1988 Topps #5, Niekro Brothers Record Breaker

Mark of the eponymous blog Mark's Ephemera recently sent a nice package of #5s and its plethora of years, sports, and types looked like an cardboard cornucopia. The box included 1988 Topps #5, which honored Phil and Joe Niekro passing Jim and Gaylord Perry for brotherly victories. (I don't normally profile post-1980 sets, but wanted to thank Mark for the great gift!)

Card front

This blog recently profiled the knuckleball brothers when Joe appeared in the 1978 Burger King Astros. Coincidentally, he and Phil both went 7-13 in 1987 and split the year between multiple teams. Phil made 22 starts with Cleveland prior to short stints with Toronto and Atlanta. Joe began the year in pinstripes, but finished with the champion Minnesota Twins and threw 2 innings in game 4 of the World Series.

Card back

Phil retired (at age 48!) after 1987 and Joe pitched part of 1988 for the Twins before hanging them up. He collected the last of their 539 victories on April 12th by pitching 2 scoreless relief innings in a 7-6 result over Cleveland.