Posted on 05/07/2023 9:05:57 AM PDT by nickcarraway
Former major league pitcher Vida Blue has died. He was 73 years old.
The 1971 winner of both the AL MVP and Cy Young awards, Blue's playing career spanned three decades with the Oakland Athletics, Kansas City Royals and two stints with the San Francisco Giants.
Following his award-winning 1971 season, Blue clashed with A's owner Charlie Finley over his salary and played sparingly in 1972 as the A's marched to the first of three straight World Series titles.
The left-hander played an integral role in the 1973 and 1974 titles. But Blue's tumultuous relationship with Finley proved prophetic as the owner broke up the A's championship core instead of paying the stars in free agency.
Most recently, Blue had been an analyst on Giants broadcasts.
A's great Dave Stewart tweeted out his condolences, calling Blue "my mentor, hero, and friend."
A Louisiana native, Blue threw a no-hitter in 1970 and was part of a combined no-hitter in 1975. He appeared in six All-Star Games and was the first pitcher to start All-Star Games for each league, the AL in 1971 and the NL in 1978 while a member of the Giants.
He was almost sold to the Yankees but Bowie Kuhn vetoed the deal, along with one that would have sent Joe Rudi and Rollie Fingers to Boston.
Finley needed the money to replace the players he knew were leaving in this new impending free agency.
Hard throwing lefty. MVP at the age of 22. Deserved more HOF consideration, but drug use problems in his later career probably kept him out.
Great pitching, timely hitting, and excellent defense was the equation to their success.
RIP, Vida.
Now they are being kidnapped.
When Vida Blue nearly became a Cincinnati Red
https://www.redlegnation.com/2016/02/01/when-vida-blue-nearly-became-a-cincinnati-red/
I’ll always remember that when I was a very little kid my grandfather, who had played semi-pro ball in the 20s and loved Baseball, always had a game on in the summer. My grandmother was indifferent to baseball but she loved Vida Blue. I think it was because she liked his name. I’ve since found it funny to imagine how Vida Blue would react if he knew that the unofficial President of the Vida Blue fan club was a 75 year old woman in New Jersey.
Wow, that’s a name I haven’t heard in many years.
wonder why he didn’t win ROY in 71...must have been on a roster longer than 45 days in some previous year.
For the record, Vida Blue's baseball salary for the 1971 season was $14,750.
The average working Joe that year made just a shade under $10,000/year.
Blue had a 24–8 record in 1971, an AL leading 1.82 ERA, eight shutouts, and struck out 301 batters. He won both the Cy Young Award and American League Most Valuable Player Award.
Yes, he had good reason to be unhappy. Charlie Finley was definitely screwing him bigtime.
I don’t know if the eligibility rules were different back then, but he had more than 80 innings pitched between the 1969 and 1970 seasons — which exceeds the 50 inning threshold currently in place for “rookie” eligibility.
As a child, I aaw him torment the Red Sox at Fenway Park. I remember thinking he had the coolest name in the world!
Im guessioing heaart disease related death. In his early days with the A’s, he had a heart attack, as I recall.
He wore his first name on his jersey when he was with the Giants....a practice not repeated until Ichiro.
First Finley tried to sell him to the Yankees. Kuhn vetoed it. So Finley tried to trade him to the Reds for a no-name player (Dave Revering) and a whole bunch of cash. Kuhn vetoed it.
Finally, Finley traded him across the Bay to the Giants for seven players and $300,000 cash. (A lot less cash then Finley would veh gotten from either the Yankees or the Reds.)
I remember seeing Vida Blue on the weekly broadcasts of the “Game of the Week” with Curt Gowdy and Tony Kubek when he was in his prime and the Oakland Athletics were the most powerful team in baseball.
It is hard to believe that Blue has not been admitted to the Baseball Hall of Fame. He was a phenomenal pitcher.
At least he wore his name. Remember when Ted Turner signed Andy Messersmith for the Braves and because Superstation WTBS was Channel 17 and that was Messersmith’s uniform number, Turner tried to have him wear “Channel”? The Commissioner vetoed that in a hurry.
He also vetoed Turner making himself manager (after one game.)
+1
In the early 70s I saw Joe Rudi throw a ball on a line from the LF warming track to 3rd base at old Comiskey. Until then I didn’t know that he had a particularly strong arm.
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