Three-hundred game winner Phil Niekro recalls a visit to Dodger Stadium, wishes a fan well, and mentions that some enclosed pictures. Niekro visited Chavez Ravine many times; 21 of his 25 big league seasons were in the National League. In fact, 268 of his 318 career victories also came in the senior circuit.

Phil Niekro’s big league career spanned from 1964 until 1987. Shown here are two autographed baseball cards, one from 1966 near the start of this career and the other from 1985 only two seasons away from the end. The early card pictures “Knucksie” with his familiar Braves team while the later image catches him with the Yankees with whom he became the oldest pitcher to throw a shutout. Niekro was 46 years, 188 days old when he fired his gem. Jamie Moyer would later eclipse the mark by spinning a scoreless game at age 47 years, 170 days.

In 1983 Topps put out a nice addition to their set when the printed the Super Veteran series that featured a picture of the players from early in their careers and from 1983, the year the cards were printed. Niekro’s card had an image from his rookie year with the Braves who were in their penultimate year in Milwaukee. The other card is an ’87 Record Breaker card of Phil and brother Joe. When Phil won a ball game on June 1, 1987 it was the 530th victory in the combined careers of Phil and Joe breaking the record previously held by Jim and Gaylord Perry. Joe earned the last win by a Niekro on April 12, 1988, pushing the mark to 539.

Phil and Joe Niekro hold a special place in baseball history. The knuckleballers combined to win 539 games — the most by a brother combination in big league history. Hall of Famer Phil won 318 games while Joe chipped in with another 221. The next brother combination on the all-time wins list is Jim and Gaylord Perry with 530 combined victories.