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. by Retrosheet. Hall of Fame third baseman Mike Schmidt became something of an expert on the curveball during his career. Blyleven starred on the Santiago High School baseball team, also running cross country to build up his stamina and leg strength. He knows how to pitch. [21] In 2009, he gained only two votes, for a total of 338, 62.7%. Blyleven no-hits Angels in homecoming | Baseball Hall of Fame I've had a nice life since, and tried my best never to look back. Being close to his 100th win is. Blyleven is well above the Coveleski line, regardless of how you slice his record. Blyleven wanted $85,000, which seems like a piddling sum now, and the Twins were offering $65,000. When I first discovered Retrosheet eons ago, the first thing I wanted to do was look at Blylevens run support. After his first year of Baseball Hall of Fame eligibility in 1998, Blyleven was widely considered to be the best eligible pitcher not yet enshrined. Francisco, come up here. But thats the problem, you had to go way back. He got him to fly out. (Milo Stewart Jr./National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum) "I always played for my island," Alomar said in his induction speech. Blyleven method: work hard, laugh harder - Orange County Register 1996-2023 DIY Baseball LLC All Rights Reserved. "It was an off year for ties," says Blyleven. From 1984-89, he went 95-71 with a 115 ERA+. Blyleven proceeded to finish Pittsburgh's sweep of Cincinnati in the National League Championship Series, pitching a complete game in the Pirates' 7-1 triumph in Game 3. That, of course, would belong to Sandy Koufax. The Dodgers were ready to draft him in the first round in 1969, but in one of his last high school games, Blyleven got shelled. Thats the question. Also, he felt that Tanner was pulling him from games too quickly. [14] The Pirates traded him to the Cleveland Indians on December 9, 1980. This likely hurt him in the early Cooperstown voting. If the pitchers were different, the results were the same. Not many of these around. Sold for $200. Take his 1974 season, when he went 17-17 despite a tremendous ERA+ of 142. The team finishes at 3-under and out of hunt. Like the first time, it doesn't go well, as he allows two runs in two innings and the NL wins, 6-1. He has all the stats of a potential Hall of Famer. See details. So why did this happen to Blyleven? 1971 TOPPS # 26 BERT BLYLEVEN NICE CARD. Many (especially in THT-land) will call it luck. Most people familiar with Blyleven's case for the HOF know that he stands fifth all-time in strikeouts. 1997 Fleer Star Stickers Baseball #10 - Bert Blyleven - Minnesota Twins But Blyleven debuted on a ballot near the end of a stretch of 11 consecutive years with at least one 300-game winner up for nomination. He was 17-5 for the Angels last season, allowing only 14 home runs. On the second-to-last weekend of the season, the Indian players had a little party to adjourn their kangaroo court. Blyleven is the winning pitcher in Game 3 of the NLCS and Game 5 (pitching in relief) of the World Series. Then theres the guy with six straight 20-win seasons (Fergie Jenkins) and the pitcher with eight 20-win seasons (Jim Palmer). He became interested in baseball as a young boy watching Sandy Koufax pitch for the Los Angeles Dodgers and listening to Vin Scully and Jerry Doggett announce the Dodgers' radio broadcasts. Almost everybody says this of Blyleven: "He wants the ball." Bert Blyleven | Baseball Wiki | Fandom Bert Blyleven. Thats a lot better than I wouldve expected. Normally that would be a random fact, but here it goes to the heart of things. "[19] Still, it was not until his 14th year of eligibility, in 2011, that he was elected; he received 79.7% of the vote. He also won a World Series in 1979 with the Pittsburgh Pirates. At the time of his election, he was the only eligible member of the 3,000 strikeout club and the only pitcher with 50 or more shutouts not in the Hall of Fame. Until last year, fate had not been overly kind to Blyleven. With all of the talk of some players not getting the votes from the Baseball Writers Association of America for entry into the Hall of Fame because of allegations and admissions regarding illegal substance abuse, pitcher Bert Blyleven, who became a member of the Hall earlier this month . Joe worked on the railroads in Saskatoon and Regina and moved to California in 1955. Despite retiring at age 30, Sandy Koufax recorded 2,396 strikouts, won four World Series Championships and three Cy Young Awards. Many out there in THTs readerland believe its all just luck and random variation, and we may as well do away with W-L records. Blyleven has a ball for every one of his regular-season major league victories, as well as for his win in the 1979 National League Championship Series for the Pirates and his '79 World Series victory over the Orioles. Wes Ferrell won three games after his age-30 season. How much spin, in revolutions per minute, a pitch was [18] He returned in his role for 2013 and 2017.[2]. and, on certain types of batted balls, Sprint Speed. Pittsburgh thought so little of him that it traded him and Manny Sanguillen to Cleveland after the '80 season for Victor Cruz, Bob Owchinko, Rafael Vasquez and Gary Alexander. "It was nice of him to come anyway," says Blyleven. Blyleven received only 17.55% of the vote for Hall of Fame admission in 1998 (his first year of eligibility), and his vote total dropped to 14.1% in 1999. Essentially a two-pitch hurler (curveball and fastball) thus far in his career, Blyleven developed an offspeed pitch during spring training in 1971, and the results were immediate. "Golf is my life," Anthony keeps saying. Despite winning 17 fewer games than he should have in his pre-Pittsburgh years, Blyleven can still claim to be one of only 16 men in the liveball era to win 150 games before turning 30. If you think you just heard some big names, listen to these. "Doug DeCinces lives over here," says Blyleven. See all categories. Jump is a Statcast metric that shows which players have This was especially pronounced in his first seven full seasons, 1971-77, when he was in his prime. MLB Power Rankings: The Top 10 Curveballs in Baseball History He says, "Mister Paul and Mister Seghi [Mister?] Bert was a terrific pitchera dominating pitcher. He needed elbow surgery in '82 after throwing only 20 innings, and in '83 he missed most of the last two months with a right shoulder injury. "And then he went down." I have some sympathy for that approach, but ultimately remain agnostic. 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. But Gossage and Sutter are relievers, and the Hall is still trying to figure them out. Hey, wait a minute, Francisco, where are you going? Kennedy got the message. It can ruin a career. Blyleven was one of baseball's most notorious dugout pranksters during his playing days. "Two pitchers that I know about who held it the way I do," says Blyleven, "were Koufax and Bob Feller.". But he did. During his time with the Angels, the fire extinguisher in the team's clubhouse at Angel Stadium read: "In case of Blyleven: Pull". Blyleven thinks little of drugs, pitch count. Call it sunspots for all I care, it ain't run support. For the benefit of those who don't knowand it's quite understandable so don't feel ashamedBlyleven, a right-hander, pitches for the Cleveland Indians. "I saw him when he was 19 and I've seen him now," Howser says. In between, while a Pirate in 1980, Blyleven jumped the team in midseason, flying to his home in California and demanding a trade. Plus, he keeps us loose.". He had looked up the records of Walter Johnson and Cy Young when he was young. Of course, that might be half-baked psychoanalysis, but it does make one wonder. "My friends and I used to wait until they turned the lights out in the park," he says. "[24] Blyleven was the first Dutch-born player inducted, and his Hall of Fame plaque depicts him with a Minnesota Twins cap. In the world of baseballan image comes to mind here of a white planet with red seams and American League president Bobby Brown's signature on itlabels are very easy to put on and very hard to take off. He came back in 1992 but was mostly unproductive, going 8-12 with a 4.74 ERA. A .264 career batter, Kennedy hit .120 in 25 at bats against Blyleven, collecting three hits while striking out five times. And then when everybody was gone, we'd go out to the mound and make believe. Thats easy to figure: Take the difference between his actual win-loss record and what he should have had based on a pythaging of his actual run support and his actual RA/9IP. Saved him a lot of pain." Bert Blyleven. He ran cross-country and played basketball and baseball at Santiago High School, and the baseball scouts began to come around. Then he filled out, picked up some speed on his fastball and wowed batters in rookie and A ball. Calico Jack (Suwinski) is Back for the Attack. Thats doesnt sould too bad. Friendship may be the tie that binds Blyleven and Scheinblum, but occasionally Bert can get snippy. June 14, 1985: Bert Blyleven achieves a career milestone as he collects his 200th career win, defeating the A's, 6-1. He won his first World Series with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1979. I assumed Blyleven had no chance with the current BBWAA. Joe's brother, Cor, had gone to the U.S. before the war, and because it was easier to enter from Canada than from Holland, the Blylevens emigrated to Saskatchewan when Bert was two. (Also, Dean Chance? The Pirates won by the same score in Game 5 of the World Series, as Blyleven earned the decision with four shutout innings of relief. Id say 95 percent of that mysterious third element is luck, but does that mean its never anything else? Blyleven no-hits Angels in homecoming | Baseball Hall of Fame Free local pickup from Brooklyn, New York, United States. Thats especially the case for the guys who finished near the top of the list (and where Blyleven would be if he didnt weirdly have those 17 missing wins). If you went back further, you could find guys whod risen up: Billy Williams, Luis Aparicio, Bob Lemon. Blyleven went to the California Angels in 1989 and pitched a 2.73 ERA for a 175 record in his first season; he led the league for his third and final time in shutouts (5). Blyleven was quoted as saying, "My dad built me a mound in the backyard with a canvas backdrop over our horseshoe pits, and I would go back there and just throw and throw and throw until I developed it, and it became my curveball. The First Annual Blyleven Celebrity Golf Classic, to benefit Students Against Drunk Driving and the Orange County Trauma Society, is under way. Camilo Pascual threw only two pitches, his fastball and his nasty overhand curveball, so as one can imagine those pitches were dominant. How far, in feet, a runner is ranging off the bag at the Mike Jeffcoat. Spanky, we love you.". How much did this cost him? Why did Blyleven only make it twice? Solving Major League Baseball's Young Person Problem Blyleven has reigned as the curveball champion longer than either Pascual or Koufax. He chatted up all the passing foursomes and made sure the volunteer marshals switched holes so they wouldn't get bored. It's one of the hardest things in sports to execute. Robin Roberts hung on a long time but was a shell of himself for many years. "Somebody had a sign that read, 'We drove 660 miles from Detroit Lakes,' I .