| Vida Blue | |
|---|---|
 Blue with the Athletics | |
| Pitcher | |
| Born:(1949-07-28)July 28, 1949 Mansfield, Louisiana, U.S. | |
| Died: May 6, 2023(2023-05-06) (aged 73) Tracy, California, U.S. | |
Batted: Switch Threw: Left | |
| MLB debut | |
| July 20, 1969, for the Oakland Athletics | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| October 2, 1986, for the San Francisco Giants | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Win–loss record | 209–161 |
| Earned run average | 3.27 |
| Strikeouts | 2,175 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Vida Rochelle Blue Jr. (/vaɪdɑː/;[1] July 28, 1949 – May 6, 2023) was an American professionalbaseball player.[2] He was a left-handedpitcher inMajor League Baseball from 1969 to 1986, most notably as an integral member of theOakland Athletics dynasty that won three consecutiveWorld Series championships from 1972 to 1974.[2] He won theAmerican League (AL)Cy Young Award andMost Valuable Player Award in 1971.[3]
A six-timeAll-Star, Blue was the first of only five pitchers in major league history to start the All-Star Game for both the American League (1971) and theNational League (1978). During his 17-year career, he pitched for theOakland Athletics (1969–1977),San Francisco Giants (1978–1981; 1985–86), andKansas City Royals (1982–83).[2]
Vida Blue was born and raised inMansfield inDeSoto Parish, Louisiana. He was the oldest of six children born to Vida Blue, Sr, a laborer in a Mansfieldiron foundry and his wife Sallie.[1][4]
Blue attended DeSoto High School in Mansfield. He pitched for the baseball team andquarterbacked the football team. In his senior year of football, he threw for 3,400 yards and completed 35 touchdown passes while rushing for 1,600 yards. In his senior year of baseball, Blue threw ano-hitter with 21strikeouts in just seven innings pitched.[5]
Blue was a power pitcher who worked fast andattacked the strike zone. He threw an occasionalcurveball to keep hitters off balance and an above averagechange-up, but his signature pitch was afastball which he threw consistently at 94 miles per hour (151 km/h),[6] but could reach 100 miles per hour (160 km/h).[7] InThe Neyer/James Guide to Pitchers, all-time hits leaderPete Rose stated that Blue "threw as hard as anyone" he ever faced,[8] and baseball historianBill James cited Blue as the hardest-throwing lefty, and the second-hardest thrower of his era, behind onlyNolan Ryan.[9]
The then-Kansas City Athletics selected Blue in the second round of the1967 MLB draft.[10][11] Though he was recruited to playcollege football for theUniversity of Notre Dame,Purdue University, and theUniversity of Houston, Blue chose to sign with the Athletics for $12,500 per year to help support his family after his father's death.[10]
Blue began the 1969 season with theBirmingham A's, but was promoted to make his major league debut on July 20.[10] In1970, after spending the season in theminor leagues with theMidwest League single ABurlington Bees and theIowa Oaks of theAmerican Association, Blue was called up in September, making two starts. On September 11, heshut out theKansas City Royals 3–0, giving up only one hit, toPat Kelly in the eighth inning. Ten days later, Blueno-hit the defending and eventual repeatAmerican League West championMinnesota Twins, 6–0, atOakland–Alameda County Coliseum, the lone baserunner coming onHarmon Killebrew's fourth-inning walk.[12] He was the fourth-youngest pitcher to throw a no-hitter.[13]
Blue had a 24–8 record in1971, an AL leading 1.82 ERA and eight shutouts, and struck out 301 batters, winning both theCy Young Award andAmerican League Most Valuable Player Award.[14][15][16][17] He also led theAmerican League incomplete games (24),shutouts (8), andearned run average (1.82).[18] That season, the Athletics won theAmerican League West title for the franchise's first postseason berth since the Philadelphia Athletics in the1931 World Series. He got off to a terrific start, going 10–1 when he linked up withBoston'sSonny Siebert, who was 8–0, in a dramatic May matchup in Boston. The game was won by Siebert and the Red Sox 4–3, and remains what is considered one of the most dramatic games inFenway Park history.[19] He was the youngest American League player to win the MVP Award in the 20th century.[20] He was the starting pitcher for theAmerican League in the 1971All-Star Game. In 1971 he became the only player ever to be a starting pitcher in the league opener (against theWashington Senators), the All-Star Game, and the playoff opener (against theBaltimore Orioles) in the same season. In 1971, Blue was on the covers ofSports Illustrated andTime magazine.[21][22] In 1972, his success in baseball led Blue to a small role in the filmBlack Gunn, starringJim Brown.[23]
After Blue's breakthrough season in 1971, he and Athletics ownerCharlie Finley clashed over his salary. Blue, who had earned $14,000 in 1971, sought a $92,500 salary. He held out, missing much of the year, before Blue and Finley settled at $63,000.[13] Blue ended up with a 6–10 record in spite of a 2.80 ERA in 1972. He did not make the Athletics' post-season starting rotation, instead pitching mainly inrelief. Against theCincinnati Reds in the1972 World Series he made four appearances, including a save in Game 1, a blown save in Game 4, and a loss in a spot-start in Game 6.[24]
Blue went 20–9 in1973, 17–15 in1974, and 22–11 in1975, as an integral member of the Athletics' five straight American League Western Division pennants from 1971 to 1975, and three consecutive World Championships in 1972, 1973, and 1974. Perhaps his finest postseason performances were four innings of shutout relief work against theDetroit Tigers to save Game 5 of the 1972 American League Championship Series and a complete-game 1–0 shutout against the Orioles in Game 3 of the 1974 ALCS.[25] On September 28, 1975, Blue,Glenn Abbott,Paul Lindblad, andRollie Fingers combined to no-hit theCalifornia Angels 5–0.[26][27]
After an 18–13 season with a 2.35 ERA in 1976, Blue told reporters, "I hope the next breath Charlie Finley takes is his last. I hope he falls flat on his face and dies ofpolio."[28] In June1976, baseball commissionerBowie Kuhn vetoed an attempt by Finley to sell Blue's contract to theNew York Yankees, and did the same thing on January 30,1978 to a trade announced by theReds at theWinter Meetings on December 9, 1977, that would've had Blue sent to Cincinnati forDave Revering and $1.75 million.[29][30] In both instances, Kuhn said the trades would be bad for baseball because they would benefit already powerful teams without making them give up any significant talent in return. At the end of the 1976 season, nearly the entire A's roster of star players from Oakland's championship teams left with baseball's newfree agency, or were traded off by Finley, leaving Blue, who was still under contract with Oakland, to mentor a new team of primarily rookies and other young players.Alvin Dark, who managed Blue in 1974 and 1975, was surprised that Blue had remained with the team, writing that he "must have gotten the contract concessions he wanted."[31] In the 1977 season, Blue went 14–19 with a 3.83 ERA and leading the AL both in hits and earned runs surrendered.[32]
In March 1978, the Athletics traded Blue to theSan Francisco Giants forGary Thomasson,Gary Alexander,Dave Heaverlo,John Henry Johnson,Phil Huffman,Alan Wirth, and $300,000.[33]Mario Guerrero was sent to the Athletics as aplayer to be named later to complete the transaction.[34]
In1978, Blue went 18–10 with a 2.79 ERA as he led the Giants to 89 wins and a third-place finish in theNational League West Division, which was won by theLos Angeles Dodgers.[35] He started for theNational League in the 1978 All-Star Game. He won theSporting News National League Pitcher of the Year.[10]
Blue went 14–14 with a career worst 5.01 ERA as a full-time starter in 1979,[36] 14–10 with a 2.97 ERA in 1980,[37] and 8–6 with a 2.45 ERA in 1981, a strike-interrupted season.[38]
The Giants traded Blue to theKansas City Royals forAtlee Hammaker,Craig Chamberlain,Renie Martin, andBrad Wellman on March 30, 1982.[39] He went 13–12 with a 3.78 ERA in 31 starts in 31 appearances.[40] In 1983, Blue went 0–5 with a 6.01 ERA in 19 appearances, 13 of them starts.[41] Blue was released mid-season, on August 6, 1983.[42]
After the1983 season, Blue and former teammatesWillie Wilson,Jerry Martin, andWillie Aikens pleaded guilty to attempting to purchasecocaine. He was sentenced to three months in prison[43] and was suspended for the 1984 season.[13][44]
In April 1985, Blue returned as a free agent to the San Francisco Giants on a one-year deal. He went 8–8 with a 4.47 ERA in 33 appearances, 20 of them starts, the rest in middle-inning and mop-up relief.[45]
In 1985, Blue testified in thePittsburgh drug trials.
Blue re-signed on another one-year deal in 1986, finishing his career going 10–10 with a 3.27 ERA in 28 appearances, all starts, at the age of 36.[46] On April 20, he won his 200th career MLB game.[47] Blue signed with the Oakland Athletics for the 1987 season, but announced his retirement in February 1987.[48]
After baseball, Blue was a baseball analyst forNBC Sports Bay Area, the TV home of the San Francisco Giants.[49]
Blue's troubles withsubstance abuse continued to haunt him after his playing career, as he faced multipleDUI charges in 2005. He acknowledged that the trials may have influenced him being left off the Hall of Fame ballot after one year, stating, "I had some issues in my life that might have had a tendency to sway voting. There are some guys in theHall of Fame who don't have halos."[50][51]
In 1971, Blue accompaniedBob Hope on hisUSO Christmas tour ofVietnam and other military installations.[52] Blue remained active, working for numerous charitable causes including Safeway All Stars Challenge Sports,[53] automobile donations,[54] celebrity golf tournaments,[55] and children's charities.[56]
Blue was also active promoting baseball inCosta Rica.[57]
In September 1989, Blue married Peggy Shannon on thepitcher's mound atCandlestick Park. Hisbest man was former teammateWillie McCovey andOrlando Cepeda escorted Shannon to the mound.[58]
They had twin girls and divorced in 1996. He also had a son Derrick[59] and two other daughters.[60]
After retiring from baseball, Blue resided in California'sTwain Harte area in the Sierra Nevada foothills for many years, before moving toTracy, California by 2007.[61]
Blue died in a hospital in theEast Bay on May 6, 2023, at the age of 73.[49] According to Athletics team officials, Blue died as a result of medical complications stemming from cancer.[62]
| Awards and achievements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | No-hitter pitcher September 21, 1970 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | No-hit game September 28,1975 (withAbbott,Lindblad &Fingers) | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
