bert blyleven fastball speed

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. He keeps a collection of baseball memorabilia in his study. People in and out the game lauded Blyleven for having the games best curveball, but he was also temperamental. He began teaching the pitch to himself, learning to throw a drop in junior high. Though his age-28 season, Blyleven tossed 2,624 innings, more than anyone since Pete Alexander. [8] He pitched well with the Rangers, posting a 2.76 ERA. "Then we'd sneak down into the dugouts and grab whatever we couldresin bags and broken bats. "I know that stuff sounds silly," says Smith. In his seven losses, the Indians scored only six runs. Adrian Devine, Tommy Boggs and Eddie Miller were traded from the Rangers to the Braves. Bert Blyleven. He won 287 games, 27th-most all-time, and pitched 4,970 innings, 14th-most all-time. 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). "But I'll be grateful to him for one thing in particular. And I said, 'Yes.' He really helped the 1976 Rangers make a run for the pennant. Watching him, one of his partners said, "He seems like a great guy. Blyleven did not know his correct name until he was about to get married. 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. Upon his return, he was plagued by chronic stomach ulcers and a torn rotator cuff. The incident occurred when Rose was commentating on a Phillies game last year and sharing a story when he said . Ron Necciai is one of the most dominating pitchers that never materialized in the Major Leagues. Kennedy got the message. This semicelebrity affair at Riviera was the second off-season charity event Bert has sponsored. "[19], By 2006, his total had increased to 53.33%. He would continue to play for six different teams for the next 22 years . I wondered how anyone could pitch 7,000 innings like Cy Young. Koosman was also an crucial piece to the Mets improbable World Series Championship in 1969. one base to another, like Home To First. "What other team gets to wear a picture of its general manager on its jacket?" 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. Jerry Willard. Many years ago, I figured this out for the careers of nearly 200 pitchers, and only three did this bad (Tim Keefe and Curt Simmons both at 18, and Dizzy Trout the champion at 22). If anyones curious, heres a list of the most 1-0 CG SHO for post-Walter Johnson pitchers: Nice lead for Blyleven. 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. This was especially pronounced in his first seven full seasons, 1971-77, when he was in his prime. Bert Blyleven addresses the ball. "I visualized the dropping motion.". 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. 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. 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. He didnt allowed more than 24 in any other season. ", Blyleven wraps up the evening. But bleep them. Fine pitchers, but a definite step down from what had come before. pitch. I practiced it by myself. He blanked Milwaukee on four hits in his first start, followed by a three-hit shutout at Kansas City five days later. Camilo Pascual threw only two pitches, his fastball and his nasty overhand curveball, so as one can imagine those pitches were dominant. One fan posted, "Pete Rose in the Phillies booth "he threw a c**k high fastball". Finally we'd make like we were playing the outfield and jump over the fence in left.". Uh, okay, Dean Chance). [5] One of seven children, his parents anglicized their names to Joe and Jenny, with Rik Aalbert becoming simply "Bert". Many (especially in THT-land) will call it luck. The Twins responded by trading him to the Texas Rangers. It's hard to say anything based on one game, but he looks like he's got a great future ahead of him.". Well, its that murky third factorthe luck/pitch-to-the-score/sunspots one. Bert Blyleven was a big part of that championship season and went 1-1 in the World Series. [27], On September 2, 2020, Blyleven broadcast his final game for the Twins.[28]. Blyleven appeared as himself in the 1990 James Belushi film Taking Care of Business. Do I hear $275? Note that since the Neyer Board discussion ten years ago, things have already shifted. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for 1997 Fleer Star Stickers Baseball #10 - Bert Blyleven - Minnesota Twins at the best online prices at eBay! For some reason it has taken Blyleven 3,422 innings, 468 games, 195 wins, 15 years and four teams to be appreciated. 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. They just started throwing me the curveball.. Ill be looking for it, Chris, and will pass the link on; youve got more than a few fans over at the WGOM. Look again at that list of young big winners. The Hulk, whose wife wonders where the galleries are, quits after two holes because his shoes are wet. You have a half-dozen 300 game winnersGaylord Perry, Phil Niekro, Steve Carlton, Don Sutton, Nolan Ryan, and Tom Seaver. The Blyleven tribe includes Kimberly, 10; wife Patty; Timothy, 3; Bert; Todd, 12; and Thomas, 17 months. Popular categories from this store. The evening is winding down, and there are only a few more souvenirs left to be auctioned. Or 40 percent. His heart is invariably in the right placeit's just that his foot sometimes ends up in his mouth. ", In a list full of "Uncle Charlies" (a common nickname for a curveball), Doc Gooden's deuce is "Lord Charles.". So did Steve Busby, Jeff Conine, Bill Singer, John Smiley, and Ron Fairly. These arent items I learned in the last week, but they are things I found out during the course of Blylevens seemingly never-ending Cooperstown candidacy. "I have here a ball autographed by Sandy Koufax, a pretty fair pitcher. Mary Scheinblum bids $150; do I hear $175?" Blyleven was happy to oblige. Mike Cuellar was one of the filthiest breaking ball pitchers the game has ever seen. How far, in feet, a fielder or runner has traveled on a He repaid some of his debt to Flores this off-season when he hosted a tournament to benefit the Hemophilia Foundation; Flores's grandson has that disease. "But I thought it was kind of nice. This weekend the Hall of Fame will have its annual induction ceremony, and sabermetric darling Bert Blyleven will finally get his well-earned plaque put on display. He must have had terrible run support. Statcast defines a 'hard-hit ball' as one hit with an And I could throw it over at any time, any count."[6]. 1979 - Blyleven goes 12-5 on 37 starts and the Pirates win the World Series. Blyleven dominated batters for more than two decades with one of the best curveballs the game has ever seen and an underappreciated fastball. He won his first World Series with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1979. Go figure. Patty came out and said, 'Don't you think you should go back?' The ones better than him who are not in would make legitimate candidates. 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. When the Angels came to nearby Anaheim in 1966, Bert didn't switch his allegiance, although he did become one of the stadium rats. raw numbers and as a measurement against average. 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.". But thats the problem, you had to go way back. 48 is from a one-hitter Blyleven threw against the Kansas City Royals on May 24, 1973. Jack Brickhouse, a Chicago Cubs broadcaster, described the pitches Paige threw as "not quite legal but not quite illegal.". In 1996, Blyleven became a television color analyst for the Twins, calling games for WCCO-TV and Midwest Sports Channel (later Fox Sports North). There, he got a job straightening bumpers and brought his family down the next year. How is a batter supposed to hit a curveball when he constantly has to be ready for the 100 mile per hour heater? 1996-2023 DIY Baseball LLC All Rights Reserved. The Baseball Hall of Shame II first clued me in to some of those stories. Call it sunspots for all I care, it ain't run support. Blessed with one of the greatest curveballs the game has ever seen, Blyleven stands among the elite in several statistical categories, ranking fifth all-time in strikeouts (3,701), ninth in games started (685) and shutouts (60), and 24th in wins (287). He also suggested publicly that the Indians might be better off trading him to a contender for younger talentas they would soon do with his friend Rick Sutcliffe. "Bob Boone is building a house over there, Enos Cabell lives in those hills." 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. But someone with a far greater mind than any scientist put the optical illusion theory to rest. ". "I thank the baseball writers of America for, I'm going to say, finally getting it right. Blyleven often looked back and saw players in the opposing dugout covering their face with their gloves as they laughed at a hitter who had ducked out of the way of a curve that had broken sharply across the heart of the plate, many of them ending up one of Blylevens strikeout victims. He made his debut on June 5, 1970 playing for the Minnesota Twins as a pitcher. We'd go from one dugout to the other, our backs pressed against the backstop while we heard the typewriters going in the press box. The story went that the reason Eddie Stanky quit after one game as manager of the Rangers was that he went out to the mound to remove Blyleven from the game, and Byleven told him to go back to the dugout. He's being serious, although whimsy soon bubbles to the surface. "It finally ended when I was out in the back of the house, pulling weeds. Yes, he rubbed up his hands, went down for the bat, and it wasn't there!". Given another five years of success, Blyleven will have Hall of Fame credentials. 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. Francisco, come up here. Bert Blyleven (born Rik Aalbert Blijleven, April 6, 1951) is a Dutch-American former professional baseball pitcher who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1970 to 1992, primarily with the Minnesota Twins.