Joe Niekro, 1944-2006

It's funny - the name "Joe Niekro" hasn't crossed my mind in years, not until a few days ago when I wrote that "Greasiest Greasers" piece and remembered that scene with the nail file on the mound with the Twins. Now, the news comes across today that Niekro died suddenly last night of a brain aneurysm. He was 61 years old.

As a tribute, I want to take you back to one of the greatest playoff performances in possibly the greatest playoff series of all time. It's one that is near and dear to my heart - Phils/Astros NLCS, 1980. I know it doesn't have the national juice of Yankees/Red Sox, and it was in the era of the five-game NLCS, but still... FOUR of the five games went to extra innings. The Phils prevailed despite twice being two runs down and five outs away from elimination. Just about every inning of the series was excruciating. The whole thing was one long heart attack.

Even with guys like Nolan Ryan, J.R. Richard and Ken Forsch in their rotation, Houston's most reliable pitcher all season was Joe Niekro. He went 20-12, with his twentieth win being his most important, a one-game playoff between the 'Stros and the Dodgers that put Houston in the NLCS. Niekro was brilliant that day, going all nine in a 7-1 victory.

Four days later, Niekro was back on the mound on three days rest, as the NLCS went back to the Astrodome with the series knotted a game apiece. Again, Niekro and his knuckleball carried the side, as inning after inning he put runners on base and battled his way out of jams. It was a non-stop fucking Houdini routine, the kind of outing that takes balls the size of basketballs. He pitched TEN shutout innings that night, before giving way to Dave Smith, who closed it out in the eleventh. I'll never forget that game as long as I live. It was the kind of game that makes you think maybe being a sports fan isn't all its cracked up to be. I was ten years old. It was my first introduction to a fact that I've since become intimately acquainted with - sports HURT.

Both ten-inning affairs, the next two games weren't any less painful, despite the fact that the Phils won them. But they nearly killed us Philly fans, and I'm sure they did kill some Houston-ites. It's amazing the Fightins had anything left to go on and win the Series after that shit. And it was a shame for Niekro too, because he was out of his mind that year. He surely would have gone on for some Hershiser/Jack Morris-type heroics and be ennobled in Fall Classic lore forever. Instead that one-man ten-inning Alamo is lost in the playoff annals.

Not for me, though. You never respect someone so much as when you rooted against them. So today I say rest in peace Joe Niekro. By all accounts you were a real stand-up guy, and I know from first-hand evidence that you had the heart of a lion.