On May 29, 1976, Houston Astros pitcher Joe Niekro hit the only home run of his 22-year Major League career — off his older brother, Atlanta Braves pitcher Phil Niekro. Both brothers were knuckleballers. Both would pitch into their 40s. Between them they'd win 539 games — the most by any pair of brothers in baseball history. Phil is in the Hall of Fame. Joe won 221 games himself. But Joe could not hit. He came to the plate over 1,000 times in his career and never once cleared a fence — until this night at Atlanta Stadium, when he got hold of one of his brother's pitches and drove it over the wall. The Astros won 4-3. Joe's homer was the difference. The brothers laughed about it for the rest of their lives. Phil — who gave up nearly 500 home runs in his Hall of Fame career to the best hitters who ever lived — had to live with the fact that the one his little brother hit off him was the only one Joe ever managed. Joe rounded the bases. Phil, on the mound, reportedly just shook his head. The greatest sibling moment in baseball history, and it came at the worse-hitting brother's expense.
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