Vida Blue

Career Batting Stats G AB H R HR RBI SB AVG SLG OBP OPS OPS+ 508 512 53 37 4 15 0 .104 .145 .186 .330 47.2

Best Season: 1971
Blue was a twenty-game winner by August 7. He had his record at 22-4, before going 2-4 down the stretch. Despite the late-season slump, he still won the Cy Young in a close vote over Detroit's Mickey Lolich. The MVP race was not as close. Blue easily out-polled teammate Sal Bando. Blue led the AL in ERA (1.82), WHIP and shutouts (eight). He posted 301 K's, second to Lolich, who most likely lost the Cy Young because his ERA was a run higher than Vida's.

Factoids
Vida Blue collected the 200th win of his career on April 20, 1986, against the San Diego Padres.

The 12 Black Aces
Through 2004, twelve African-American pitchers had won 20-games in the major leagues. Of course, black pitchers had won twenty many times in the negro leagues, but these dozen, who, under the direction of Mudcat Grant, called themselves the "12 Black Aces," are an exclusive club:

1. Don Newcombe
2. Sam Jones
3. Bob Gibson.
4. Mudcat Grant
5. Earl Wilson
6. Fergie Jenkins
7. Al Downing
8. Vida Blue
9. J.R. Richard
10. Mike Norris
11. Dwight Gooden
12. Dave Stewart

Where He Played
Starting pitcher

Born
Vida Rochelle (Jr.) Blue was born on July 28, 1949, in Mansfield, LA.

Batted:  Both
Threw:  Left

College:  Southern

Major League Debut
7 20,

Nine Other Players Who Debuted in 1969
Darrell Evans
Bill Buckner
Carlton Fisk
Steve Garvey
Bill Russell
Toby Harrah
Vida Blue
Jerry Reuss
Thurman Munson

See above intro about Charlie Finley.

Uniform Numbers
#21 (1969), #17 (1970), #35 (1970-1972), #14 (1973-1981, 1983, 1985-1986), #33 (1982-1983)

Similar Players
Billy Pierce

Hall of Fame Voting Year Election Votes Pct 1992 BBWAA 23 5.3% 1993 BBWAA 37 8.7% 1994 BBWAA 14 3.1% 1995 BBWAA 26 5.7%

No-Hitter
9/21/1970: For OAK (A) vs. MIN (A), 6-0 at OAK. 9 innings pitched.
9/28/1975: For OAK (A) vs. CAL (A), 5-0 at OAK. 5 innings pitched.

Post-Season Appearances
1971 American League Championship Series
1972 American League Championship Series
1972 World Series
1973 American League Championship Series
1973 World Series
1974 American League Championship Series
1974 World Series
1975 American League Championship Series

Post-Season Notes
Blue never won a World Series game (0-3, 4.04), and he was 1-5 in 17 post-season games. His shining moment in the post-season was a two-hit shutout of the Orioles in game three of the '74 playoffs, when he out-dueled Jim Palmer. Blue was also 0-for-13 with 12 K's at the plate in the post-season.

Awards and Honors
1971 AL Cy Young
1971 AL MVP

Milestones

• April 20, 1986: 200th Win...

Transactions
Selected by Kansas City Athletics in the 2nd round of the free-agent draft (June 6, 1967); Traded by Oakland Athletics to San Francisco Giants in exchange for Gary Alexander, Gary Thomasson, Dave Heaverlo, Alan Wirth, John Henry Johnson, Phil Huffman, $300,000 and a player to be named later (March 15, 1978) - A's received Mario Guerrero (April 7, 1978); Traded by San Francisco Giants with Bob Tufts to Kansas City Royals in exchange for Renie Martin, Craig Chamberlain, Atlee Hammaker and Brad Wellman (March 30, 1982); Released by Kansas City Royals (August 5, 1983); Signed by San Francisco Giants (April 6, 1985); Granted free agency (November 12, 1985); Signed by San Francisco Giants (December 17, 1985); Granted free agency (November 12, 1986); Signed by Oakland Athletics (January 20, 1987).

All-Star Selections
1971 AL
1975 AL
1977 AL
1978 NL
1980 NL
1981 NL

Best Strength as a Player
Fastball

Largest Weakness as a Player
Drug problems

Learn More about Vida Blue
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Sources used for the Vida Blue Player Page:
Player file, National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum