Vault of Coolness: Aging knuckleballer Phil Neikro

I get a kick out of this 1973 Phil Neikro Topps baseball card because he looks old here, even though he's likely only 33 at the time of the photo shoot. Was he ever NOT an "aging knuckleballer"?


He looks older than he does on his 1974 and 1975 cards--I know because I just found those in the same place I found this one; why the heck did I stash away so many Phil Niekro cards?--and in fact he looks kind of grumpy, too.

Come to think of it, while I don't wish to cast aspersions on the Hall of Famer, he looks kind of, dare I say, hung over? Maybe that's why he looks old and a little perturbed. If that's the case...cool!