Astros Buddies for Life

I’ve worked in baseball for years. I’ve met many baseball greats, some wildly famous, and some who are Hall-of-Famers. But I don’t get caught up in the hype or the fame. Like everyone admits, they’re people too…just with freakish abilities and superhero physiques.

But it’s different when you’re a kid. They are baseball players. Therefore, they are cool. Pretty simple. One night in the Houston Astros suite at Minute Maid Park, I started to feel like a kid again. An Astros Buddy, to be exact.

It was 2005, and I was comfortably enjoying the Astros game when Jamie Hildreth, my good friend from the Astros front office, tells me he has some people he wants me to meet. I turn around to see Joe Niekro and Enos Cabell from the Astros rainbow jersey days, when the Astrodome was sprinkled with fans. Joe’s brother, and fellow knuckle ball pitcher, Phil Niekro is also there.

I was speechless. And then giddy. I’m sure I said something incredibly stupid. I don’t know. I can hardly remember exactly what I said. I do remember blurting I was a former Astros Buddy and boasting I still had all their baseball cards. I gushed at how special this reunion was for me. I’m sure they wanted to tranquilize me. Instead, they just told more stories, stories they had probably told 1,000 times. It’s likely they were embellished or maybe even entirely bogus. But that didn’t matter. At one point, Phil said, “You mean you really like hanging out with us old guys?”

They were charming and witty, silly and humble. They were regular guys, but they were also my childhood idols. And it reminded me of all the games my family and I attended in the Astrodome with the scorebook draped over my skinny 8-year old legs. We laughed the entire game. I can’t even remember who won. After the game, we hung out for another hour, and the laughter continued.

That would be the last time I would see Joe Niekro as he sadly died of a brain aneurysm in October, 2006. It is with a broken heart that I am now working with his daughter Natalie Niekro to raise funds for brain aneurysm research for my employer, The Methodist Hospital in Houston. In Joe’s honor, Natalie and her brother Lance founded the Joe Niekro Foundation, and have teamed up with the Houston Astros to host a gala, cleverly called “The Knuckle Ball” on Friday, July 31.

Natalie’s vision mirrors Joe’s persona. She smiles when she says, “he wouldn’t have wanted a stuffy gala.” Natalie has included all of Joe’s favorites: gambling, cold beverages, country music, and of course, close to 100 former athletes, many of them Joe’s teammates and friends over the 22 years he played.

It’s very special and meaningful to me to support a Niekro family initiative, especially considering all that Joe gave Houston, the most memorable for many fans being the one-game playoff game against the L.A. Dodgers in 1980.

Joe gave Astros fans 11 seasons of wins, and lots of them – 144 for a franchise best. He gave his teammates a jokester in the clubhouse, and a competitor on the mound, with a cork-screw knuckle ball that baffled even the best of hitters. He gave the city of Houston its first baseball playoff berth. And now his legacy of giving continues through his family’s hard work. Thank you, Joe. I am proud to be your Astros Buddy.


Join the Niekro family, the Houston Astros and several baseball greats at The Knuckle Ball on Friday July 31 at 6:36 p.m. at Minute Maid Park. All proceeds benefit brain aneurysm research at the Neurological Insitute at The Methodist Hospital. For tickets or more information, visit joeniekrofoundation.org or call 832-667-5856. For questions, e-mail Erin at erskelley@yahoo.com.