The 1986 Indians had not one, but TWO knuckleballers in Tom Candiotti and Phil Niekro, the latter being possibly the greatest in the history of the craft. The Tribe signed Niekro at the ripe old age of 47 to help stabilize their disaster of a rotation. He and Candiotti (a bargain bin free agent pickup) would be at least passable as major league starters relative to the 1985 rotation. So instead of giving up 60 more runs than the next worst pitching team they only gave up 2 more! That’s improvement! What they did have, however, was the league’s best offense.
75 Years and Counting: The Story of the 1986 Cleveland Indians
