100 victories as an Astro (c) Houston Astros by Darrell Pittman For most of his major league career, Joe Niekro labored in the shadow of his older brother Phil, who would win 318 games en route to the Hall of Fame. Joe, however, did attain a small measure of payback, becoming on May 29, 1976 one of only three players to hit a homer off his own brother. The right-handed knuckleballer also held the franchise record for single-season wins at 21, until Mike Hampton went 22-4 in 1999. He remains the only Houston pitcher to win at least 20 games in consecutive seasons. On a chilly Montreal night in Olympic Stadium, August 28, 1982, Niekro earned his 100th career victory as an Astro, a complete-game, six-hit shutout of the Expos. With the win, he became the fourth Astros pitcher to reach the 100 victory milestone, behind Larry Dierker, Don Wilson, and J.R. Richard. Niekro would end his career in Houston as the all-time franchise leader in victories, with 144. Niekro was a large (but largely unsung) part of what was possibly the greatest pitching staff in Houston Astros history, perhaps the best in all of baseball at the time. Look at some of the other names on that stellar pitching staff from the 1979-1986 period: Richard, Nolan Ryan, Bob Knepper, Don Sutton, Mike Scott, Dave Smith... the list goes on and on. Perhaps his accomplishments were overlooked by the media
because of the superstar pitching staffs that he bolstered, perhaps he was
overshadowed by his brother Phil, or perhaps it was simply because he played the
bulk of his career in Houston, away from the media spotlight. But there is no
doubt that Joe Niekro was the bedrock of the Houston Astros' rotation from the
late '70s to the mid '80s; they could not have achieved their success in those
years without him.
Game of 8/28/1982 -- Houston at Montreal Courtesy of Retrosheet Houston AB R H RBI Montreal AB R H RBI Thon D, ss 4 1 1 0 Raines T, lf 4 0 1 0 Scott T, cf 4 0 0 0 Cromartie W, rf 3 0 2 0 Knight R, 1b 3 0 1 0 Youngblood J, pr 0 0 0 0 Garner P, 2b 4 0 1 1 Dawson A, cf 4 0 1 0 Cruz J, lf 4 0 1 0 Oliver A, 1b 4 0 0 0 Heep D, rf 4 0 2 0 Carter G, c 2 0 0 0 Howe A, 3b 4 1 1 0 Wallach T, 3b 3 0 1 0 Pujols L, c 3 0 1 1 Speier C, ss 3 0 0 0 Niekro J, p 4 0 0 0 Flynn D, 2b 1 0 0 0 Little B, ph-2b 2 0 1 0 Lea C, p 2 0 0 0 Fryman W, p 0 0 0 0 White J, ph 1 0 0 0 Reardon J, p 0 0 0 0 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 34 2 8 2 29 0 6 0 Houston 000 010 010 -- 2 Montreal 000 000 000 -- 0 Houston IP H R ER BB SO Niekro J (W) 9.0 6 0 0 2 4 Montreal IP H R ER BB SO Lea C (L) 7.2 7 2 2 2 6 Fryman W 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 Reardon J 1.0 1 0 0 0 1 Game winning RBI -- Pujols L E -- Flynn D DP -- Houston 3 LOB -- Houston 7, Montreal 4 2B -- Raines T 3B -- Pujols L SB -- Scott T CS -- Pujols L, Knight R WP -- Niekro J, Lea C PB -- Pujols L T -- 2:40 A -- 38165 Game of Saturday, 8/28/1982 -- Houston Astros at Montreal Expos Courtesy of Retrosheet Starting Lineups: Houston Montreal 1. ss Dickie Thon lf Tim Raines 2. cf Tony Scott rf Warren Cromartie 3. 1b Ray Knight cf Andre Dawson 4. 2b Phil Garner 1b Al Oliver 5. lf Jose Cruz c Gary Carter 6. rf Danny Heep 3b Tim Wallach 7. 3b Art Howe ss Chris Speier 8. c Luis Pujols 2b Doug Flynn 9. p Joe Niekro p Charlie Lea ASTROS 1ST: D.Thon popped to C.Speier-ss; T.Scott struck out; R.Knight flied to W.Cromartie-rf; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Astros 0, Expos 0. EXPOS 1ST: T.Raines popped to L.Pujols-c in foul territory; W.Cromartie walked; A.Dawson grounded into a double play (D.Thon-ss to P.Garner-2b to R.Knight-1b) [W.Cromartie out at second]; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Astros 0, Expos 0. ASTROS 2ND: P.Garner popped to A.Oliver-1b in foul territory; J.Cruz singled to right field; D.Heep was called out on strikes; A.Howe struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Astros 0, Expos 0. EXPOS 2ND: A.Oliver struck out (L.Pujols-c to R.Knight-1b); G.Carter walked; T.Wallach flied to D.Heep-rf; C.Speier grounded out (A.Howe-3b to R.Knight-1b); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Astros 0, Expos 0. ASTROS 3RD: L.Pujols walked; L.Pujols was caught stealing second (G.Carter-c to C.Speier-ss); J.Niekro flied to W.Cromartie-rf; D.Thon lined to D.Flynn-2b; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Astros 0, Expos 0. EXPOS 3RD: D.Flynn grounded out (D.Thon-ss to R.Knight-1b); C.Lea grounded out (J.Niekro-p to R.Knight-1b); T.Raines flied to T.Scott-cf; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Astros 0, Expos 0. ASTROS 4TH: T.Scott reached on an error by D.Flynn-2b [T.Scott to first]; T.Scott stole second; R.Knight flied to A.Dawson-cf; P.Garner grounded out (C.Speier-ss to A.Oliver-1b); J.Cruz flied to A.Dawson-cf; 0 R, 0 H, 1 E, 1 LOB. Astros 0, Expos 0. EXPOS 4TH: W.Cromartie singled to shortstop; A.Dawson singled to center field (T.Scott-cf to A.Howe-3b) [W.Cromartie out at third, A.Dawson to second (on throw)]; A.Oliver struck out; G.Carter flied to J.Cruz-lf; 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Astros 0, Expos 0. ASTROS 5TH: D.Heep struck out; A.Howe singled to center field; L.Pujols tripled to right-center [A.Howe scored]; J.Niekro grounded out (C.Speier-ss to A.Oliver-1b); D.Thon flied to A.Dawson-cf; 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Astros 1, Expos 0. EXPOS 5TH: T.Wallach singled to left field; C.Speier popped to R.Knight-1b in foul territory; B.LITTLE BATTED FOR D.FLYNN; B.Little grounded into a double play (D.Thon-ss to P.Garner-2b to R.Knight-1b) [T.Wallach out at second]; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Astros 1, Expos 0. ASTROS 6TH: B.LITTLE STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING 2B); T.Scott grounded out (T.Wallach-3b to A.Oliver-1b); R.Knight singled to center field; R.Knight was caught stealing second (G.Carter-c to C.Speier-ss); P.Garner flied to W.Cromartie-rf; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Astros 1, Expos 0. EXPOS 6TH: C.Lea grounded out (A.Howe-3b to R.Knight-1b); T.Raines doubled to left field; J.Niekro threw a wild pitch [T.Raines to third]; W.Cromartie flied to J.Cruz-lf; A.Dawson struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Astros 1, Expos 0. ASTROS 7TH: J.Cruz was called out on strikes; D.Heep singled to center field; A.Howe flied to T.Raines-lf; L.Pujols forced D.Heep (C.Speier-ss to B.Little-2b) [L.Pujols to first]; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Astros 1, Expos 0. EXPOS 7TH: A.Oliver grounded out (P.Garner-2b to R.Knight-1b); G.Carter struck out; T.Wallach popped to R.Knight-1b; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Astros 1, Expos 0. ASTROS 8TH: J.Niekro grounded out (G.Carter-c to A.Oliver-1b); D.Thon singled to left field; C.Lea threw a wild pitch [D.Thon to second]; T.Scott struck out; R.Knight was walked intentionally; P.Garner singled to center field [D.Thon scored, R.Knight to second]; W.FRYMAN REPLACED C.LEA (PITCHING); J.Cruz flied to A.Dawson-cf; 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB. Astros 2, Expos 0. EXPOS 8TH: C.Speier popped to L.Pujols-c in foul territory; B.Little singled to left field; J.WHITE BATTED FOR W.FRYMAN; L.Pujols allowed a passed ball [B.Little to second]; PB may have occurred with White or Raines at bat; J.White flied to J.Cruz-lf; T.Raines popped to A.Howe-3b in foul territory; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Astros 2, Expos 0. ASTROS 9TH: J.REARDON REPLACED J.WHITE (PITCHING); D.Heep singled to right field; A.Howe flied to W.Cromartie-rf; L.Pujols struck out; J.Niekro flied to A.Dawson-cf; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Astros 2, Expos 0. EXPOS 9TH: W.Cromartie singled to center field; J.YOUNGBLOOD RAN FOR W.CROMARTIE; A.Dawson grounded into a double play (A.Howe-3b to P.Garner-2b to R.Knight-1b) [J.Youngblood out at second]; A.Oliver grounded out (J.Niekro-p to R.Knight-1b); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Astros 2, Expos 0. Final Totals R H E LOB Astros 2 8 0 7 Expos 0 6 1 4 |