Age: 22 (July 28)
2nd season
with Athletics
Bats – Both,
Throws – Left
Height: 6’0” Weight: 189
Prior to 1971:
A native of
Mansfield, Louisiana, Blue was a talented if erratic pitcher at De Soto High
School, where he once struck out 21 batters in a seven-inning game that he
ended up losing due to issuing 10 walks as well. An excellent athlete who also
excelled as a quarterback on the football team, he was drafted by the
then-Kansas City Athletics in the 1967 amateur draft and signed a two-year
contract that paid $25,000. He appeared in 9 games in the Arizona Instructional
League in ’67 and compiled a 1-1 record and 2.65 ERA with 26 strikeouts and 22
walks in 34 innings pitched. Blue moved on to the Burlington Bees of the Class
A Midwest League in 1968 and recorded 17 strikeouts in his first start on the
way to an 8-11 record with a 2.49 ERA, 231 strikeouts, and 80 walks over the
course of 152 innings pitched. He also pitched a seven-inning no-hitter as well.
Blue improved his control during the season and developed a curveball in
addition to his outstanding fastball. He advanced to Birmingham of the Class AA
Southern League in 1969 where in 15 games he went 10-3 with a 3.20 ERA and 112
strikeouts with 52 walks. He was rushed up to the now Oakland A’s in July where
he started four games before being relegated to the bullpen. With Oakland he
produced a 1-1 record with a 6.64 ERA and 24 strikeouts and 18 walks over the
course of 42 innings. He was sent to Iowa of the Class AAA American Association
for further seasoning in 1970. While he missed time due to injury at midseason,
Blue posted a 12-3 record with a 2.17 ERA and 165 strikeouts. Receiving a
September call-up to the A’s, Blue started six games, pitched a one-hitter
against the Royals and a no-hitter vs. the Minnesota Twins in which he issued
only one walk. Altogether with Oakland he was 2-0 with a 2.09 ERA and 35
strikeouts in 38.2 innings pitched. He thus earned a spot in Oakland’s pitching
rotation for the 1971 season.
1971 Season Summary
Appeared in 39
games
[Bracketed
numbers indicate AL rank in Top 20]
Pitching
Games – 39
Games Started –
39 [3, tied with Tom Bradley & Jim Perry]
Complete Games
– 24 [2]
Wins – 24 [2]
Losses – 8
PCT - .750 [2,
tied with Chuck Dobson]
Saves – 0
Shutouts – 8
[1]
Innings Pitched
– 312 [3]
Hits – 209
Runs – 73
Earned Runs – 63
Home Runs – 19
Bases on Balls
– 88 [12]
Strikeouts – 301
[2]
ERA – 1.82 [1]
Hit Batters – 4
Balks – 1 [10,
tied with 24 others]
Wild Pitches – 10
[5, tied with Pete Broberg & Tommy John]
League-leading shutouts
were +1 ahead of runners-up Wilbur Wood & Mel Stottlemyre
League-leading
ERA was -0.09 lower than runner-up Wilbur Wood
Midseason
Snapshot: 17-3, ERA - 1.42, SO – 188 in 184.1 IP
---
Most
strikeouts, game – 17 (in 11 IP) vs. California 7/9
10+ strikeout games
– 11
Fewest hits
allowed, game (min. 7 IP) – 1 (in 9 IP) vs. Detroit 7/16
Batting
PA – 121, AB –
102, R – 6, H – 12, 2B – 1, 3B – 0, HR – 0, RBI – 2, BB – 4, SO – 63, SB – 0,
CS – 1, AVG - .118, GDP – 0, HBP – 2, SH – 13, SF – 0
Fielding
Chances – 39
Put Outs – 15
Assists – 24
Errors – 0
DP – 0
Pct. - 1.000
Postseason
Pitching:
G – 1 (ALCS vs.
Baltimore)
GS – 1, CG – 0,
Record – 0-1, PCT – .000, SV – 0, ShO – 0, IP – 7, H – 7, R – 5, ER – 5, HR – 0,
BB – 2, SO – 8, ERA – 6.43, HB – 0, BLK – 0, WP – 0
Awards & Honors:
AL MVP: BBWAA
AL Cy Young
Award: BBWAA
AL Pitcher of
the Year: Sporting News
All-Star (Starting
P for AL)
Top 5 in AL MVP
Voting:
Vida Blue, Oak.
268 pts. – 14 of 24 first place votes, 80% share
Sal Bando, Oak.:
182 pts. – 4 first place votes, 54% share
Frank Robinson,
Balt.: 170 pts. – 2 first place votes, 51% share
Brooks
Robinson, Balt.: 163 pts. – 3 first place votes, 49% share
Mickey Lolich,
Det.: 155 pts. – 1 first place vote, 46% share
AL Cy Young
voting:
Vida Blue, Oak.:
98 pts. – 14 of 24 first place votes, 82% share
Mickey Lolich,
Det.: 85 pts. – 9 first place votes, 71% share
Wilbur Wood,
ChiWS.: 23 pts. – 1 first place vote, 19% share
Dave McNally,
Balt.: 8 pts., 7% share
Dick Drago, KC:
1 pt. – 1% share
Andy
Messersmith, Cal.: 1 pt. – 1% share
---
A’s went 101-60 to finish first in the AL Western
Division by 16 games over the Kansas City Royals. The pitching staff led the
league in fewest hits allowed (1229). Lost ALCS to the Baltimore Orioles, 3
games to 0.
Aftermath of ‘71:
Blue, whose
1971 salary was $14,750 held out for a big raise from penurious owner Charlie
Finley in 1972 and finally settled for $63,000 after missing the first month of
the season. He was not in top condition upon his return and went 6-10 with a
2.80 ERA with 111 strikeouts in 151 innings pitched. Oakland topped the AL West
and won the pennant and World Series with Blue’s postseason activity primarily
coming from the bullpen. The A’s repeated in ’73 while Blue produced a 20-9
record with 158 strikeouts. As the A’s made it three straight titles in 1974,
Blue compiled a 17-15 tally with 174 strikeouts and a 3.25 ERA. A fast-paced
pitcher, Blue came to rely less on overpowering hitters as his career
progressed. With the departure of RHP Jim “Catfish” Hunter following the ’74
season, he became the ace of the pitching staff for the A’s, who still managed
to win the AL West in 1975 although they failed to advance to the World Series.
Blue contributed a 22-11 record with a 3.01 ERA, 13 complete games, and 189
strikeouts, and was part of a combined no-hitter with three other pitchers in
the season finale. During the 1976 season, owner Finley signed Blue to a
four-year contract extension and then tried to sell him to the New York Yankees
in a deal that was voided by commissioner Bowie Kuhn. He finished out the year
with an 18-13 record for the declining A’s with a 2.35 ERA and 166 strikeouts.
Unable to join the free agent exodus from Oakland, Blue had a 14-19 record with
a 63-98 club in 1977 and was traded to the San Francisco Giants in ’78. He
bounced back during an All-Star season with the Giants to produce an 18-10
record with a 2.79 ERA and 171 strikeouts. He was named NL Pitcher of the Year
by The Sporting News and placed third in NL Cy Young Award voting. San
Francisco’s fortunes declined in 1979 and Blue dropped off to 14-14 with a 5.01
ERA. He rebounded in 1980 to 14-10 with a 2.97 ERA and in the strike
interrupted 1981 season was 8-6 with an ERA of 2.45. Blue was traded to the
Kansas City Royals just prior to the 1982 season and was 13-12 with a 3.78 ERA
in 181 innings pitched. He struggled during a 1983 season in which he was
relegated to the bullpen and implicated with three teammates in a drug scandal.
After pleading guilty to cocaine possession he served time in prison. He was
also suspended from baseball for a year by Commissioner Kuhn. Reinstated in
1985 Blue spent two mediocre seasons with the Giants, his last in major league
baseball. Overall, Blue had a 209-161 major league record with 2175 strikeouts
over 3343.1 innings pitched and a 3.27 ERA. With Oakland he was 124-86 with a
2.95 ERA and 1315 strikeouts over 1945.2 innings pitched. He was a six-time
All-Star (three with Oakland).
--
MVP Profiles feature players in the National or
American leagues who were winners of the Chalmers Award (1911-14), League Award
(1922-29), or Baseball Writers’ Association of America Award (1931 to present)
as Most Valuable Player.
Cy Young Profiles feature pitchers who were recipients of
the Cy Young Award by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (1956 to
present). The award was presented to a single major league winner from its
inception through 1966 and from 1967 on to one recipient from each major
league.
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