raw numbers and as a measurement against average. The curveball has been around for ages and has taken many forms throughout the history of baseball. "Bob Boone is building a house over there, Enos Cabell lives in those hills." Bert Blyleven. He took quiet pride in Todd's 10-point game, a performance that reminded one of a young Jack Sikma. 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. Blyleven, 38, has won 271 major league games with one of baseball's best curves and a variety of offspeed pitches. Blyleven is the winning pitcher in Game 3 of the NLCS and Game 5 (pitching in relief) of the World Series. If you had to pick one starting pitcher to serve as in/out line for induction, Id go with Stan Coveleski. It was his second world championship. Saved him a lot of pain." There, he got a job straightening bumpers and brought his family down the next year. MLB Advanced Media, LP. "Two pitchers that I know about who held it the way I do," says Blyleven, "were Koufax and Bob Feller.". Yeah, over his career. 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. Ted Williams called Pascual's curveball the "most feared curveball in the American League for 18 years. Blyleven debuted in major league baseball in 1970, right at the end of a great run of workhorse pitchers. Around (over?) [2] From 1996 to 2020, he was a color analyst for Minnesota Twins television broadcasts.[3]. That game happened to feature a. No two curveballs have the same rotation speed, velocity toward the hitter, arm delivery angle, or break. "[His curveball] was nasty, I'll tell you thatenough to make your knees buckle. That upset Blyleven, especially because he has given of himself to Cleveland. One fan posted, "Pete Rose in the Phillies booth "he threw a c**k high fastball". 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. June 14, 1985: Bert Blyleven achieves a career milestone as he collects his 200th career win, defeating the A's, 6-1. Being close to his 100th win is. That just leaves the years in his apparent prime, from 1970-77, when he won 17 fewer games than youd expect. If I see anymore, I'll fall in love." He's being serious, although whimsy soon bubbles to the surface. I wanted 300 wins, 5,000 innings, and 4,000 strikeouts, he admits, but after shoulder surgery in spring training in 1993, I would pitch four or five innings and my body would say no more. Looking it up, in his 37 starts, the Twins scored 151 runs, 4.1/game. See details. "And here's a ball signed by the 1984 Cleveland Indians. According to baseball-reference Cy Young won 195 games befroe his age 30 season. Autographed in English. A .264 career batter, Kennedy hit .120 in 25 at bats against Blyleven, collecting three hits while striking out five times. The umpire called it a strike and Jamie backed out and it looked to me like he kind of laughed a little bit. Who has blue ticket 92594? If youre going to try to adjust Blylevens record by his run support, you actually have to focus on his run support. 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. What makes his statistics even more impressive is that he missed five starts after he broke a bone in his right foot; while shagging flies in the Milwaukee outfield in May, he stepped on a ball hiding in the grass. For instance, he referred to Paul and Phil Seghi, the Indians' general manager, as "two old men sitting up in the booth playing checkers." Theres a better factoid, though: Blyleven won 15 different 1-0 complete games, more than anyone else since Walter Johnson. Kirkpatrick, 40, is sitting in the back of the dining room with his wife, Judy. ", Bert also inherited a love of the Dodgers from his father; he worshiped two in particular, Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale. A Tom Murphy autographed glove. So how many wins did Blyleven lose solely due to his run support? 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. On July 16, 2011, the Minnesota Twins formally retired Blyleven's number.[26]. 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. Rik Aalbert (Bert) Blyleven [1951] Bert Blyleven was and still is the only native Dutchman to have made a successful career, as measured by quality of play, in American professional baseball. In the last part of his careerhis second go-around in Minnesota and his final seasons in Californiahe came out eight games ahead. But the injuries may have been a blessing in disguise, because they made him a better pitcher. 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. For instance, in the middle of his careerthe Pirate/Indian yearshe comes out even with the murky third element. He also has balls from his 14 complete-game 1-0 victories, which put him third on the alltime list, tied with Christy Mathewson, behind Walter Johnson (an uncatchable 38) and Grover Cleveland Alexander (17). window") of the runner is at least 30 ft/sec. Mike Cuellar was one of the filthiest breaking ball pitchers the game has ever seen. 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. You have a half-dozen 300 game winnersGaylord Perry, Phil Niekro, Steve Carlton, Don Sutton, Nolan Ryan, and Tom Seaver. 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 mingled easily with the other parents. But because Kirkpatrick can see and hear, he watches and listens as Blyleven moves into the final part of the evening's program. Bert (Blyleven) was a terrific pitcher - a dominating pitcher." After the 1977 season, he was traded to the Pirates in a rare four-team trade. Plus, he keeps us loose.". When he was younger, his stuff was so good that he didn't need a changeup or pinpoint control. Koufax combined his rising fast ball with an overhand 12-6 curveball that embarrassed hitters. During the winter there are many of these Monday events in the Los Angeles area. He chatted up all the passing foursomes and made sure the volunteer marshals switched holes so they wouldn't get bored. "What other team gets to wear a picture of its general manager on its jacket?" Blyleven's first two full seasons back with the Twins produced major league records for home runs allowed in a single season (50) and in back-to-back seasons (96). Hmmm, I wanted the color TV. "There were 32 scouts in the stands at the start," he recalls. Let's look at some of the names. Ill be home soon. He has all the stats of a potential Hall of Famer. Many new voters had entered the mix, and old ones passed on. Even alone Blyleven is a terror, whether he's giving a hotfoot, tying clothes in knots, cutting neckties or pulling down McMahon's pants. 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. Monte tried to throw a curve, and something in his elbow snapped. "We have a beautiful cutlery set. When you divide his career into sections, it veers wildly. For $675.". Blyleven was the epitome of dominant. And I said, 'Yes.' His 2.74 career ERA with the Rangers remains the best in team history. Blyleven dominated batters for more than two decades with one of the best curveballs the game has ever seen and an underappreciated fastball. In his parting shot, Blyleven called the Twins' fans "bleep bleep" and said, "They're behind you when you do good, and they turn on you when things go wrong. And then when everybody was gone, we'd go out to the mound and make believe. The Baseball Hall of Shame II first clued me in to some of those stories. He will do anything to get it. At the Blyleven the biggest celebrity, literally and figuratively, is Lou Ferrigno, television's erstwhile Incredible Hulk. He learned that his name actually was Rik Aalbert Blijleven after obtaining a copy of his birth certificate in order to get married.[30]. I remember talking to scout Jesse Flores and Ed Roebuck, the pitcher, about the rotation. To me, that was the characteristic that made him an unquestionable HOFer. Hmmm, no cork in it. "An autographed picture of Fernando Valenzuela. 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. Watching him, one of his partners said, "He seems like a great guy. In 1996, Blyleven became a television color analyst for the Twins, calling games for WCCO-TV and Midwest Sports Channel (later Fox Sports North). Others will call it pitching to the score. Blyleven cared more that everyone was having a good time. 1979 - Blyleven goes 12-5 on 37 starts and the Pirates win the World Series. OK, now lets figure out what Blylevens record should be based on pythaging his actual RA/9IP and his actual run support. He also became a baseball fan. CLEVELAND'S NETHERLANDS-BORN STAR, PITCHER BERT BLYLEVEN, PUTS HIS PEDAL TO THE METAL ON THE FIELD AND OFF, 2023 ABG-SI LLC. The team finishes at 3-under and out of hunt. They just started throwing me the curveball.. "It was an off year for ties," says Blyleven. "But if you had to have one pitcher to beat us, Blyleven would be the choice. Collectibles; Books & Magazines; Entertainment Memorabilia; Cell Phones . Subscriptions support ongoing public baseball research and analysis in an increasingly proprietary environment. If the pitchers were different, the results were the same. Vin Scully and Jerry Doggett would be describing Koufaxs curve that he threw off that high mound, Blyleven recalled. [1] He serves as the pitching coach for the Netherlands national baseball team, having done so in the 2009, 2013 and 2017 and 2023 World Baseball Classic. 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. 1.18 ERA 184 Fastball Speed 165 Regular Speed 160 Slowball Speed 10 Left Curve 6 Right Curve 9 Drop Rating 54 Endurance Bio Born Rik Aalbert Blyleven on April 6, 1951 in Zeist, Holland. The movement of a pitch is defined in inches, both in If you enjoyed it, consider subscribing to Baseball Prospectus. Now he owes the Indians and the city of Cleveland something in return.". It's like the fellow at the golf tournament said. The incident occurred when Rose was commentating on a Phillies game last year and sharing a story when he said . Calico Jack (Suwinski) is Back for the Attack. 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." If you think you just heard some big names, listen to these. Updated: Saturday, March 4, 2023 3:30 AM ET, Park Factors None spent as many years as low on BBWAA ballots as Blyleven. People in and out the game lauded Blyleven for having the games best curveball, but he was also temperamental. Kennedy got the message. Given another five years of success, Blyleven will have Hall of Fame credentials. The ones worse than him who are in are generally mistakes. How far, in feet, a runner is ranging off the bag at the Call it sunspots for all I care, it aint run support. Gary Carter, Rich Gossage, Jim Rice, and Bruce Sutter have all gotten in, after initially finishing under 50 percent. If he underachieved because of his own personal failings, then why was he so successful when things entirely depended on him? Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for 1974 TOPPS BASEBALL #98 BERT BLYLEVEN MINNESOTA TWINS V.G. ", Last year Blyleven was 4-0 with a 1.44 ERA against the American League West champion Royals. Chris Bando, who loves pizza, was given an almost-empty pizza box. He just hasn't played on too many clubs that scored a lot of runs for him.". "Aw bleep, that was for him [Griffith] and his family." "Thanks everyone for coming, and good night. thrown with. 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. 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. Blyleven has ridden the curve to a career ERA of 3.00. They have a right to act any way they like.". 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. Blyleven appeared as himself in the 1990 James Belushi film Taking Care of Business. At which point Richie Scheinblum yells across the room to his wife, "We already have a Koufax ball!" 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. 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. I'll have to admit that was a hell of a curveball.". Jack Brickhouse, a Chicago Cubs broadcaster, described the pitches Paige threw as "not quite legal but not quite illegal.". He never surrendered more than 24 home runs in any year before, and after the 198687 campaigns, he averaged 21 allowed homers per season over the course of his career. "There's not a lot of dropoff in his stuff. How fast, in miles per hour, a ball was hit by a batter. He was 17-5 for the Angels last season, allowing only 14 home runs. But nobody really cared. No other prominent pitcher in his prime had such a lousy divergence from his expected W-L record based on his real-life run support as Blyleven did. Phoenix, AZ 85004 He still he ranks fifth all-time in that department. Also, while I think Blyleven is a better pitcher than Kaat, I wrote a column on Kaat years ago arguing in 1967 he had the greatest stretch run by a pitcher ever in a pennant race: Fine pitchers, but a definite step down from what had come before. Jerry Koosman was a two-time, all-star for the New York Mets and, like most lefties, relied heavily on his curveball for success. 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). Those who throw it refer to it as The Hammer, The Yakker, even Public Enemy No. The curveball of the '50s belonged to Camilio Pascual. In the early days it was fashionable to deny that a curveball actually curved, many scientists even claiming it was nothing but an optical illusion. 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. A range-based metric of skill that shows how many outs a If it weren't for drug and injury issues late in his career, he easily could have reached the 3,000-strikeoutplateau. Koosman's catcher in his Mets days, J.C. Martin, once said that Koosman could throw his 11-5 curveball "any time.". Not many of these around. Sold for $200. Sandy Koufax, Los Angeles Dodgers 10 of 10 Ezra Shaw/Getty Images Despite retiring at age 30, Sandy Koufax recorded 2,396 strikouts, won four World Series. The bullpen page for Hal Newhouser lists the 16 liveballers who won 150 games before turning 30 years old, but I feel a bit odd citing that, since Im the guy that put that info there in the first place. Shipping speed. [8] He pitched well with the Rangers, posting a 2.76 ERA. Blyleven was inducted to the Hall of Fame in 2011 after receiving 79.7% of the vote on his 14th attempt. After I ran off the mound, I looked over at the St. Louis' dugout. Thereupon he drives the addressee 250 yards straight down the middle of the No. Expected Weighted On-base Average (xwOBA). Even back in 1969 Blyleven had his sensational curve. He has always hovered around .500: 10-9, 16-15, 17-17 twice. He played three seasons for the California Angels before retiring. "[19], By 2006, his total had increased to 53.33%. "It was the worst time I've ever had in baseball," he says. by Handedness, 10 things I didnt know about Bert Blyleven, http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/forgotten-pennant-push-jim-kaat-1967/. "I told our third baseman, Steve Braun, to watch for a bunt," says Blyleven, "but Spanky laid a perfect one down. "It finally ended when I was out in the back of the house, pulling weeds. Blyleven married Patricia Ann Whitehead, a friend from high school, during his second season in the majors, and they have raised a happy family. 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). Bert Blyleven was a big part of that championship season and went 1-1 in the World Series. The only thing Blyleven hates more than pitch counts is the use of . He generally did better in the second half of the year. [14] The Pirates traded him to the Cleveland Indians on December 9, 1980. Its that second wind that makes his career numbers impressive. Brian yeah, if you look at pre-1920 guys its really nuts. 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. When announcing partner Bremer attempted to circle fans with the telestrator, he drew geometric forms that were non-circular, and Blyleven and fans started to jostle Bremer with phrases like "Rhombus me, Dick" or "Triangle me, Dick". Blyleven wanted $85,000, which seems like a piddling sum now, and the Twins were offering $65,000. Please note the delivery estimate is greater than 13 business days. He really helped the 1976 Rangers make a run for the pennant. [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. "[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. Blyleven was inducted into the Minnesota Twins Hall of Fame in 2002[25] and was chosen to the fan-elected "Wendy's- Minnesota Twins All-Metrodome Team" on July 28, 2009. exit velocity of 95 mph or higher. 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. [11][12] With the Pirates, he led the team in ERA, strikeouts, and complete games in 1978, and he helped them to a World Series victory in 1979. In fact, he never came close. How hard, in miles per hour, a fielder throws the ball. It's hard to say anything based on one game, but he looks like he's got a great future ahead of him.". All rights reserved. He earned the moniker "Frying Dutchman" by frequently setting fire to his teammates' shoelaces, a practical joke known as a "hot foot". Blyleven started the season in Triple A. Maye hit it out of the park. "O.K., I've got a ball here signed by Henry Aaron. Blyleven and his Villa Park neighbors could probably win the American League West. This past baseball season he merely cut up American League batters, finishing as the third-leading vote getter in the Cy Young Award balloting, behind relievers Willie Hernandez and Dan Quisenberry. 5.0. "Brought it in from Cleveland," comes the host's reply. Heck, Manny Trillo made four. Blyleven got so upset with his role in Pittsburgh that he walked out on the Pirates for 10 days early in 1980. Or 40 percent. About 10 years ago, there was a debate at the late, great Rob Neyer Message Board about Blylevens Hall of Fame chances. One of the nicknames for a curveball is a "yakker." Blyleven is rightPhil Seghi looks uncannily like Chief Wahoo. 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. It showed that of the last 20 guys elected to Cooperstown by the BBWAA (as of then), none had ever received 20 percent or lower of the vote in any election they were up for. He says, "Mister Paul and Mister Seghi [Mister?] 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. My dad built a mound in the backyard and had a canvas hung behind a horseshoe pit. Blyleven, just 19, was called up to replace him. You've got to be kidding. Before the game Blyleven went over to the lineup card and changed the spelling of his name from "Blylevan." When I first discovered Retrosheet eons ago, the first thing I wanted to do was look at Blylevens run support. His career was put on hold by a stint with the United States Armed Forces. But he did. Do I hear $275? He came back in 1992 but was mostly unproductive, going 812 with a 4.74 ERA. Yes, he rubbed up his hands, went down for the bat, and it wasn't there!". Of course, it's never as nice as the one he cut.". 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. Enough to make your knees buckle. i surely did my campaigning for blyleven too back in the day. "We left one month-old piece in there, and I think Chris ate it." Paige has a unique ability to blow hitters away and come right back and make them look foolish. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2011 . Free shipping for many products! However, the velocity on his fastball adding to the effectiveness of his curveball. have been very good to me, I like the way Pat manages, I think we've got a good, young club, and I'd like to be a part of a winning team in Cleveland. Call the curveball what you will. 5.0. Sold to me for $25. Thats it? 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. Here you go. How much did this cost him? His 20 no decisions in 1979 are the most by an MLB starting pitcher in a season, dating back to at least 1908.[13]. According to Matt Welch of Reason Magazine, "there had long been a strong case that the Dutch-born curveballista was the most deserving player on the outside of Cooperstown looking in. This led to a fundraising campaign with the Parkinson's Foundation and a sponsorship with the Minnesota Lottery. Well, its that murky third factorthe luck/pitch-to-the-score/sunspots one. Bert Blyleven Stats by Baseball Almanac. "The guys who were real cheap during the season got real cheap gifts," he says. ". A banquet in a Riviera dining room follows the golf tournament, and Blyleven, nattily dressed in a camel's hair sports coat, navy blue trousers, blue shirt and uncut tie, is the master of ceremonies. 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. http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/forgotten-pennant-push-jim-kaat-1967/, interesting article. "Bert's always doing things for people," he says. He would continue to play for six different teams for the next 22 years . of his glove and to the base on a stolen base or pickoff Dutch-American baseball player (born 1951), Cleveland Guardians Opening Day starting pitchers, Los Angeles Angels Opening Day starting pitchers, List of Major League Baseball career wins leaders, List of Major League Baseball annual shutout leaders, List of Major League Baseball annual strikeout leaders, List of Texas Rangers Opening Day starting pitchers, List of Major League Baseball career hit batsmen leaders, List of Major League Baseball career shutout leaders, List of Major League Baseball career strikeout leaders, "Twins' Bert Blyleven, a Fort Myers resident, moves from broadcast booth", "HOFers have long history with World Baseball Classic", "Wednesday's game marked Bert Blyleven's last Twins broadcast", "Bert Blyleven Society for American Baseball Research", "Sports of The Times; Blyleven And His Beard", -NY Times article Alomar and Blyleven elected to hall of fame, 1/5/11, "Blyleven traded to Texas in six-player transaction", Former Indians Blyleven, Alomar Elected to Hall of Fame, Durso, Joseph.
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