Half of them blew their arms out right after turning 30. 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. Communication. OK, now lets figure out what Blylevens record should be based on pythaging his actual RA/9IP and his actual run support. He's referring to neckties. Again last season he got embroiled in a couple of controversies. No takers? A dozen of his 1-0 complete game shutouts came from 1970-77. "[17], Blyleven was a pitching coach for the Netherlands in the 2009 World Baseball Classic. Before the All-Star break, he was 150-140 with a 3.47 ERA, but after it he was 137-110 with a 3.12 ERA. Richie, you don't even exercise. If you grew up in the 1980s, you likely have a major memory of Blyleventhe guy who gave up all those homers. 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. 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. [8] He pitched well with the Rangers, posting a 2.76 ERA. MLB Advanced Media, LP. Blyleven, 33, is such a cutup, in fact, that he recently cut off his five-year-old beard. Born in the Netherlands but raised in Southern California, Blyleven would spend many evenings listening to Vin Scullys radio description of what may have been the greatest curveball ever in the game. 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. Bert Blyleven addresses the ball. Kennedy got the message. This is a free article. 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! one base to another, like Home To First. I wondered how anyone could pitch 7,000 innings like Cy Young. I remember talking to scout Jesse Flores and Ed Roebuck, the pitcher, about the rotation. "This is for a free membership to Racquetball World. Blyleven's curve breaks so quickly and so far that some batters swear they can hear it change direction. "I visualized the dropping motion.". Free shipping for many products! If youre a fan of sabermetrics, and of internet-based populism, this weekends induction ceremony is thus a double victoryone for Blyleven and one for Lederer. That's why he gave up so many solo shots late in games - he was throwing his pitch with a comfortable lead and didn't care if the batter knew it was coming. Nolan Ryan and Bert Blyleven had the tightest rotation and velocity combination," Schmidt was quoted as saying in a recent Associated Press story. 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. However, Blyleven's early career with the Twins was not always pleasant as he was hounded by critics and fans. Please note the delivery estimate is greater than 13 business days. Blyleven married Patricia Ann Whitehead, a friend from high school, during his second season in the majors, and they have raised a happy family. "And then he went down." Why did Blyleven only make it twice? Normally that would be a random fact, but here it goes to the heart of things. Those stats hit me in the face. Blyleven, like so many Hall of Fame players, was driven to succeed. A Bolt is any run where the Sprint Speed (defined as velocity and launch angle. How hard, in miles per hour, a pitch is thrown. When the Angels came to nearby Anaheim in 1966, Bert didn't switch his allegiance, although he did become one of the stadium rats. Esteban Loaiza made two. "Bob Boone is building a house over there, Enos Cabell lives in those hills." Actually, given that the park factor was 104, Blylevens run support was nearly league average; 96% of league average to be precise. Arguments for inducting Bert Blyleven into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. He eventually came back after nearly two weeks. The difference between the two projections should be what his run support cost him. After getting his 18th win, Blyleven talked Cleveland Manager Pat Corrales into letting him pitch again with only three days' rest, and he won No. Though his age-28 season, Blyleven tossed 2,624 innings, more than anyone since Pete Alexander. Wes Ferrell won three games after his age-30 season. 1. 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. At least his induction might open the door for more worthy candidates, certainly Jimm Kaat is this mans superior as an MLB pitcher. Blyleven went on to win the game 2-1, allowing five hits in seven innings and retiring the outsized Howard all three times he faced him. Now, does that really seem like an answer to the question of run support? We do. 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. Aside from that, he never led the league. He has always hovered around .500: 10-9, 16-15, 17-17 twice. So you know: later this week as induction day nears, Ill have a Bert Blyleven career highlights piece up at THT Live. For some reason it has taken Blyleven 3,422 innings, 468 games, 195 wins, 15 years and four teams to be appreciated. 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. the ERA scale, A measurement of a player's top running speed, expressed Now, in the previous paragraph there are three things going on: 1) Blylevens RA/9IP, 2) his run support, and 3) well, a third factor thats hard to define. Then he filled out, picked up some speed on his fastball and wowed batters in rookie and A ball. 300, a la Early Wynn. Angels pitcher Bert Blyleven throws a pitch during a game against the Baltimore Orioles on May 3, 1990 . "It finally ended when I was out in the back of the house, pulling weeds. Does it really seem that if you give him a slight increase in run support his wins will shoot up? Many new voters had entered the mix, and old ones passed on. 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. 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. I just wish we had more fans. Blyleven has ridden the curve to a career ERA of 3.00. In 1985 he again led the American League in shutouts with five. He may have been the best pitcher in the history of baseball. Bert Blyleven Stats by Baseball Almanac. There, he got a job straightening bumpers and brought his family down the next year. 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. In the '60s, Koufax had it. Lets back up for a second. 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. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for 1974 TOPPS BASEBALL #98 BERT BLYLEVEN MINNESOTA TWINS V.G. See details. Thats the question. Ted Williams called Pascual's curveball the "most feared curveball in the American League for 18 years. He throws it a little differently than most pitchers, holding the ball so that every finger except his pinky is touching a seam. His 2.74 career ERA with the Rangers remains the best in team history. "O.K., we've got a golf bag and a dozen balls. Do I hear $275? [23] "It's been 14 years of praying and waiting," he said on a conference call from Fort Myers, Florida. He argued vehemently with the official scorer and later phoned the league office when outfielder George Vukovich wasn't given an error on a play on which two earned runs scored. A Batted Ball Event represents any batted ball that pitch. 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." 300. [5] One of seven children, his parents anglicized their names to Joe and Jenny, with Rik Aalbert becoming simply "Bert". The Indians are happy to have him. Hmmm, maybe I should bid on it. 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.". A range-based metric of skill that shows how many outs a Blyleven mingled easily with the other parents. and play-by-play data provided by Sports Info Solutions. He currently ranks 5th all-time in strikeouts, 9th all-time in shutouts, and 27th all-time in wins. The only problem was that his name was published as "Blylevan," which is the way the Twins spelled it in those days. Well, its that murky third factorthe luck/pitch-to-the-score/sunspots one. attempt. Richie Scheinblum? Blyleven was the epitome of dominant. Brian yeah, if you look at pre-1920 guys its really nuts. 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. The tournament follows a scramble format, in which all four team members play from the same lie, as determined by the foursome's best previous shot. 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. "Bert's always doing things for people," he says. Monte tried to throw a curve, and something in his elbow snapped. So it seems only fitting that Blyleven is something of a yakker. 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. "[19], By 2006, his total had increased to 53.33%. Until last year, fate had not been overly kind to Blyleven. Blyleven, 38, has won 271 major league games with one of baseball's best curves and a variety of offspeed pitches. I have some sympathy for that approach, but ultimately remain agnostic. But someone with a far greater mind than any scientist put the optical illusion theory to rest. For a pitcher it is the average of his softest 50% of batted balls allowed. Blyleven debuted in major league baseball in 1970, right at the end of a great run of workhorse pitchers. No. He currently resides in Fort Myers, Florida. [15] Blyleven was unhappy playing for the lackluster Indians and forced a trade back to the Twins,[16] where he passed the 3,000-strikeout mark and helped the Twins to a 1987 World Series victory. It's one of the hardest things in sports to execute. Saved him a lot of pain." Bert knew what had happened right away and got Monte's elbow in a bucket of ice. He became interested in baseball as a young boy watching Sandy Koufax pitch for the Los Angeles Dodgers and listening to Vin Scully and Jerry Doggett announce the Dodgers' radio broadcasts. That means isolating it. In 22 seasons, Blyleven had more than 3,700 career strikeouts, including more than 2,000 of those in 11 seasons with the Twins. At which point Richie Scheinblum yells across the room to his wife, "We already have a Koufax ball!" If you go through the above, he comes out to 298-239 for his career, ever so incredibly shy of 300. He won 287 games, 27th-most all-time, and pitched 4,970 innings, 14th-most all-time. Corrales got a bullwhip. Hey, these names might not seem too important now, but someday. Do I hear $2? Well, if its not luck, youre saying in so many words that the guy choked or lacked mental toughness. time of a pitcher's first movement or pitch release. Communication. But he's not a bad guy. Thats a lot better than I wouldve expected. One of his trademarks was circling fans with the telestrator on screen. Blyleven proceeded to finish Pittsburgh's sweep of Cincinnati in the National League Championship Series, pitching a complete game in the Pirates' 7-1 triumph in Game 3. His breaking ball was literally untouchable. 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. Who the hell wanted this old-timer in the HOF anyways? Blyleven has put on more than his share in the past, for a variety of causes, and this is his second of the current off-season. He's fifth on the active list in shutouts, sixth in strikeouts, eighth in victories and eighth in innings pitched. He struck out 109 batters in 43 innings in his first season and 172 in his 126 career innings in Class D. Much like Nolan Ryan, Satchel Paige did not use his curveball as his primary pitch, but he still had a damn good one. "O.K., I've got a ball here signed by Henry Aaron. A curveball can also be thrown with some velocity in an attempt jam a hitter. On a recent afternoon Blyleven went to see Todd play basketball for his seventh-grade team. He also became a baseball fan. Roberto Alomar, Pat Gillick and Bert Blyleven on stage during a press conference during the 2011 Hall of Fame Weekend. Paige has a unique ability to blow hitters away and come right back and make them look foolish. He really helped the 1976 Rangers make a run for the pennant. 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. People in and out the game lauded Blyleven for having the games best curveball, but he was also temperamental. And then when everybody was gone, we'd go out to the mound and make believe. 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. Blyleven rounded up the usual suspects, most of them baseball names past and present: Scheinblum, Dan Petry, Ed Roebuck, Enos Cabell, Norm and Larry Sherry, Rick Rhoden, Ken McMullen, Buck Rodgers, Jim Colborn, Bruce Kison, Tom Murphy, Tom Brunansky, Dee Fondy, Jim Slaton, Gary Sutherland, Matt Young, Ed Crosby, Tim Leary, Tom Morgansorry, it's just that some people like to see baseball cards come to life. Many out there in THTs readerland believe its all just luck and random variation, and we may as well do away with W-L records. Buyer pays for return shipping. His miniature car is a favorite. [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. O.K., I bid $300. The ones worse than him who are in are generally mistakes. Naturally, he sinks all the birdie putts. If I see anymore, I'll fall in love." Id say 95 percent of that mysterious third element is luck, but does that mean its never anything else? So how does he earn a spot on this list? I know this sounds terrible, but who does Bert pitch for these days?". I threw him an 0-2 curve and it snapped. Enjoy this run through the 10 best curveballs in the history of baseball. My dad built a mound in the backyard and had a canvas hung behind a horseshoe pit. "With his hands and wrist, he could throw that damn thing without any seams and it would curve," says Corrales. 28, "Longtime Twins broadcaster Bert Blyleven hangs up the mic", June 2, 1976: Minneapolis Tribune column on Blyleven's trade to Texas Rangers. ", Blyleven raises every bid, and, finally, he says, "Sold to me. Blyleven was recently inducted into the baseball Hall of Fame after recording over 3,700 strikeouts in his career. [29] During a 2006 broadcast, Blyleven forgot the name of the movie and had to be reminded of it by a technician in the broadcast booth. A little more than three years ago he was in an automobile accident that put him in a wheelchair for life and left him unable to speak clearly. In Blyleven's first spring training with the Twins, manager Bill Rigney watched him throw batting practice and yelled to his pitching coach, Marv Grissom, "Get him out of there. Koosman's catcher in his Mets days, J.C. Martin, once said that Koosman could throw his 11-5 curveball "any time.". Blyleven also won so many games because he was a great workhorse. How to separate run support from that murky third factor? This semicelebrity affair at Riviera was the second off-season charity event Bert has sponsored. 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. Blyleven is the winning pitcher in Game 3 of the NLCS and Game 5 (pitching in relief) of the World Series. Others will call it pitching to the score. When I first discovered Retrosheet eons ago, the first thing I wanted to do was look at Blylevens run support. [9], Following an incident in which Blyleven blatantly gave the finger to a television camera obviously focused on him during one of the Rangers' rare nationally broadcast games,[10] he was dealt to the Pittsburgh Pirates in the first four-team blockbuster deal in Major League Baseball history on December 8, 1977, that also involved the Atlanta Braves, New York Mets and a total of 11 players changing teams. ", Not only does Blyleven pitch for the Indians, he actually likes being an Indian. However, the velocity on his fastball adding to the effectiveness of his curveball. The Twins ran short of pitching early, the crusher coming on June 1, when Luis Tiant was put on the disabled list. One of his best friends is Richie Scheinblum, the former outfielder for six big league teams, who as a Kansas City Royal battled Rod Carew for the batting title in 1972. He left in the eighth to a standing ovation from the Municipal Stadium faithful, 8,239 strong. 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. Heres how it looks year-by-year, and again, this is based on his real run support and RA/9IP: Recording 17 fewer wins than expected is historically bad. Jerry Willard. 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.
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