have Phil Niekro.”
Cardinals general manager Joe McDonald told The Sporting News, “I would think Phil would want to pitch somewhere where he would get the ball regularly. He’d get the ball with us.”
Niekro wanted to play in a World Series before he retired and the Cardinals had won the title in 1982.
McDonald said Herzog determined Glenn Brummer, backup to starting catcher Darrell Porter, would be best suited to handle the knuckleball and catch Niekro.
According to the Post-Dispatch, the Cardinals offered Niekro his choice of one-year offers. One was for a flat salary of just less than $500,000. The other had incentives that could increase the total contract to more than $500,000.
Atlanta Constitution sports editor Jesse Outlar wrote, “It’s the guess here that he’ll be on the Cardinals’ payroll before Christmas. Niekro mentions the Cardinals frequently during conversations.”
According to the Post-Dispatch, Niekro’s brother, Joe, an Astros pitcher, told a sports banquet that Phil’s first choice was the Cardinals.
It was a bit surprising then when on Dec. 30 Niekro and his agent, Bruce Church, declined both Cardinals offers.
“All I can say is their interest in Phil was not followed up with what I would consider to be reasonable financial opportunities,” Church said to the Atlanta Constitution.
McDonald told the Post-Dispatch, “I thought we made an outstanding offer considering everything.”
A week later, Niekro accepted a two-year, $1.4 million offer from the Yankees. In addition to the guaranteed $700,000 per season, the contract included incentives that could increase Niekro’s annual income to more than $800,000, according to the Atlanta Constitution. The deal also included a no-trade clause.
“I don’t think anybody in their right mind could have turned this down,” Niekro said.
Niekro, who turned 45 in April 1984, was 16-8 for the Yankees in 1984 and 16-12 for them in 1985. Video
In “Stranger to the Game,” Gibson said, “It turned out Niekro did have some good pitching left in him and he still could have been valuable to the Braves, but in his absence younger arms like Rick Mahler’s and Pascual Perez’s came along nicely.”
Niekro pitched for the Indians in 1986. In 1987, when he was 48, Niekro was with the Indians and Blue Jays before finishing his playing career with a start for the Braves in Atlanta against the Giants. Boxscore
RetroSimba 
Ol’ “Knucksie” was hard on the Cards in the early 80’s at Busch…some great pitching on his part. Was surprised to see that he was 8-9 lifetime at Busch.
I just remember him being tough on the Redbirds from 1980 to 1983 at Busch. And when I went back and looked I was like “oh yea, there’s those games”. Just kept our boys off balance. And then that rained out game one in ’82…thank you Mother Nature.
I also remember Bruce Benedict being his primary catcher with a sprinkling of Biff Pocoroba here and there.
Thanks, Tim. Good point. George Hendrick hit .178 (8-for-45) vs Phil Niekro and Willie McGee hit .100 (1-for-10) against him. One batter who did solve Niekro was Lonnie Smith. Lonnie hit .514 (19-for-37) vs. Niekro.
Interestingly, Joe Torre hit .302 (16-for-53) vs. Niekro but Bob Gibson was 1-for-8 against him.
Niekro stymied lots of Hall of Fame hitters, including Tony Gwynn (3-for-15) and Reggie Jackson (1-for-17).
Good post. The Cardinals made a decent offer to Phil Niekro but there was no way they were going to match what the Yankees were willing to give. Still though, the circumstances in which New York released him angered both Niekro brothers. If I’m not mistaken Bob Tewksbury took his place in the Yankees rotation.
Thanks, Phillip. If Phil Niekro had signed with the Cardinals in 1984, perhaps they bring him back in 1985 and he finally gets to pitch in his first World Series at age 46. Maybe he even makes the difference for the Cardinals against the Royals. He certainly still was effective. In 1984, when he was 45, Niekro led the Yankees in wins (16), games started (31), innings (215.2) and strikeouts (136). In 1985, at age 46, he led the Yankees in strikeouts (149), tied Ron Guidry for the team lead in games started (33) and was second on the club in both wins (16) and innings pitched (220).
I remember the Cardinals feeling the same way about Bob Gibson in 1975 as Bob Gibson felt about Phil Niekro in 1983.
Yep, it’s true Bob Gibson strongly objected when the Cardinals removed him from the starting rotation in 1975: https://retrosimba.com/2015/05/28/how-ron-reed-replaced-bob-gibson-in-cardinals-rotation/
The difference being the Cardinals were right about Gibson (he was washed up at 39) and Gibson was wrong about Phil Niekro.
Naturally, Joe Torre and Bob Gibson know baseball talent, so it makes one wonder whether other factors were involved in their decision to push Niekro off the team.
Phil’s brother, Joe Niekro, told Chris Mortensen of the Atlanta Constitution in October 1983, “I think Joe Torre thinks Phil is a threat to him. That’s why he doesn’t want Phil around anymore. He knows that if he messes things up worse than he did this year, Phil can step right in as manager.”
Tim Tucker of the Atlanta Constitution wrote in October 1983: “The last two Braves managers have known Niekro would like the job. Torre may have worried at times about Niekro’s closeness to Ted Turner. This is just a theory, but there is reason to believe Torre wants the spotlight that has always focused on Niekro. Torre wants to be Mr. Atlanta Braves. With Niekro around, that would never happen. This is also just a theory, but Gibson might have been slightly envious of Niekro’s longevity.”
Being a Cardinals lifer, I’ll forever have a 45 stamped somewhere on my heart…
But boy, Gibson pitched an awful lot of washed-up baseball as a 38- and 39-year-old to have been so dismissive toward an aging Phil Niekro while serving as the Braves’ pitching coach. Gibson expected unquestioned loyalty from the Cardinals’ brain trust right up through Pete LaCock digging in against him on 9/3/75.
God bless Gibson’s memory, but didn’t a ready-and-rarin’ Al Hrabosky have a far better chance than 45 to retire Mike Jorgensen on 10/1/74??
Good points all-around, Timothy.
Mike Jorgensen was 0-for-3 (with one walk and one hit by pitch) in five career plate appearances versus Al Hrabosky.
Against Bob Gibson in his career, Jorgensen had just 5 hits in 27 at-bats but 2 of those hits were home runs.