Next on my list of autographs that every collector should have is Phil Niekro. Niekro, a knuckleballer, pitched in the majors until the age of 48. Phil and his brother Joe won 538 games combined, beating out Jim and Gaylord Perry for the highest combined wins for brothers. 318 of those wins were Phil's.
Twins fans may remember Joe for the emery board incident in 1987 in which the umptire caught him doctoring up the ball which resulted in being ejected from the game and a ten game suspension. Unfortunately, Joe died suddenly in 2006.
Phil was a 5-time All Star (in three different decades), a 5-time Gold Glove winner and was elected into the Hall of Fame in 1997.Phil used to be hit-and-miss through the mail, signing for free about half of the time. I must have sent a dozen requests over5 years and never got a successful return. I purchased a signed ball at a mail-in signing event in 2006.
Recently, he has begun signing ttm for a fee. He charges $10 for cards and $20 for balls. Very reasonable for a Hall of Fame player. I had him sign my 2008 Goudey back in January. I just purchased his 1965 rookie card on eBay, which I'll send out as soon as I get it.
1 comment:
That's a nice Joe Niekro card. I never got around to sending a card to him; I guess that's what I get for getting out of that hobby for nearly 10 years.
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