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Joe Niekro played 22 major-league seasons (1967-1988) as a P (702). Career totals and every year-by-year line below come from the SABR/Lahman database (CC BY-SA), covering 1871-2025.
Showing 19 season lines
| Year | Age | Team | G | AB | R | H | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | AVG | OPS | OPS+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1967 | 23 | CHN | 36 | 46 | 5 | 9 | 0 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 13 | .196 | .443 | 31 |
| 1968 | 24 | CHN | 34 | 60 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 23 | .100 | .256 | -19 |
| 1969 | 25 | CHN|SDN | 42 | 56 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 18 | .125 | .367 | 8 |
| 1970 | 26 | DET | 39 | 66 | 8 | 13 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 17 | .197 | .547 | 57 |
| 1971 | 27 | DET | 32 | 30 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 9 | .133 | .354 | 5 |
| 1972 | 28 | DET | 18 | 12 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | .250 | .641 | 98 |
| 1973 | 29 | ATL | 20 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .333 | .667 | 92 |
| 1974 | 30 | ATL | 27 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | .000 | -100 |
| 1975 | 31 | HOU | 40 | 14 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | .214 | .527 | 54 |
| 1976 | 32 | HOU | 36 | 27 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 8 | .185 | .585 | 70 |
| 1977 | 33 | HOU | 44 | 50 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 13 | .140 | .313 | -12 |
| 1978 | 34 | HOU | 36 | 65 | 6 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 18 | .138 | .308 | -11 |
| 1979 | 35 | HOU | 38 | 83 | 1 | 10 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 21 | .120 | .284 | -19 |
| 1980 | 36 | HOU | 37 | 80 | 7 | 22 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 4 | 15 | .275 | .647 | 87 |
| 1981 | 37 | HOU | 24 | 51 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 10 | .176 | .404 | 19 |
| 1982 | 38 | HOU | 35 | 89 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 30 | .090 | .211 | -39 |
| 1983 | 39 | HOU | 38 | 85 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 22 | .094 | .222 | -36 |
| 1984 | 40 | HOU | 38 | 83 | 4 | 11 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 21 | .133 | .285 | -16 |
| 1985 | 41 | HOU | 32 | 68 | 6 | 17 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 16 | .250 | .522 | 52 |
| Year | Age | Team | G | GS | W | L | SV | IP | SO | BB | ERA | ERA+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1967 | 23 | CHN | 36 | 22 | 10 | 7 | 0 | 169.2 | 77 | 32 | 3.34 | 101 |
| 1968 | 24 | CHN | 34 | 29 | 14 | 10 | 2 | 177 | 65 | 59 | 4.32 | 69 |
| 1969 | 25 | CHN|SDN | 41 | 34 | 8 | 18 | 0 | 221.1 | 62 | 51 | 3.70 | 97 |
| 1970 | 26 | DET | 38 | 34 | 12 | 13 | 0 | 213 | 101 | 72 | 4.06 | 92 |
| 1971 | 27 | DET | 31 | 15 | 6 | 7 | 1 | 122.1 | 43 | 49 | 4.49 | 77 |
| 1972 | 28 | DET | 18 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 47 | 24 | 8 | 3.83 | 80 |
| 1973 | 29 | ATL | 20 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 24 | 12 | 11 | 4.13 | 89 |
| 1974 | 30 | ATL | 27 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 43 | 31 | 18 | 3.56 | 102 |
| 1975 | 31 | HOU | 40 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 88 | 54 | 39 | 3.07 | 118 |
| 1976 | 32 | HOU | 36 | 13 | 4 | 8 | 0 | 118 | 77 | 56 | 3.36 | 104 |
| 1977 | 33 | HOU | 44 | 14 | 13 | 8 | 5 | 180.2 | 101 | 64 | 3.04 | 129 |
| 1978 | 34 | HOU | 35 | 29 | 14 | 14 | 0 | 202.2 | 97 | 73 | 3.86 | 93 |
| 1979 | 35 | HOU | 38 | 38 | 21 | 11 | 0 | 263.2 | 119 | 107 | 3.00 | 124 |
| 1980 | 36 | HOU | 37 | 36 | 20 | 12 | 0 | 256 | 127 | 79 | 3.55 | 101 |
| 1981 | 37 | HOU | 24 | 24 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 166 | 77 | 47 | 2.82 | 124 |
| 1982 | 38 | HOU | 35 | 35 | 17 | 12 | 0 | 270 | 130 | 64 | 2.47 | 146 |
| 1983 | 39 | HOU | 38 | 38 | 15 | 14 | 0 | 263.2 | 152 | 101 | 3.48 | 104 |
| 1984 | 40 | HOU | 38 | 38 | 16 | 12 | 0 | 248.1 | 127 | 89 | 3.04 | 118 |
| 1985 | 41 | NYA | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 12.1 | 4 | 8 | 5.84 | 71 |
| 1985 | 41 | HOU | 32 | 32 | 9 | 12 | 0 | 213 | 117 | 99 | 3.72 | 97 |
| 1986 | 42 | NYA | 25 | 25 | 9 | 10 | 0 | 125.2 | 59 | 63 | 4.87 | 86 |
| 1987 | 43 | NYA|MIN | 27 | 26 | 7 | 13 | 0 | 147 | 84 | 64 | 5.33 | 84 |
| 1988 | 44 | MIN | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 11.2 | 7 | 9 | 10.03 | 40 |
| Year | Pos | G | GS | PO | A | E | DP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1967 | P | 36 | 22 | 10 | 26 | 0 | 1 |
| 1968 | P | 34 | 29 | 9 | 33 | 0 | 2 |
| 1969 | P | 41 | 34 | 21 | 34 | 5 | 2 |
| 1970 | P | 38 | 34 | 17 | 35 | 1 | 1 |
| 1971 | P | 31 | 15 | 9 | 25 | 1 | 1 |
| 1972 | P | 18 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 |
| 1973 | P | 20 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 2 |
| 1974 | P | 27 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 0 | 1 |
| 1975 | P | 40 | 4 | 7 | 13 | 0 | 0 |
| 1976 | P | 36 | 13 | 9 | 13 | 3 | 1 |
| 1977 | P | 44 | 14 | 11 | 31 | 0 | 7 |
| 1978 | P | 35 | 29 | 18 | 21 | 0 | 3 |
| 1979 | P | 38 | 38 | 14 | 39 | 0 | 4 |
| 1980 | P | 37 | 36 | 17 | 37 | 2 | 2 |
| 1981 | P | 24 | 24 | 11 | 23 | 0 | 1 |
| 1982 | P | 35 | 35 | 22 | 42 | 3 | 2 |
| 1983 | P | 38 | 38 | 9 | 36 | 4 | 0 |
| 1984 | P | 38 | 38 | 19 | 39 | 2 | 5 |
| 1985 | P | 35 | 35 | 17 | 36 | 1 | 1 |
| 1986 | P | 25 | 25 | 9 | 13 | 1 | 2 |
| 1987 | P | 27 | 26 | 11 | 16 | 2 | 1 |
| 1988 | P | 5 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 |
Team codes are the source codes (e.g. NYN for the New York Mets, BS1 for the 1875 Boston club). OPS+ is league-season normalized, not park-adjusted; unrecorded source values (such as RBI in the earliest recorded seasons) are absent, never zero-filled.
Joe Niekro won: TSN All-Star 1979 (NL).
MVP, Cy Young and Rookie of the Year voting history (4 ballot finishes, 0 wins). Full year pages: 1980, 1979.
| Year | Award | Lg | Rank | Points | First-place votes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Cy Young Award | NL | 2 | 66 / 120 | 9 |
| 1979 | Most Valuable Player | NL | 6 | 75 / 336 | 1 |
| 1980 | Cy Young Award | NL | 4 | 11 / 120 | 0 |
| 1980 | Most Valuable Player | NL | 19 | 3 / 336 | 0 |
Every career total and season line is computed from the SABR / Sean Lahman baseball database (2025 edition, CC BY-SA 3.0), the same source behind our historical position leaderboards. Rate stats use league-season normalization only (OPS+ and ERA+ as marked, never park-adjusted); unrecorded early-era values stay absent rather than being invented. Career totals sum only what the source records.
Award winners and MVP / Cy Young / Rookie of the Year voting history come from the same database; the year pages live under MLB award voting history. Official transactions (2011 to the current season) come from the MLB StatsAPI feed on our transactions archive.