If you go through the above, he comes out to 298-239 for his career, ever so incredibly shy of 300. So far Blyleven has won 20 only once, in 1973, when he lost 17. . Of course, that might be half-baked psychoanalysis, but it does make one wonder. Phone: 602.496.1460 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. And he was still a workhorse, completing 24 games in 1985, the last AL pitcher to top 20. OK, now lets figure out what Blylevens record should be based on pythaging his actual RA/9IP and his actual run support. Blyleven got so upset with his role in Pittsburgh that he walked out on the Pirates for 10 days early in 1980. When The Chicken brought his act to Cleveland, pitchers (from left) Ernie Camacho, Blyleven, Luis Aponte and Mike Jeffcoat were his plucky backups. The team finishes at 3-under and out of hunt. He repaid some of his debt to Flores this off-season when he hosted a tournament to benefit the Hemophilia Foundation; Flores's grandson has that disease. There once was a rookie hitter who didnt need to be convinced the curve was something more than an optical illusion. Thanks, Bob. One fan posted, "Pete Rose in the Phillies booth "he threw a c**k high fastball". [5] One of seven children, his parents anglicized their names to Joe and Jenny, with Rik Aalbert becoming simply "Bert". "[17], Blyleven was a pitching coach for the Netherlands in the 2009 World Baseball Classic. "Brought it in from Cleveland," comes the host's reply. It has also appeared as Ricalbert and Ribalbert. For instance, in the middle of his careerthe Pirate/Indian yearshe comes out even with the murky third element. Add in assorted aces Bob Gibson, Juan Marichal, Catfish Hunter, Mickey Lolich, Luis Tiant, and thats some list. [21] In 2009, he gained only two votes, for a total of 338, 62.7%. All Win Expectancy, Leverage Index, Run Expectancy, and Fans Scouting Report data licenced from TangoTiger.com. US $3.00Standard Shipping. Blyleven married Patricia Ann Whitehead, a friend from high school, during his second season in the majors, and they have raised a happy family. Blyleven is rightPhil Seghi looks uncannily like Chief Wahoo. Bert was a terrific pitchera dominating pitcher. That may not mean much to you, but Ron Theobald is the only man in baseball history to go into the on-deck circle without his bat. He ran cross-country and played basketball and baseball at Santiago High School, and the baseball scouts began to come around. If youre going to try to adjust Blylevens record by his run support, you actually have to focus on his run support. He wound up completing 242 games and throwing 60 shutouts, the two numbers of which he is most proud. xERA is a simple 1:1 translation of xwOBA, converted to This past baseball season he merely cut up American League batters, finishing as the third-leading vote getter in the Cy Young Award balloting, behind relievers Willie Hernandez and Dan Quisenberry. A Bolt is any run where the Sprint Speed (defined as Koosman's catcher in his Mets days, J.C. Martin, once said that Koosman could throw his 11-5 curveball "any time.". Blyleven went to the California Angels in 1989 and pitched a 2.73 ERA for a 17-5 record in his first season, but he missed the entire 1991 season following rotator cuff surgery. Weve already figured out what Blylevens record should be based on pythaging his RA/9IP and league-average run support. Blyleven was a terrific pitchera dominating pitcher," Hall of Fame third baseman Brooks Robinson once said. Blyleven and his Villa Park neighbors could probably win the American League West. I checked all pitchers with at least 25 SHO from 1920-2011. Nice. All UZR (ultimate zone rating) calculations are provided courtesy of Mitchel Lichtman. Rice benefited from an orchestrated movement by the Boston press corps. (Also, Dean Chance? Blyleven, who has a seven handicap, is teamed with a couple of Cadillac dealers and an attorney, a zany Mormon named Tom Anthony. Arguments for inducting Bert Blyleven into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Even Hall of Fame players marveled at Blylevens curve. Brett Butler was presented with an autographed picture of his favorite soap opera star. "He's a great guy," says Judy Kirkpatrick. Id say 95 percent of that mysterious third element is luck, but does that mean its never anything else? It's one of the hardest things in sports to execute. He responded with a flippant gesture. He says, "Mister Paul and Mister Seghi [Mister?] He really helped the 1976 Rangers make a run for the pennant. Heck, Manny Trillo made four. Free shipping for many products! Blyleven recorded 3,701 career strikeouts, the fifth-most in MLB history. Blyleven's third batter was Frank Howard. Look again at that list of young big winners. 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. I have to ask him, 'Bert, what would you throw if you had my stuff?' "feet per second in a player's fastest one-second "We have those long, strong fingers," he says. The only thing Blyleven hates more than pitch counts is the use of . An inveterate practical joker, Blyleven likes to snip cravats. And once he came up, he stuck around. 122), his five one-hitters, his eight two-hitters and his five three-hitters. See all categories. Jump is a Statcast metric that shows which players have Being close to his 100th win is. Until last year, fate had not been overly kind to Blyleven. Then there are three guys over 280 winsTommy John, Jim Kaat, and Blyleven himself. Blyleven said the Twins then played on the road in Detroit and there was a Twins fan with a sign, asking to be circled. Ill be home soon. I wanted to be like him, he said. "Then we'd sneak down into the dugouts and grab whatever we couldresin bags and broken bats. The only problem was that his name was published as "Blylevan," which is the way the Twins spelled it in those days. For a pitcher it is the average of his softest 50% of batted balls allowed. But someone with a far greater mind than any scientist put the optical illusion theory to rest. It can ruin a career. Blyleven was one of baseball's most notorious dugout pranksters during his playing days. Blyleven has a different grip on his yakker than most, but, then, he has been more successful than most. "A Carl Yastrzemski bat. There are 16 names, but only one 300-game winner. They have a right to act any way they like.". Now look at Blylevens careerpitching in tough spots wasnt his problem. In honor of Blyleven, Id like to rip off the column format pioneered here at THT by Bossman Studes, who used to run a regular Ten things I didnt know last week feature. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for 1973 Topps Set-Break #199 Bert Blyleven EX-EXMINT *GMCARDS* at the best online prices at eBay! Look at his hits to innings pitched [8.10 per nine innings], his walks to strikeouts [7.02 strikeouts and 2.47 walks per nine innings] and his ERA. Thats easy to figure: Take the difference between his actual win-loss record and what he should have had based on a pythaging of his actual run support and his actual RA/9IP. The story went that the reason Eddie Stanky quit after one game as manager of the Rangers was that he went out to the mound to remove Blyleven from the game, and Byleven told him to go back to the dugout. "I know that stuff sounds silly," says Smith. A curveball can also be thrown with some velocity in an attempt jam a hitter. xwOBA is formulated using exit velocity, launch angle What makes his statistics even more impressive is that he missed five starts after he broke a bone in his right foot; while shagging flies in the Milwaukee outfield in May, he stepped on a ball hiding in the grass. When he was younger, his stuff was so good that he didn't need a changeup or pinpoint control. 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. Hall of Fame pitcher Bert Blyleven, who happened to be pitching coach for the Netherlands, didn't like what he saw during his team's loss to Puerto Rico. play. Popular categories from this store. There is some argument as to whether Candy Cummings or Fred Goldsmith invented the curveball, but there is no argument about this: Bert Blyleven perfected it and rode it to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Free shipping for many products! "With his hands and wrist, he could throw that damn thing without any seams and it would curve," says Corrales. The in/out line for the Hall has never been 300 wins. Bert Blyleven. In 2010, Blyleven had 74.2% of the votes, missing admission to the Hall of Fame by only 5 votes (0.8%).[22]. Half of them blew their arms out right after turning 30. outfield. Francisco the busboy? And he couldn't help it if he was injured. Blyleven left 28 tickets for family and friends for that night's game, which turned out to be . Terrys reaction was to swing straight down, like he was chopping the plate with an axe. Collectibles; Books & Magazines; Entertainment Memorabilia; Cell Phones . I'll have to admit that was a hell of a curveball.". shouts someone from a passing golf cart. Expected Weighted On-base Average (xwOBA). Communication. In his seven losses, the Indians scored only six runs. Blyleven was quoted as saying, "My dad built me a mound in the backyard with a canvas backdrop over our horseshoe pits, and I would go back there and just throw and throw and throw until I developed it, and it became my curveball. Stand behind a tree 60 feet away and Ill whomp you with an optical illusion, challenged Dizzy Dean. Hey, wait a minute, Francisco, where are you going? Naturally, he sinks all the birdie putts. He's being serious, although whimsy soon bubbles to the surface. When the Angels came to nearby Anaheim in 1966, Bert didn't switch his allegiance, although he did become one of the stadium rats. Vin Scully and Jerry Doggett would be describing Koufaxs curve that he threw off that high mound, Blyleven recalled. Nicknamed "the Barber," Sal Maglie commanded the corners of the plate as well as any pitcher in the history of baseball. "Aw bleep, that was for him [Griffith] and his family." Blyleven threw two different styles of curveballs, the most unique one being the drop that he held across the seams, a grip that is said to have been mastered only by him, Bob Feller and, Koufax. He pitched in eight postseason games and went 5-1 with a 2.47 ERA. In all likelihood, Bert Blyleven is the best pitcher not in the Hall of Fame. At that time only 15 to 20 percent of the electorate supported him. About 10 years ago, there was a debate at the late, great Rob Neyer Message Board about Blylevens Hall of Fame chances. 30 day returns. Calico Jack (Suwinski) is Back for the Attack. As a player, Blyleven did not have the best reputation. "I visualized the dropping motion.". This list is composed based not just on the nastiness of the curveball but also on how effectively it was used along with the pitcher's other weapons. All rights reserved. At the Blyleven the biggest celebrity, literally and figuratively, is Lou Ferrigno, television's erstwhile Incredible Hulk. Nice. See all categories. Bert Blyleven addresses the ball. "I have to say this for him, though. The umpire called it a strike and Jamie backed out and it looked to me like he kind of laughed a little bit. Just take a look at who emerged in baseball from 1959 to 1970. 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. He has always hovered around .500: 10-9, 16-15, 17-17 twice. "This is for a free membership to Racquetball World. But those were entire careers. coach who was Blyleven's manager in Cleveland for half a season, "He should win 30 games with the stuff he's got. I'm thrilled to see Blyleven in the HOF. How to separate run support from that murky third factor? Uh, okay, Dean Chance). References & ResourcesI checked Paper of Record for some of the items in No. Actually, the best spelling of his name appears on one of his license plates: BLY11. However, his election was a slow curve that was thrown to Blyleven, not being elected by the Baseball Writers Association of America until his 14thseason of eligibility despite 287 victories and 3,701 strikeouts. Hal Newhouser barely won 200 games. Blyleven has often been labeled a troublemaker. "Two pitchers that I know about who held it the way I do," says Blyleven, "were Koufax and Bob Feller.". Around (over?) Blyleven has a ball for every one of his regular-season major league victories, as well as for his win in the 1979 National League Championship Series for the Pirates and his '79 World Series victory over the Orioles. He must have had terrible run support. He has lines around his eyes and a scar on the inside of his right elbow, testimony to the strain and pain of 15 years in the major leagues. If it weren't for drug and injury issues late in his career, he easily could have reached the 3,000-strikeoutplateau. In the Florida Instructional League championship game, he beat the Indians 1-0 and was featured in a story in that year's Dec. 1 issue of SPORTS ILLUSTRATED. 19 7-4 over the Twins on the last day of the season. "My friends and I used to wait until they turned the lights out in the park," he says. He has had only one 20-win season, in 1973, the first year of the DH, when 12 American League pitchers won 20 or more. Blyleven, 33, is such a cutup, in fact, that he recently cut off his five-year-old beard. Says Corrales, "You love sending a guy like that every fifth day, and he's a great influence on a young ball club. a batted-ball event with a launch angle between eight