RIP Vida Blue

[Uncle Rico]

https://twitter.com/dsmoke34/status/1655211438586363904?s=46&t=QSiaGcOIKZrrpw0ciZkI5Q

Had one of the greatest pitching seasons ever in 1971 and helped the A's win 3 straight World Series.

Drug problems hampered his career but in his prime was as durable as any starter of his era

[The Sultan]

Last switch hitter to win the AL MVP.

[Dr. Blackheart]

Unhittable in his prime. Finley wanted to change his name to True Blue.

[real chili 83]

Unhittable in his prime. Finley wanted to change his name to True Blue.

I thought it was Vida Orange.

[Jay Bee]

Last switch hitter to win the AL MVP.

Rico is a switch hitter as well. No MVPs tho

[tower912]

Me, too.  I get ignored by gay men AND straight women.

[Herman Cain]

Vida Blue is a great example of why statistics should not be the primary consideration for Baseball Hall of Fame.

Anyone who saw him play live could recognize he was a force of nature and one of the top two or three pitchers of his time

Blue pitched a lot of innings and his arm gave out eventually

[MU82]

Vida Blue, Catfish Hunter, Ken Holtzman, Blue Moon Odom, and Rollie Fingers coming out of the pen. Wow.

Put that pitching staff together with Reggie Jackson, Joe Rudi, Sal Bando, Bert Campaneris, Gene Tenace, Bill North, etc ... and you can see why the A's of that era won three straight championships.

[tower912]

Charley O with a truly novel innovation.   Herb Washington, the designated runner.

[HouWarrior]

Vida Blue is a great example of why statistics should not be the primary consideration for Baseball Hall of Fame.

Anyone who saw him play live could recognize he was a force of nature and one of the top two or three pitchers of his time

Blue pitched a lot of innings and his arm gave out eventually

Strongly agree

I saw him up close a few times. Best memory was in 1971.  There was a real body force behind his pitches ..not sure I can explain it .. he really brought it.

I saw JR Richard at his best...another great but all too brief in his case. Ask an Astros fan of that era..One game...must win...Nolan Ryan or JR Richard....easily JR

I always agree with those who put Koufax up there despite the brevity of their best, but Vida Blue and JR Richard, in their primes, were right there too

[CTWarrior]

I was a 9 year old kid very much into baseball when Vida Blue had his breakout MVP season in 1971.  He was electric back then, though I only got to see him even on TV a couple times a year before the playoffs).

A weird aside that probably only appeals to me, but back in those days the newspaper would always list today's game and the starting pitchers,

So you would see something like

American League
Todays's Games
New York (Guidry 24-3) at Boston (Torrez 16-12)

In double headers they would list both starting pitchers.

On June 5, 1983 one doubleheader was listed as
Kansas City (Black 2-0 and Blue 0-3) at Chicago (Bannister 2-7 and Hoyt 6-5)

I always liked little things like that, though at the time nobody I pointed it out to thought it was very interesting.  The  Black was Bud Black, but I suspect you all knew that.

I looked it up, and they started one other doubleheader, but Blue pitched the first game so it was listed and Blue and Black, not Black and Blue)

[Uncle Rico]

Strongly agree

I saw him up close a few times. Best memory was in 1971.  There was a real body force behind his pitches ..not sure I can explain it .. he really brought it.

I saw JR Richard at his best...another great but all too brief in his case. Ask an Astros fan of that era..One game...must win...Nolan Ryan or JR Richard....easily JR

I always agree with those who put Koufax up there despite the brevity of their best, but Vida Blue and JR Richard, in their primes, were right there too

The thing about Vida Blue and his place in history, 1971 was a bit of a unicorn season.  He had 301 K's but never broke the 200 K barrier ever again in his career.  His next best season is probably '76, maybe '78.  He never lead a league in any major category after the '71 season.

What he was, was a workhorse and reliable starter for roughly a decade.  For one season, he was in a class with Koufax.  Outside that, one of the top pitchers of the 70's.

He was a draw in 1971 across baseball.  The A's were the first AL team to ever draw 1 millions fans on the road, with Fenway once packing 35,000 into the stadium when it only held 34,000 to see him start.

"I would go down to the bullpen in 1971 and watch Vida warm up.  Then I'd walk down to the dugout and say, "Games over, boys.  Shutout." - Rollie Fingers on Vida Blue

[dgies9156]

Vida Blue, Catfish Hunter, Ken Holtzman, Blue Moon Odom, and Rollie Fingers coming out of the pen. Wow.

Put that pitching staff together with Reggie Jackson, Joe Rudi, Sal Bando, Bert Campaneris, Gene Tenace, Bill North, etc ... and you can see why the A's of that era won three straight championships.

Think about the American League In 1971.

The Orioles had Mike Cuellar, Pat Dobson, Dave McNally and Jim Palmer. All won 20 games.

The As had the aforementioned starters. Holtzman, Blue and Hunter were terrific and Odom was no slouch.

Wow. Detroit had a heck of a staff too.

Today's watered down sabermetrics pitching doesn't hold a candle to those days!

As far as pitchers I saw goes, the three that stand out were Bob Gibson, Tom Seaver and Sandy Koufax. Gibson was incredible and he never would have needed a damn pitch clock. Koufax, a nearby neighbor, was simply magical. And the people who know him here say he is an incredibly classy person too!

[The Sultan]

Think about the American League In 1971.

The Orioles had Mike Cuellar, Pat Dobson, Dave McNally and Jim Palmer. All won 20 games.

The As had the aforementioned starters. Holtzman, Blue and Hunter were terrific and Odom was no slouch.

Wow. Detroit had a heck of a staff too.

Today's watered down sabermetrics pitching doesn't hold a candle to those days!

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[ZiggysFryBoy]

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Sultan explains it all.