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I wondered how anyone could pitch 7,000 innings like Cy Young. Bert Blyleven, in August of 1986, pitching with the Minnesota Twins against the Angels. For some reason it has taken Blyleven 3,422 innings, 468 games, 195 wins, 15 years and four teams to be appreciated. produces a result. How high/low, in degrees, a ball was hit by a batter. In 2007, Blyleven's total dipped to 47.7% (75% is the minimum required for admission to the Hall). Hey, these names might not seem too important now, but someday. Do I hear $2? Now, does that really seem like an answer to the question of run support? outfield. . According to baseball-reference Cy Young won 195 games befroe his age 30 season. When he beat the Twins for Texas on July 26, 1976, Blyleven didn't mince words. He repaid some of his debt to Flores this off-season when he hosted a tournament to benefit the Hemophilia Foundation; Flores's grandson has that disease. Blyleven was happy to oblige. Blyleven threw two different styles of curveballs, the most unique one being the drop that he held across the seams, a grip that is said to have been mastered only by him, Bob Feller and, Koufax. Thats it? Brett Butler was presented with an autographed picture of his favorite soap opera star. [7] Unhappy with his salary there, Blyleven was traded (along with teammate Danny Thompson) to the Texas Rangers in a six-player deal on June 1, 1976. Autographed in English. Or 40 percent. Joe worked on the railroads in Saskatoon and Regina and moved to California in 1955. When the Angels came to nearby Anaheim in 1966, Bert didn't switch his allegiance, although he did become one of the stadium rats. Until last year, fate had not been overly kind to Blyleven. One of seven children, Bert grew up in Garden Grove as American as, well, Dutch apple pie. The in/out line for the Hall has never been 300 wins. Don Drysdale was done two weeks after his 33rd birthday. Call it sunspots for all I care, it ain't run support. At the Blyleven the biggest celebrity, literally and figuratively, is Lou Ferrigno, television's erstwhile Incredible Hulk. This isn't a tournament along the ropes of, say, the Hope or the Crosby. One of the most remarkable things about Blyleven's career marks is that, of the active pitchers who rank ahead of him (Nolan Ryan, Don Sutton, Tom Seaver, Steve Carlton, Tommy John, Jerry Koosman and Phil Niekro), the youngest is nearly five years older than he is. "[20] Specifically, according to Welch, "the president and chief investment officer of Lederer & Associates Investment Counsel in Long Beach, California, a guy by the name of Rich Lederer, began spending some of his off-hours writing analysis on the Interwebs about Blyleven's overlooked case. On July 16, 2011, the Minnesota Twins formally retired Blyleven's number.[26]. Now, in the previous paragraph there are three things going on: 1) Blylevens RA/9IP, 2) his run support, and 3) well, a third factor thats hard to define. One of his best friends is Richie Scheinblum, the former outfielder for six big league teams, who as a Kansas City Royal battled Rod Carew for the batting title in 1972. For a pitcher it is the average of his softest 50% of batted balls allowed. Tanner is almost universally beloved, so Blyleven came out as the bad guy in Pittsburgh, especially after Tanner called him "Cryleven." It was during this second stint with Minnesota that Blyleven became the tenth member of the 3,000-strikeout club in 1986 and won a second World Series title in 1987. The no-hitter was his final start as a Ranger; not until Cole Hamels during the 2015 season would a pitcher be traded after pitching a no-hitter in his most recent start for the team that traded him. "When they asked us who wanted to play in the Instructional League in the fall of '69, I was the first one to raise my hand," he says. You have a half-dozen 300 game winnersGaylord Perry, Phil Niekro, Steve Carlton, Don Sutton, Nolan Ryan, and Tom Seaver. He won his first World Series with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1979. Free shipping for many products! Who? This was especially pronounced in his first seven full seasons, 1971-77, when he was in his prime. ", Blyleven wraps up the evening. The Twins responded by trading him to the Texas Rangers. [5] One of seven children, his parents anglicized their names to Joe and Jenny, with Rik Aalbert becoming simply "Bert". Hal Newhouser barely won 200 games. Richie, you don't even exercise. He made his debut on June 5, 1970 playing for the Minnesota Twins as a pitcher. Although under-appreciated during his playing career, he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2011his second-to-last year of eligibility. He pitched in eight postseason games and went 5-1 with a 2.47 ERA. He chatted up all the passing foursomes and made sure the volunteer marshals switched holes so they wouldn't get bored. [21] In 2009, he gained only two votes, for a total of 338, 62.7%. I assumed Blyleven had no chance with the current BBWAA. But he's not a bad guy. He says, "Mister Paul and Mister Seghi [Mister?] exit velocity of 95 mph or higher. Blyleven, like so many Hall of Fame players, was driven to succeed. the ERA scale, A measurement of a player's top running speed, expressed The only problem was that his name was published as "Blylevan," which is the way the Twins spelled it in those days. Half of them blew their arms out right after turning 30. He won 287 games, 27th-most all-time, and pitched 4,970 innings, 14th-most all-time. When I first discovered Retrosheet eons ago, the first thing I wanted to do was look at Blylevens run support. Saved him a lot of pain." A curveball can also be thrown with some velocity in an attempt jam a hitter. Blyleven has a memento from each of his teams, a ball for every win and a replica of the 1979 Series trophy. Many (especially in THT-land) will call it luck. "Golf is my life," Anthony keeps saying. 19 7-4 over the Twins on the last day of the season. Blyleven set the record that still stands with 50 gopher balls in 1986, and then topped the league again with 46 in 1987. So you know: later this week as induction day nears, Ill have a Bert Blyleven career highlights piece up at THT Live. He missed a second 20-win season that year when he was forced to miss a couple of starts after breaking his foot when joking around in the bullpen. Bah! I was a kid listening on the radio when Blyleven was in his short stint with the Rangers, and I loved his confidence in throwing that curve when everyone in the stadium and listening on the radio knew what was coming. The kids see how hard he works. ". Paige has a unique ability to blow hitters away and come right back and make them look foolish. At 6 feet 3 inches, with long arms and large hands, he throws. "We have those long, strong fingers," he says. Updated: Saturday, March 4, 2023 3:30 AM ET, Park Factors So how many wins did Blyleven lose solely due to his run support? The Blyleven abode, one of many handsome houses on his street, should bear a plaque commemorating one of the best baseball lines of this decade. The Pirates also acquired John Milner from the Mets. Plus, he keeps us loose.". His 2.74 career ERA with the Rangers remains the best in team history. "He knows how to finish a game now," says Indian pitching coach Don McMahon. Blyleven dominated batters for more than two decades with one of the best curveballs the game has ever seen and an underappreciated fastball. xERA is a simple 1:1 translation of xwOBA, converted to "We've got some baseball memorabilia donated to us by the players," Blyleven says, "and the money will go to help Ed Kirkpatrick back there. "The guys who were real cheap during the season got real cheap gifts," he says. Then he filled out, picked up some speed on his fastball and wowed batters in rookie and A ball. His heart is invariably in the right placeit's just that his foot sometimes ends up in his mouth. Bert Blyleven Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More | Baseball-Reference.com Bert Blyleven Position: Pitcher Bats: Right Throws: Right 6-3 , 200lb (190cm, 90kg) Born: April 6, 1951 in Zeist, Netherlands nl More bio, uniform, draft, salary info Hall of Fame 2x All-Star 2x World Series 28 28 28 22 22 22 28 28 He retired following that season with a career 287250 record with 3,701 strikeouts and a 3.31 ERA. Who has blue ticket 92594? ", Last year Blyleven was 4-0 with a 1.44 ERA against the American League West champion Royals. Nice. Call it sunspots for all I care, it aint run support. Blyleven has ridden the curve to a career ERA of 3.00. On the second-to-last weekend of the season, the Indian players had a little party to adjourn their kangaroo court. attempt. Watching him, one of his partners said, "He seems like a great guy. Blyleven's commentary was occasionally risqu for a baseball broadcast but provided interesting and friendly conversation between him and play-by-play announcer Dick Bremer. He took quiet pride in Todd's 10-point game, a performance that reminded one of a young Jack Sikma. If you enjoyed it, consider subscribing to Baseball Prospectus. "[19] Still, it was not until his 14th year of eligibility, in 2011, that he was elected; he received 79.7% of the vote. Blyleven's first two teams, the Twins and Rangers, usually weren't very good, and even though the Pirates won the World Series in '79, Blyleven had some philosophical differences with manager Chuck Tanner. He tied for second in the league in wins and was second in winning percentage (.731), third in ERA (2.87) and fourth in strikeouts (170). In between, while a Pirate in 1980, Blyleven jumped the team in midseason, flying to his home in California and demanding a trade. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for 1971 Topps Bert Blyleven #26 Rookie Minnesota Twins at the best online prices at eBay! The incident occurred when Rose was commentating on a Phillies game last year and sharing a story when he said . Shipping speed. "Mets Get Ken Henderson, Outfielder, From Rangers,", "From 1908 to 2018, Recorded no decision, as Starter, sorted by greatest number of games in a single season matching the selected criteria", "Indians' Blyleven The Subject Of Angel Trade Talks", "Ponson to play for Netherlands in World Classic", How a Part-Time Blogger Changed the Face of Baseball's Hall of Fame, The Official Site of Major League Baseball: News: Major League Baseball News, "Henderson, Rice elected to Hall of Fame", Alomar and Blyleven elected to Hall of Fame, Gallery Blyleven inducted into Twins Hall of Fame, Twins to immortalize Blyleven by retiring No. Do we have $225? Blyleven, 33, is such a cutup, in fact, that he recently cut off his five-year-old beard. For a batter, Best Speed is an average of 50% of his hardest hit balls. Koosman was also an crucial piece to the Mets improbable World Series Championship in 1969. On June 5, 1970, Rigney gave Blyleven his first start, against the Washington Senators. Given his temperamental behaviour and (more happily) reputation as a practical jokester as a player, which have carried over somewhat into an occasionally prickly demeanor as a broadcaster, I wonder if Blylevens early debut in the majors is partially to blame for his personalitys lack of leavening. play. He also claims his heritage has something to do with his curveball, which is the one against which all others in the big leagues are judged.