Tuesday, April 6, 2010

1981 Donruss, Phil Niekro



#328 Phil Niekro

I was going to post the first card from 2002 today. But, I had this card waiting for me in the mailbox when I got off of work and I figured that there wasn't any better time to post it. So here is an '81 Donruss Phil Niekro.

One thing that caught me by surprise when I was looking at Phil's stats is how long he played for Atlanta. When I started collecting cards in the mid-eighties, it seems like Phil was with a different team every year. I guess that I always figured that he bounced around like that his whole career. I had no idea that he pitched for Atlanta from 1964 to 1983. That is a pretty good tenure. I guess I should have known better considering that there is a statue of Knucksie in front of Turner Field. They don't just make those things for anybody.

Phil won 318 Major League games, was a three-time 20 game winner, five-time Gold Glover, and made five All Star teams. He only played in two of the All Star games, but he recorded a save in his first one in 1969.

I sent this card to Phil on the 22nd, so it took fifteen days to get back to me. I included a ten dollar check with the request. I figured that if I could spend ten bucks on Andre Dawson, I could spen ten bucks on Phil Niekro as well. I think that a ten dollar check may make its way to Rollie Fingers before long.

'81 Donruss Tracker: 55/100

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nice! It's tough to beat a Hall of Fame autograph.

Play at the Plate said...

Z, what a nice sig. That looks great!

Orioles Magic said...

As old as Phil looks in this picture, it's shocking not to see the words Coach or Manager on the card. Great success though!