Joe Niekro
1967–1988 · bats R / throws R · Atlanta Braves, Chicago Cubs, Detroit Tigers, Houston Astros, Minnesota Twins, NLS, New York Yankees, San Diego Padres
646G
.156AVG
.188OBP
.188SLG
More career statistics
152H
1HR
72RBI
1SB
221–204W–L
3,584.0IP
1,747K
3.59ERA
500GS
16SV
10Rare feats
Career summary: MLB’s official regular-season totals. Season lines, splits and historical game logs below are reconstructed from the covered Retrosheet records and can differ in coverage or scorer revisions. Compare sources and coverage.
Why official totals and the game-record sums differ
The sources can disagree on historical scorer decisions, appearances, and which games belong to a major-league record. The career summary uses the official total; the source game rows retain their recorded values.
| Statistic | MLB official | Recorded game sum |
|---|---|---|
| Batting · Games | 646 | 706 |
| Pitching · p ipouts | 10,752 | 10,753 |
Career batting
| G | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | K | SB | CS | HBP | SF | TB | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 646 | 1,165 | 973 | 55 | 152 | 26 | 1 | 1 | 72 | 38 | 262 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 183 | .156 | .188 | .188 | .376 |
Career pitching
| IP | G | GS | CG | W | L | SV | H | R | ER | HR | BB | K | HBP | WP | ERA | WHIP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3,584.0 | 702 | 500 | 107 | 221 | 204 | 16 | 3,466 | 1,620 | 1,431 | 276 | 1,261 | 1,747 | 0 | 0 | 3.59 | 1.319 |
Streaks
4longest hitting streak · 1980-08-23 to 1980-09-06
4longest on-base streak
The three rarest things in this career
| Rarity | What | Date | Rate | Game |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 80 | Three Balks | 1988-04-19 | 1 in 4,657 games | box score ↗ |
| 62 | Three Sacrifice Bunts | 1985-06-19 | 1 in 730 games | box score ↗ |
| 52 | 10 scoreless innings | 1969-08-21 | 1 in 1,678 pitcher-games | box score ↗ |
Splits
Regular season only.
Home and away
| G | PA | H | HR | RBI | BB | K | AVG | OBP | SLG | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home | 343 | 540 | 65 | 0 | 37 | 17 | 120 | .144 | .152 | .170 |
| Away | 363 | 625 | 87 | 1 | 35 | 21 | 142 | .167 | .173 | .203 |
By month
| G | PA | H | HR | RBI | BB | K | AVG | OBP | SLG | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| April | 87 | 160 | 19 | 0 | 13 | 7 | 40 | .141 | .163 | .178 |
| May | 123 | 180 | 28 | 1 | 12 | 7 | 55 | .185 | .194 | .245 |
| June | 117 | 177 | 23 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 40 | .161 | .175 | .189 |
| July | 128 | 218 | 24 | 0 | 13 | 4 | 45 | .128 | .128 | .150 |
| August | 128 | 230 | 33 | 0 | 18 | 10 | 47 | .176 | .187 | .209 |
| September | 115 | 187 | 24 | 0 | 12 | 2 | 32 | .149 | .139 | .168 |
| October | 8 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .111 | .077 | .111 |
Most-faced opponents
| G | PA | H | HR | RBI | BB | K | AVG | OBP | SLG | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| atlanta-braves | 71 | 130 | 13 | 1 | 8 | 3 | 29 | .125 | .123 | .183 |
| cincinnati-reds | 64 | 114 | 12 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 28 | .124 | .132 | .124 |
| los-angeles-dodgers | 58 | 96 | 11 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 19 | .141 | .167 | .154 |
| san-francisco-giants | 51 | 99 | 17 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 20 | .207 | .182 | .244 |
| pittsburgh-pirates | 49 | 86 | 12 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 26 | .158 | .163 | .197 |
| san-diego-padres | 48 | 100 | 10 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 15 | .122 | .120 | .122 |
| st-louis-cardinals | 47 | 77 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 15 | .114 | .117 | .129 |
| philadelphia-phillies | 40 | 69 | 8 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 22 | .121 | .116 | .152 |
Season by season
| Year | Team | G | AB | H | HR | RBI | SB | AVG | IP | K |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1967 |  Chicago Cubs | 36 | 46 | 9 | – | 11 | 1 | .196 | 169 | 77 |
| 1968 | Chicago Cubs | 34 | 60 | 6 | – | – | – | .100 | 177 | 65 |
| 1969 | Chicago Cubs, San Diego Padres | 42 | 56 | 7 | – | 4 | – | .125 | 221 | 62 |
| 1970 |  Detroit Tigers | 39 | 66 | 13 | – | 7 | – | .197 | 213 | 101 |
| 1971 | Detroit Tigers | 32 | 30 | 4 | – | 2 | – | .133 | 122 | 43 |
| 1972 | Detroit Tigers | 18 | 12 | 3 | – | 1 | – | .250 | 47 | 24 |
| 1973 |  Atlanta Braves | 20 | 3 | 1 | – | – | – | .333 | 24 | 12 |
| 1974 | Atlanta Braves | 27 | 5 | – | – | – | – | .000 | 43 | 31 |
| 1975 |  Houston Astros | 40 | 14 | 3 | – | – | – | .214 | 88 | 54 |
| 1976 | Houston Astros | 36 | 27 | 5 | 1 | 1 | – | .185 | 118 | 77 |
| 1977 | Houston Astros | 44 | 50 | 7 | – | 2 | – | .140 | 180 | 101 |
| 1978 | Houston Astros | 36 | 65 | 9 | – | 5 | – | .138 | 202 | 97 |
| 1979 | Houston Astros | 38 | 83 | 10 | – | 4 | – | .120 | 263 | 119 |
| 1980 | Houston Astros | 37 | 80 | 22 | – | 10 | – | .275 | 256 | 127 |
| 1981 | Houston Astros | 24 | 51 | 9 | – | 6 | – | .176 | 166 | 77 |
| 1982 | Houston Astros | 35 | 89 | 8 | – | 5 | – | .090 | 270 | 130 |
| 1983 | Houston Astros | 38 | 85 | 8 | – | 2 | – | .094 | 263 | 152 |
| 1984 | Houston Astros | 38 | 83 | 11 | – | 6 | – | .133 | 248 | 127 |
| 1985 | Houston Astros, New York Yankees | 35 | 68 | 17 | – | 6 | – | .250 | 225 | 121 |
| 1986 |  New York Yankees | 25 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 125 | 59 |
| 1987 | Minnesota Twins, New York Yankees | 27 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 147 | 84 |
| 1988 |  Minnesota Twins | 5 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 11 | 7 |