The 1983 New York Yankees finished third in the American League East. Their 91-71 record wasn’t good enough to make the postseason for the second year in a row, but it wasn’t as though they were a team
to scoff at, and some improvements could get them back in the hunt. After that season, a fair number of high-caliber free agents went on the market, as it happens across every sport. And while the Yankees ended up with him in their starting rotation following the ‘83 offseason, the famous knuckleballer, Phil Niekro, was not expecting to be a free agent when ‘83 began.
Following that 1983 campaign, the Atlanta Braves released Niekro, a future Hall of Famer who had pitched in the majors for 21 years and had signed with the Braves so long ago that they were in Milwaukee and the Dodgers were still in Brooklyn. They thought that his career was finally over in his mid-forties, and he had a shaky relationship anyway with Atlanta’s manager, Joe Torre. But despite Niekro’s older age, “Knucksie” still provided plenty of value to the Bombers, who at this point in the franchise’s history needed that bigger name at the top end of the rotation to provide valuable innings.
Phil Niekro
Signing Date: January 4, 1984
Contract: Two years, $1.15 million
Niekro didn’t play in the 1963 season due to military service, so he began his MLB career in 1964 with the then-Milwaukee Braves. As a 25-year-old, he made his major league debut, pitching in 10 games as a rookie with no starts. He made one start in 1965 out of the 41 games he pitched and finished with a 2.89 ERA. He didn’t start a handful of games until 1967, when he posted the league’s best ERA at 1.86 after starting 20 of the 46 games he pitched.
Niekro pitched for the Braves for another 18 seasons, including impressive seasons in 1968, 1969, 1971, 1974, the latter of which the first time he tallied 20 wins, and 1978, when he posted a 10.0 bWAR, a 2.88 ERA, and (somewhat amusingly) 18 losses in 42 games started. He also spun a no-hitter against the Padres in ‘73. Niekro’s knuckler allowed him to post some truly remarkable inning totals, maxing out at 342 at age-40 in ‘79. A few years could have been worthy of an NL Cy Young Award, but voters were generally reluctant to give one to a knuckleballer until R.A. Dickey in 2012.
After his long, long tenure with the Braves (and plenty of excellent seasons to boot despite his win-loss numbers for an oft-disappointing team), the Yankees brought in Niekro before the 1984 season. Having established himself as one of the premier—and unique—pitchers of his era, George Steinbrenner went out and spent a little money to acquire the 44-year-old, and while age may have said one thing, his performance said another.
In his two years as a Yankee, Niekro did his job in the unexpected circumstance of continuing his career outside Atlanta. He pitched 200+ innings in both seasons, and his first season was more than enough to make good on the money he was paid. In a rotation that didn’t feature many big names outside of Ron Guidry, Niekro took charge. He finished the season with a 3.09 ERA and a 4.6 bWAR, the highest among the five starters. The next highest was Ray Fontenot, who finished the season with a 2.7 bWAR and a 3.61 ERA. Niekro finished the year with five complete games and was the only Yankees pitcher above 200 innings. His 123 ERA+ was also the highest among Yankees starters on that team. All of these accolades led Niekro to his fifth All-Star appearance, and it would be the final of his storied career. Those Yanks were just no match for the ferocious ‘84 Tigers, so they missed out on October — as they barely would in ‘85 as well.
Niekro’s second and final season with the Yankees was a less successful one, but he still provided plenty of value to a rotation that needed it desperately. He dropped from a 4.6 bWAR to a 1.7 bWAR, and the 34-year-old Guidry stepped up to a 4.5 bWAR. Niekro’s ERA jumped to 4.09 in the 33 games that he started. Despite the jump in overall statistics, Niekro did finish off his campaign with a particularly memorable moment. In a tough-luck year before the Wild Card era, the eventual 97-win Yankees had already been eliminated by the Blue Jays, who won the division. In the season finale though, Niekro got to face Toronto with a chance to win his 300th career game.
“Knucksie” went all nine in a four-hit gem, also surpassing the wondrous Satchel Paige to become the oldest pitcher in MLB history to throw a shutout — at 46 years and 188 days. Ironically, Niekro did not throw the knuckleball, his signature pitch, until the final batter of the game, fulfilling a pregame promise.
The Yankees initially brought Niekro back for a shot at the 1986 rotation at age-47. They even still had his brother, Joe, on the team as well. But near the end of spring training, they released Niekro. So instead, he found himself in Cleveland for the 1986 season. He pitched and started 11 games as a 47-year-old, and finished the season with a 0.9 bWAR. In his final major league season, 1987, he played for three separate teams — Cleveland, Toronto, and returned to Atlanta to finish out his career. A decade later, he joined the Hall of Fame with the Class of 1997, enjoying the honors that came with it until passing away from cancer in December 2020.
While Niekro only spent two seasons with the Bombers, the knuckleballer made his presence known in a rotation that needed another piece. It was before the dynasty years of the ‘90s, but his impact was still felt through the starting rotation and the organization.
See more of the “50 Most Notable Yankees Free Agent Signings in 50 Years” series here.
