Bio:
Rik Albert Blyleven, better known as Bert Blyleven was
born on April 6, 1951 in Zeist, Netherlands. Bert moved
to the United States when his mother Jenny and father
Johannes Cornelius Blijleven emigrated from the Netherlands.
He was raised in Garden Grove, California along with
his four sisters and two brothers. He was a Major League
Baseball pitcher who played in the 1970s and 1980s,
best known for his astounding curveball.
s a youngster, Bert delivered many paper routes and
when asked if these routes helped develop his throwing
arm, he replied “Oh, definitely." Laughing,
"I could hook it around anything." He became
really interested in baseball as a young boy watching
Sandy Koufax pitch for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Bert was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the third
round in 1969. He had a brief 21 game stint in the
minor leagues and was called up by the Twins on June
2, 1970. He was surprised because the Twins already
had a great four-man rotation including Jim Kaat,
Dave Boswell who had won 20 games in 1969, Jim Perry
who won the Cy Young in 1970 and newly acquired Luis
Tiant. At age 19, Bert Blyleven he was the youngest
player in the major leagues. Much to his dismay on
his major league debut he gave up a home run to the
first batter he faced.
Bert said, "Manager Bill Rigney came out to
visit me on the mound and I thought to myself, 'Oh
great. He's gonna take me out.' On the back of my
bubblegum card, I could see 'Bert Blyleven, 0-1 with
an ERA of infinity.' As it turns out, we won the game,
2-1, and that was the only run I gave up. I pitched
seven innings and allowed only five hits and one walk
while striking out seven batters. Ron Perranoski got
the save."
Later that season, Bert used his sharp curveball
well and became the 25th teenager to win 10 games
in a season when he beat the Chicago White Sox with
a three-hit, one-run gem. His signature pitch always
started chin high, but broke sharply downward, crossing
the plate just above the batter's knees. The unique
throw helped Bert to become the A.L. Rookie Pitcher
of the Year by The Sporting News in 1970. He gave
up more than three runs only twice in his first 19
starts and the Twins, in a sign of things to come,
scored a total of 11 runs in his nine losses.
In 1973, Bert became the 13th-youngest 20-game winner
of the century, leading the league with 9 shutouts
and placing second with a 2.52 ERA and 258 strikeouts.
He started 40 games and pitched 325 innings. Think
about that for a second. That's over eight innings
per outing. "I took a lot of pride in my complete
games that year,” Bert said.
However, Bert’s early career with the Twins
was not always pleasant as he was hounded by critics
and fans and suffered with a bleak Minnesota Twins
team. Becoming more vocal, Bert was traded to the
Texas Rangers on June 1, 1976. He pitched well with
the Rangers, throwing a 2.76 ERA in his first season
and throwing a no-hitter against the California Angels
on September 22, 1977, just two weeks after being
sidelined with a groin injury.
On December 8, 1977, Bert Blyleven and John Milner
were traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates as part of the
first four-team trade in Major League Baseball history.
With the Pirates, he led the team in ERA, strikeouts
and complete games in 1978 and helped them to a World
Series victory in 1979.
However, Bert became disgruntled with the Pirates
and threatened to retire during the 1980 season if
he was not traded. "Chuck Tanner and I did not
see eye-to-eye. My only beef with him ever was 'why
do I have to wait five to six days to pitch if I'm
only pitching five to six innings?' What you're doing
is taking away about 50 extra innings," Bert
said.
After being placed on the disqualified list, Bert
agreed to rejoin the Pirates. Although he allowed
more than three runs only twice in his first ten starts,
he failed to win 10 games for the first time in his
career. He was eventually dealt to the Cleveland Indians
in a six-player transaction in December 1980. Bert
responded to the situation by saying, "to me,
baseball was always supposed to be fun. In 1980 I
wasn't having fun. I didn't leave on the best of terms.
It was a frustrating experience."
Eventually, the Pirates did trade him to the Cleveland
Indians on December 9, 1980. He sat out most of the
1982 season with an elbow injury and struggled again
in 1983, but came back in 1984 with one of his best
seasons: a 19-7 record with a 2.87 ERA. Bert was again
unhappy playing for the lackluster Indians and forced
a trade back to the Twins on August 1, 1985.
Back with the Twins, Bert led the league that season
in innings pitched, complete games, shutouts, and
strikeouts. He topped the league in innings once again
the following year while allowing 50 home runs, a
record that still stands today. He also passed the
3,000-strikeout mark and helped the Twins to a 1987
World Series victory where he started four games during
the postseason and won three times.
After hurting his shoulder in 1988, Bert was traded
to the California Angels. He was named Comeback Player
of the Year in 1989, pitching home games in front
of his parents and siblings regularly for the first
time in his professional career. He pitched a 2.73
ERA for a 17-5 record in his first season. Bert won
16 more games with the Angels in 1990 and 1992, becoming
one of only three pitchers in major league history
to win a game before the age of 20 and after 40. As
USA Today columnist Jon Saraceno pointed out, "He
was that good for that long."
He retired following that season with a career 287-250
record with 3,701 strikeouts and a 3.31 ERA. He tried
out for the Twins again in the spring of 1993 but
did not make the squad, making his retirement official.
In 1996, he became a color commentator for the Twins.
In early 2002 during a quiet portion of a Twins game,
he circled (on television) a fan carrying a sign in
the stands of the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome. Signs
reading "Circle Me, Bert" quickly became
a popular phenomenon at the Dome.
Bert Blyleven is often considered to be the best
retired pitcher not yet in the Baseball Hall of Fame.
His career stats compare equally or favorably to many
pitchers currently in the Hall. Although he is frustrated
that he hasn't received the one telephone call in
January that every Hall of Fame candidate yearns for,
he is resigned to the fact that there is nothing left
for him to do. "It's up to the sportswriters.
I have no control over it."
The man, renowned in Minnesota for circling fans
on the Telestrator, should hereby be circled on the
Hall of Fame ballot by every voting member of the
Baseball Writers Association of America -- if not
this year, then certainly next.
