Bert Blyleven grew up in Garden Grove, Calif., less than 10 miles from Anaheim Stadium. In 2010, Blyleven had 74.2% of the votes, missing admission to the Hall of Fame by only 5 votes (0.8%).[22]. Thats the question. "And here's a ball signed by the 1984 Cleveland Indians. You've got work to do. Blyleven wanted $85,000, which seems like a piddling sum now, and the Twins were offering $65,000. Bert Blyleven Twins 2022 Topps Gilded Collection 1X Case 18X Box Break "You know, from sticking our fingers in the dikes. 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. 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). ", Says Mike Ferraro, a K.C. [15] Blyleven was unhappy playing for the lackluster Indians and forced a trade back to the Twins,[16] where he passed the 3,000-strikeout mark and helped the Twins to a 1987 World Series victory. And those TWENTY no-decisions on the WORLD CHAMPION Pittsburgh Pirates are probably a record of sorts. Watching him, one of his partners said, "He seems like a great guy. If you just take his actual RA/9IP and pythag it with league-average, park-adjusted run support, it comes out that he should have gone 21-13 over 34 decisions. ", Royals manager Dick Howser is also a Blyleven fan. Hall of Fame pitcher Bert Blyleven, who happened to be pitching coach for the Netherlands, didn't like what he saw during his team's loss to Puerto Rico. Rice benefited from an orchestrated movement by the Boston press corps. A batted ball with the perfect combination of exit The tournament follows a scramble format, in which all four team members play from the same lie, as determined by the foursome's best previous shot. At that time only 15 to 20 percent of the electorate supported him. The kids see how hard he works. 1996-2023 DIY Baseball LLC All Rights Reserved. outfield. Bert Blyleven - Society for American Baseball Research ", Blyleven raises every bid, and, finally, he says, "Sold to me. Blyleven cared more that everyone was having a good time. He's celebrity chairman of the 65 Roses Club for Cystic Fibrosis there. The Mets got from the Braves Willie Montaez and from the Rangers Tom Grieve and Ken Henderson who was sent to New York to complete the transaction three months later on March 15, 1978. After the game Howard said, "He's got a fine arm. Blyleven, an intense competitor, wants it. Many (especially in THT-land) will call it luck. He currently ranks 5th all-time in strikeouts, 9th all-time in shutouts, and 27th all-time in wins. "Matlack, Milner Go In FourTeam Trade,", Durso, Joseph. He really helped the 1976 Rangers make a run for the pennant. Blyleven got so upset with his role in Pittsburgh that he walked out on the Pirates for 10 days early in 1980. Blyleven went out and bought gifts for everyone. Upon his return, he was plagued by chronic stomach ulcers and a torn rotator cuff. . For instance, he referred to Paul and Phil Seghi, the Indians' general manager, as "two old men sitting up in the booth playing checkers." Spanky, we love you.". In the Florida Instructional League championship game, he beat the Indians 1-0 and was featured in a story in that year's Dec. 1 issue of SPORTS ILLUSTRATED. Kennedy got the message. raw numbers and as a measurement against average. "Somebody had a sign that read, 'We drove 660 miles from Detroit Lakes,' I . Bert Blyleven - Baseball-Reference.com He also became a baseball fan. Blyleven has reigned as the curveball champion longer than either Pascual or Koufax. 1979 - Blyleven goes 12-5 on 37 starts and the Pirates win the World Series. 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. Blyleven was born in the Netherlands, one of only nine major leaguers to have been born in Holland as of 2020 (several major leaguers were born in the Kingdom of the Netherlands outside Holland). But because Kirkpatrick can see and hear, he watches and listens as Blyleven moves into the final part of the evening's program. In his second stint in Minnesota, Bert Blyleven helped the Twins win the 1987 World Series and won his 250th career game a year later. one base to another, like Home To First. 19 7-4 over the Twins on the last day of the season. "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. Nice. Everything keyed off the fastball, but I could throw it at any time in the count, 3-2, bases loaded, I could throw it and throw it where I wanted, he said. 1973 Topps Set-Break #199 Bert Blyleven EX-EXMINT *GMCARDS* Those stats hit me in the face. Around (over?) Fansboth at home and at road gamescarried signs to the games saying "Circle me Bert". In 1985 he again led the American League in shutouts with five. Calico Jack (Suwinski) is Back for the Attack. Brian yeah, if you look at pre-1920 guys its really nuts. Camilo Pascual threw only two pitches, his fastball and his nasty overhand curveball, so as one can imagine those pitches were dominant. See details. Kirkpatrick, 40, is sitting in the back of the dining room with his wife, Judy. Blyleven pitched very well for the Indians in the strike year of 1981 (11-7, 2.89 ERA), but in the first game after play resumed, he hurt his right elbow. "If you gave baseball people their choice among Dan Petry, Jack Morris and Blyleven, Blyleven would probably be third," says Hal McRae, Kansas City's longtime designated hitter. But he did. Ted Williams called Pascual's curveball the "most feared curveball in the American League for 18 years. [21] In 2009, he gained only two votes, for a total of 338, 62.7%. It was this way when hitters faced Blyleven, as former San Diego catcher Terry Kennedy can attest. So how many wins did Blyleven lose solely due to his run support? 16, worn by Ron Theobald. Statcast defines a 'hard-hit ball' as one hit with an Stanky quit on his own. That year, he pitched 293.2 innings and completed 24 games, a feat that has not been repeated since. 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. So it seems only fitting that Blyleven is something of a yakker. become a hit. 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. In the '60s, Koufax had it. While down with an arm injury in 1982, Blyleven coached a Little League team, and gave the kids chewing tobacco so theyd look more like real pros. [18] He returned in his role for 2013 and 2017.[2]. His father, Joe, was a handyman who, during World War II, hid his future father-in-law from the Nazis so he wouldn't be put in a concentration camp. This semicelebrity affair at Riviera was the second off-season charity event Bert has sponsored. There are any number of reasons, starting with the fact that early in his career Blyleven relied too much on his ability to overpower hitters, especially late in the game. Blyleven, who has a seven handicap, is teamed with a couple of Cadillac dealers and an attorney, a zany Mormon named Tom Anthony. Here he is, a workhorse with superlative ERAs and a world-renown curveball, but he only made the All-Star team twice, in 1973 and 1985. Blyleven also won so many games because he was a great workhorse. None spent as many years as low on BBWAA ballots as Blyleven. A doting daddy, Blyleven likes to spend time with his sons Timothy (above) and Thomas. So close he might hang for No. Well, if its not luck, youre saying in so many words that the guy choked or lacked mental toughness. "I would like to say to my family, to my fans, to all the Puerto Rican people and . CLEVELAND'S NETHERLANDS-BORN STAR, PITCHER BERT BLYLEVEN, PUTS HIS PEDAL TO THE METAL ON THE FIELD AND OFF, 2023 ABG-SI LLC. I'll have to admit that was a hell of a curveball.". Yet last year was the first time he ever got a vote for the Cy Young Award. There are 16 names, but only one 300-game winner. Bert Blyleven. MLB Power Rankings: The Top 10 Curveballs in Baseball History But since no one close to 280 wins showed up after Blyleven, it helped him rise up over the years. "A Carl Yastrzemski bat. Many new voters had entered the mix, and old ones passed on. 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. If you enjoyed it, consider subscribing to Baseball Prospectus. Blyleven method: work hard, laugh harder - Orange County Register [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. window.". "[17], Blyleven was a pitching coach for the Netherlands in the 2009 World Baseball Classic. The team finishes at 3-under and out of hunt. He says, "Mister Paul and Mister Seghi [Mister?] But Blyleven is still a big kid at heart. Bah! In 15 years with four teams he has 195 wins and a 3.00 ERA. 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 also won a World Series in 1979 with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He pitched for the MLB All-Stars in the 1993 World Port Tournament in Rotterdam. Hmmm, I wanted the color TV. Bert Blyleven Twins 2022 Topps Gilded Collection 1X Case 18X Box Break #7 | Sports Mem, Cards & Fan Shop, Sports Trading Cards, Trading Card Box & Case Breaks | eBay! No two curveballs have the same rotation speed, velocity toward the hitter, arm delivery angle, or break. She says, "So now we'll have two.". If the pitchers were different, the results were the same. A couple of years ago when he was on the disabled list and back home, he came to watch my son Monte pitch. 30 day returns. 1997 Fleer Star Stickers Baseball #10 - Bert Blyleven - Minnesota Twins 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 can't speak Dutch, but to this day he still understands a little of it. Blyleven is well above the Coveleski line, regardless of how you slice his record. The house has lots of toys, some for the kids, some for Bert. background-color:#ba3434; The Pirates also acquired John Milner from the Mets. "Bert got six of mine last year," says DiBiasio. See details. Blyleven, like so many Hall of Fame players, was driven to succeed. Position: Starting Pitcher Bats: Right Throws: Right 6-3, 200lb (190cm, 90kg) . Blyleven missed the entire 1991 season following rotator cuff surgery. In 22 seasons, Blyleven had more than 3,700 career strikeouts, including more than 2,000 of those in 11 seasons with the Twins. If you go through the above, he comes out to 298-239 for his career, ever so incredibly shy of 300. I have to ask him, 'Bert, what would you throw if you had my stuff?' But Gossage and Sutter are relievers, and the Hall is still trying to figure them out. He pitched in eight postseason games and went 5-1 with a 2.47 ERA. In 2008, he received 336 votes, or 61.9% of the vote. "There's not a lot of dropoff in his stuff. And so he ended his career, waiting and wondering if he would get into the Hall of Fame. Bert Blyleven career highlights | The Hardball Times You've got to be kidding. by Handedness, 10 things I didnt know about Bert Blyleven, http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/forgotten-pennant-push-jim-kaat-1967/. Esteban Loaiza made two. Blyleven was happy to oblige. thrown with. When he beat the Twins for Texas on July 26, 1976, Blyleven didn't mince words. His 2.74 career ERA with the Rangers remains the best in team history. Jerry Koosman was a two-time, all-star for the New York Mets and, like most lefties, relied heavily on his curveball for success. Of course, that might be half-baked psychoanalysis, but it does make one wonder. The Baseball Analysts: Optimal Fastball-Changeup Speed Separation *Examining the Past, Present, and Future* Lineup Card Rich Lederer Baseball Beat Patrick Sullivan Change-Up Jeremy Greenhouse Touching Bases Dave Allen F/X Visualizations Sky Andrecheck Behind the Scoreboard Marc Hulet Around the Minors Al Doyle Past Times Rik Aalbert Blyleven was born in Zeist, a municipality in Utrecht, Netherlands, the son of Johannes Cornelius and Jannigje Blijleven. As a player, Blyleven did not have the best reputation. I assumed Blyleven had no chance with the current BBWAA. 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. He knows how to pitch. Blyleven became disgruntled with the Pirates and threatened to retire during the 1980 season if he was not traded. Like the first time, it doesn't go well, as he allows two runs in two innings and the NL wins, 6-1. Hey, wait a minute, Francisco, where are you going? Thanks, Bob. Hmmm, no cork in it. "An autographed picture of Fernando Valenzuela. Bert Blyleven: Pitching History and The Hall of Fame Communication. A curveball can also be thrown with some velocity in an attempt jam a hitter. xERA is a simple 1:1 translation of xwOBA, converted to Blyleven sat out most of the 1982 season with an elbow injury and struggled again in 1983, but he came back in 1984 with one of his best seasons: a 197 record with a 2.87 ERA. It can ruin a career. "We left one month-old piece in there, and I think Chris ate it." In Texas, Blyleven got blamed for something he never did. Blyleven and his Villa Park neighbors could probably win the American League West. Blyleven dominated batters for more than two decades with one of the best curveballs the game has ever seen and an underappreciated fastball. Blyleven went on to win the game 2-1, allowing five hits in seven innings and retiring the outsized Howard all three times he faced him. His breaking ball was literally untouchable. Why did Blyleven only make it twice? He later wished he could have erased the 3-2 fastball he threw to the first batter he faced, Lee Maye. Blyleven recorded 3,701 career strikeouts, the fifth-most in MLB history. background-image:unset; by Retrosheet. Maye hit it out of the park. 5.0. Roberto Alomar, Pat Gillick and Bert Blyleven on stage during a press conference during the 2011 Hall of Fame Weekend. "We have a beautiful cutlery set. Stop asking old baseball players about the game - Sports Illustrated Phone: 602.496.1460 He's fifth on the active list in shutouts, sixth in strikeouts, eighth in victories and eighth in innings pitched. Prospectus Q&A: Bert Blyleven - Baseball Prospectus Blyleven's display includes his one no-hitter (win No. He came back in 1992 but was mostly unproductive, going 812 with a 4.74 ERA. In his first season, his sharp curveball helped him to ten victories, and he was named AL Rookie Pitcher of the Year by The Sporting News. Even alone Blyleven is a terror, whether he's giving a hotfoot, tying clothes in knots, cutting neckties or pulling down McMahon's pants. Blyleven starred on the Santiago High School baseball team, also running cross country to build up his stamina and leg strength. The worst election by any of 20 guys who had gone on to election was one time Tony Perez finished exactly one vote shy of 50 percent. of his glove and to the base on a stolen base or pickoff Bert Blyleven Winter & Minor Leagues Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com "O.K., I've got a ball here signed by Henry Aaron. "I open the bidding at $200. They have a right to act any way they like.". There, he got a job straightening bumpers and brought his family down the next year. Who? A dozen of his 1-0 complete game shutouts came from 1970-77. [citation needed], MLB Hall of Fame third baseman Brooks Robinson said of Blyleven: "[his curveball] was nasty, I'll tell you that. 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. I still kid him about it.". "I just don't think he knew how to use me." How much time, in seconds, it takes a runner to get from and play-by-play data provided by Sports Info Solutions. "But if you had to have one pitcher to beat us, Blyleven would be the choice. So while the Sept. 22, 1977, contest wasn't a home game for Blyleven's Texas Rangers, it felt like it for Blyleven - who celebrated by pitching a no-hitter. Ill be looking for it, Chris, and will pass the link on; youve got more than a few fans over at the WGOM. It was the last out of the inning. He ran cross-country and played basketball and baseball at Santiago High School, and the baseball scouts began to come around. 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. He began teaching the pitch to himself, learning to throw a drop in junior high. Blyleven was the epitome of dominant. "We have those long, strong fingers," he says. In all likelihood, Bert Blyleven is the best pitcher not in the Hall of Fame. The one who didn't give up on him was Jesse Flores Sr. of Minnesota, and the Twins made Blyleven their third pick that June. Look at Blyleven in that 1974 campaign. O.K., I bid $300. Cleveland president Gabe Paul said, "Bert Blyleven isn't going anywhere. One of the nicknames for a curveball is a "yakker." The curve ball was something to behold, but the argument that a guy belongs because of the aesthetics of a pitch's arc is simply ridiculous. July 16, 1985: For the second time Blyleven pitches in an All-Star Game. Scheinblum's son, Monte, who's active in SADD at Villa Park High School in Villa Park, Calif., asked Blyleven if he'd help him organize a tournament. 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. Others will call it pitching to the score. the ERA scale, A measurement of a player's top running speed, expressed In his last game with the Twins in 1976 before being traded, he made an obscene gesture to the crowd while walking off the mound. The curveball of the '50s belonged to Camilio Pascual. If you grew up in the 1980s, you likely have a major memory of Blyleventhe guy who gave up all those homers. 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). CLEVELAND'S NETHERLANDS-BORN STAR, PITCHER BERT BLYLEVEN, PUTS HIS PEDAL TO THE METAL ON THE FIELD AND OFF Steve Wulf TABLE OF CONTENTS ORIGINAL LAYOUT Bert Blyleven addresses the ball.. It has also appeared as Ricalbert and Ribalbert. This is a free article. [8] He pitched well with the Rangers, posting a 2.76 ERA. Blyleven had pitched only 21 games in the minors; by comparison, Dwight Gooden, last year's 19-year-old sensation, needed 38 games before he was brought up to the Mets. If youre a fan of sabermetrics, and of internet-based populism, this weekends induction ceremony is thus a double victoryone for Blyleven and one for Lederer. In 1986, he. The evening is winding down, and there are only a few more souvenirs left to be auctioned. [14] The Pirates traded him to the Cleveland Indians on December 9, 1980. Now he owes the Indians and the city of Cleveland something in return.". The stuff, and no nonsense - Sports Illustrated Vault | SI.com Richie, you don't even exercise. Then theres Blyleven. Neal Heaton got a Gourmet Nosepicker. Blyleven went to the California Angels in 1989 and pitched a 2.73 ERA for a 17-5 record in his first season, but he missed the entire 1991 season following rotator cuff surgery. Possessing both a screwball and a curveball to go with a deceptive palmball, Cuellar was nearly untouchable in the prime of his career. There once was a rookie hitter who didnt need to be convinced the curve was something more than an optical illusion. Subscriptions support ongoing public baseball research and analysis in an increasingly proprietary environment. The third pitch was a hard check swing. This year he is 4-6, with a 2.97 ERA. pitch. Friendship may be the tie that binds Blyleven and Scheinblum, but occasionally Bert can get snippy. With the power of the internet, Lederers persistenceand, oh yeah, Blylevens own solid casehell have a nice weekend in upstate New York this year. In those years he was 59-66 (.472) at the break and 53-38 (.582) afterwards. [27], On September 2, 2020, Blyleven broadcast his final game for the Twins.[28]. US $3.00Standard Shipping. "I know Ed thinks the world of him.". "The guys who were real cheap during the season got real cheap gifts," he says. Adrian Devine, Tommy Boggs and Eddie Miller were traded from the Rangers to the Braves. That's why he gave up so many solo shots late in games - he was throwing his pitch with a comfortable lead and didn't care if the batter knew it was coming. 1 fairway at the Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif. I used to say about myself that I knew the day I would have to grow up and get a real job- it was the day, in Babe Ruth League in Seattle in the summer of 1957, when a guy named Ron Waara threw me a curveball that scared the living daylights out of me. Bert Blyleven is one of the great command pitchers in baseball history! (And the difference between Blylevens actual record and the second projection quantifies that murky third factor, but well get back to that in a second). If you had to pick one starting pitcher to serve as in/out line for induction, Id go with Stan Coveleski. He eventually came back after nearly two weeks. Thereupon he drives the addressee 250 yards straight down the middle of the No. Shipping speed. It's also nice of Blyleven to host this tournament. He's also not afraid to throw inside to a hitter. They had a profound disagreement over how often Blyleven should pitch; he wanted to go every fourth game, and Tanner gave him the ball every fifth. There is some argument as to whether Candy Cummings or Fred Goldsmith invented the curveball, but there is no argument about this: Bert Blyleven perfected it and rode it to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Bert Blyleven Statcast, Visuals & Advanced Metrics | MLB.com Well, his curveball was good enough to strike out 27 batters in a nine-inning game at Class D Bristol and followed that up with a 24-strikeout performance. I wondered how anyone could pitch 7,000 innings like Cy Young. From 1984-89, he went 95-71 with a 115 ERA+. And as for Reggie Jackson, well, hed just as soon take the day off as hit against Blyleven, who struck him out 47 times and held him to a .214 career average. 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. 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).