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He just hasn't played on too many clubs that scored a lot of runs for him.". After the game Howard said, "He's got a fine arm. [citation needed], MLB Hall of Fame third baseman Brooks Robinson said of Blyleven: "[his curveball] was nasty, I'll tell you that. Nicknamed "the Barber," Sal Maglie commanded the corners of the plate as well as any pitcher in the history of baseball. Blyleven went out and bought gifts for everyone. 28, "Longtime Twins broadcaster Bert Blyleven hangs up the mic", June 2, 1976: Minneapolis Tribune column on Blyleven's trade to Texas Rangers. Ball No. Now, in the previous paragraph there are three things going on: 1) Blyleven's RA/9IP, 2) his run support, and 3) well, a third factor that's hard to define. Thanks in no small amount to a campaign led by Rich Lederer to get Bert Blyleven into the Hall of Fame, Blyleven saw his vote total gradually rise up, election after election, until he got in. Blyleven is the winning pitcher in Game 3 of the NLCS and Game 5 (pitching in relief) of the World Series. 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. Because of his competitive streak, Blyleven says things he probably shouldn't, and he usually says them with a biting wit. For a batter, Best Speed is an average of 50% of his hardest hit balls. "And then he went down." What we're talking about here is a humongous stuffed panda, and he's auctioning off the bear at the banquet. "I open the bidding at $200. "O.K., I've got a ball here signed by Henry Aaron. Theres a better factoid, though: Blyleven won 15 different 1-0 complete games, more than anyone else since Walter Johnson. one base to another, like Home To First. "[24] Blyleven was the first Dutch-born player inducted, and his Hall of Fame plaque depicts him with a Minnesota Twins cap. How much did this cost him? Bert Blyleven belongs in the Hall Of Fame because he pitched nearly 5000 innings, struck out 3700 batters, threw 60 shutouts, and compiled a career 3.31 ERA which was 18 percent better than the league . However, during his time in the Mexican League, he was coached by Dolph Lugue, a curveball mastermind, which helped him rely on the pitch upon returning to the majors. In 2008, he received 336 votes, or 61.9% of the vote. He really helped the 1976 Rangers make a run for the pennant. 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. Saved him a lot of pain." "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. Bert Blyleven, who was actually born Rik Aalbert Blijleven, was a Major League Baseball player who pitched for the Minnesota Twins (1970-1976), Texas Rangers (1976-1977), Pittsburgh Pirates (1978-1980), Cleveland Indians (1981-1985), Minnesota Twins (1985-1988), and California Angels (1989-1990, 1992). [14] The Pirates traded him to the Cleveland Indians on December 9, 1980. Jerry Koosman was a two-time, all-star for the New York Mets and, like most lefties, relied heavily on his curveball for success. However, ESPN.com columnist Jayson Stark said, "No player has everand again, that word is 'ever'had his Hall of Fame candidacy helped more by the sabermetrics boom than Blyleven. Yes, he rubbed up his hands, went down for the bat, and it wasn't there!". (Thanks, Ron, wherever you are.) "Thanks everyone for coming, and good night. No takers? But since no one close to 280 wins showed up after Blyleven, it helped him rise up over the years. His 20 no decisions in 1979 are the most by an MLB starting pitcher in a season, dating back to at least 1908.[13]. He has to have it. All Win Expectancy, Leverage Index, Run Expectancy, and Fans Scouting Report data licenced from TangoTiger.com. Digging a little deeper into the numbers, it looks like it really was just luck, because Blyleven was at his best when it counted the most. When The Chicken brought his act to Cleveland, pitchers (from left) Ernie Camacho, Blyleven, Luis Aponte and Mike Jeffcoat were his plucky backups. All Rights Reserved. A curveball can also be thrown with some velocity in an attempt jam a hitter. [4] His family moved to Melville, Saskatchewan, when Blyleven was two years old before ultimately settling in Garden Grove, California, in 1957 when Blyleven was five years old. I've had a nice life since, and tried my best never to look back. See details. And once he came up, he stuck around. and play-by-play data provided by Sports Info Solutions. Even alone Blyleven is a terror, whether he's giving a hotfoot, tying clothes in knots, cutting neckties or pulling down McMahon's pants. How to separate run support from that murky third factor? He won fewer games than he should have, right? He also won a World Series in 1979 with the Pittsburgh Pirates. In the '60s, Koufax had it. If youre going to try to adjust Blylevens record by his run support, you actually have to focus on his run support. However, his election was a slow curve that was thrown to Blyleven, not being elected by the Baseball Writers Association of America until his 14thseason of eligibility despite 287 victories and 3,701 strikeouts. Francisco the busboy? When Blyleven and Sutcliffe were together in Cleveland, their teammates had to be on constant lookout for pranks. Those stats hit me in the face. It wasn't until he got married in 1971 that he noticed on his birth certificate that he's really Rik Aalbert. So how many wins did Blyleven lose solely due to his run support? When you divide his career into sections, it veers wildly. 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 . In all likelihood, Bert Blyleven is the best pitcher not in the Hall of Fame. The left-hander won over 200 games and struck out over 2,500 batters in his 18-year MLB career. Thanks for the link at WGOM, by the way. coach who was Blyleven's manager in Cleveland for half a season, "He should win 30 games with the stuff he's got. "He knows how to finish a game now," says Indian pitching coach Don McMahon. Do we have $225? She says, "So now we'll have two.". I know this sounds terrible, but who does Bert pitch for these days?". 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. 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. If you had to pick one starting pitcher to serve as in/out line for induction, Id go with Stan Coveleski. In 2007, Blyleven's total dipped to 47.7% (75% is the minimum required for admission to the Hall). "[19] Still, it was not until his 14th year of eligibility, in 2011, that he was elected; he received 79.7% of the vote. Says Roy Smith, a rookie pitcher who dressed next to Blyleven last season, "Because his stuff is so good, it really doesn't do me any good to ask him what he throws to certain hitters. 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. He went out and used it to dominate high school hitters, and by age 19 found himself winning 10 games in the major leagues as a rookie for the Minnesota Twins, the start to a career that would last until he was 41. In fact, the Blylevens feel so strongly about family living that they, and Anthony, have helped several baseball players and their wives to adopt children. I checked all pitchers with at least 25 SHO from 1920-2011. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 3rd round of the 1969 amateur draft. He pitched for the MLB All-Stars in the 1993 World Port Tournament in Rotterdam. Upon being traded to the Cleveland Indians, Blyleven initially struggled with injuries, but then enjoyed a late-career resurgence, finishing third in the Cy Young Award voting in back-to-back years, with Cleveland in 1984 and also the following 1985 season that he split between the Indians and Twins. But he's not a bad guy. From the moment he came to the major leagues, as a 19-year-old with the Minnesota Twins in 1970, he has been considered a great talent. During the winter there are many of these Monday events in the Los Angeles area. 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. How far, in feet, a runner is ranging off the bag at the Heres a list, with how much theyd won before the big 3-0: Its easy to forget how young Blyleven debuted, just two months past his 19th birthday. Spanky, we love you.". }, Cronkite School at ASU He is very much at ease on the podium as he describes various raffle prizes, calls off winning numbers and awards golf trophies. That was the. But he did. Now he owes the Indians and the city of Cleveland something in return.". Ill be looking for it, Chris, and will pass the link on; youve got more than a few fans over at the WGOM. As Blyleven wanders into earshot, Scheinblum says, "Of course, I feel very strongly that a person born in a foreign country should not be allowed to play in the major leagues.". 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. Mike Jeffcoat. So close he might hang for No. If anyones curious, heres a list of the most 1-0 CG SHO for post-Walter Johnson pitchers: Nice lead for Blyleven. 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. Uh, okay, Dean Chance). One of seven children, Bert grew up in Garden Grove as American as, well, Dutch apple pie. Mike Cuellar was one of the filthiest breaking ball pitchers the game has ever seen. Well, its that murky third factorthe luck/pitch-to-the-score/sunspots one. CLEVELAND'S NETHERLANDS-BORN STAR, PITCHER BERT BLYLEVEN, PUTS HIS PEDAL TO THE METAL ON THE FIELD AND OFF, 2023 ABG-SI LLC. Especially back in those days, a pitchers win-loss record really mattered. ", Last year Blyleven was 4-0 with a 1.44 ERA against the American League West champion Royals. Watching him, one of his partners said, "He seems like a great guy. "It was the worst time I've ever had in baseball," he says. 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 In the middle of the 1976 season, he was traded to the Texas Rangers, where he threw a no-hitter in his final start for the team. Nolan Ryan and Bert Blyleven had the tightest rotation and velocity combination," Schmidt was quoted as saying in a recent Associated Press story. Here you go. velocity and launch angle. Kirkpatrick, 40, is sitting in the back of the dining room with his wife, Judy. 2001 Major League Baseball contraction plan, 1998 Major League Baseball home run record chase, The last night of the New York Yankees dynasty (2001), Chicago Cubs end the Billy Goat curse (2016), https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bert_Blyleven&oldid=1142574454, American expatriate baseball players in Canada, Major League Baseball players from the Netherlands, Major League Baseball players with retired numbers, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles with unsourced statements from July 2022, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, October 4,1992,for theCalifornia Angels, Career statistics and player information from, This page was last edited on 3 March 2023, at 05:13. He made his debut on June 5, 1970 playing for the Minnesota Twins as a pitcher. To answer the question, I went to my usual modus operandi: I looked at recent historical trends. The answer is 11. So how does he earn a spot on this list? Blyleven, 38, has won 271 major league games with one of baseball's best curves and a variety of offspeed pitches. Who the hell wanted this old-timer in the HOF anyways? How far, in feet, a fielder or runner has traveled on a In 1996, Blyleven became a television color analyst for the Twins, calling games for WCCO-TV and Midwest Sports Channel (later Fox Sports North). "Somebody had a sign that read, 'We drove 660 miles from Detroit Lakes,' I . Two words Hall of Famer Brooks Robinson used to describe Bert Blyleven's curveball: "nasty" and "knee-buckling.". This likely hurt him in the early Cooperstown voting. See all categories. How much spin, in revolutions per minute, a pitch was "My friends and I used to wait until they turned the lights out in the park," he says. Blyleven started the season in Triple A. Call it sunspots for all I care, it aint run support. It was this way when hitters faced Blyleven, as former San Diego catcher Terry Kennedy can attest. Hall of Fame pitcher Bert Blyleven reminding MLB's aging audience that starters were expected to finish games as recent as the 1980s should consider how effective he and his peers were the third . Then theres the guy with six straight 20-win seasons (Fergie Jenkins) and the pitcher with eight 20-win seasons (Jim Palmer). Corrales got a bullwhip. Afterward he issued these immortal words: "I knew I'd never win the Cy Young Award, so I was trying to be Fireman of the Year.". "It was nice of him to come anyway," says Blyleven. He chatted up all the passing foursomes and made sure the volunteer marshals switched holes so they wouldn't get bored. His wife, Patty, has a sneaking suspicion that he wanted the panda for himself as much as for their four children, Todd, 12, Kimberly, 10, Timothy, 3, and Thomas, 17 months. There once was a rookie hitter who didnt need to be convinced the curve was something more than an optical illusion. Thats doesnt sould too bad. He's referring to neckties. xwOBA is formulated using exit velocity, launch angle When you cant lift your arm for two days after throwing, you cant do any more.. 5.0. Those who throw it refer to it as The Hammer, The Yakker, even Public Enemy No. Things went so sour in Minnesota that in Blyleven's last game as a Twin, some fans serenaded him with "Goodby, Bert, we're glad to see you go." One of the nicknames for a curveball is a "yakker." That upset Blyleven, especially because he has given of himself to Cleveland. Hank Aaron, Warren Spahn, Lew Burdette, Joe Adcock, Eddie Mathews. Sold for $150. Blyleven left 28 tickets for family and friends for that night's game, which turned out to be . 16, worn by Ron Theobald. The story goes that he was tearing up the Grapefruit League, leading his wife to ask if she should begin house hunting in his new major-league city. Buyer pays for return shipping.