Time for another edition of Trivia(l) Tidbit Tuesday. I hope you are enjoying weekly presentation of baseball occurrences that for some reason caught The Roundtable’s eye. (I’m particularly fond of unexpected performances or statistical coincidences.) These won’t necessarily be momentous occurrences, just events, statistics or coincidences that grabbed my attention. Yesterday, I posted an article focusing on pitchers whose first MLB complete game was a no-hitter. (You can see that post by clicking here.) As usual with The Roundtable, one thing led to another – and that post spurred this look at the remarkable start to Vida Blue’s MLB career.
Let me explain what took me there. Blue’s first complete game was not a no-hitter. It was, however, a one-hit shutout – as Blues’ A’s topped the Royals 3-0 in Kansas City (September 11, 1970). It was his second career MLB win, coming in his 14th appearance and sixth start. Ten days (September 21) and two starts later, Blue pitched his second career complete game – and this one was a no-hitter – as Blue and the A’s beat the Twins 6-0 in Oakland. In that one, Blue walked one and fanned nine – and only three balls were hit out of the infield. So, in his first two MLB complete games, Blue allowed just one hit.
Of course, these Trivia(l) Tidbit Tuesdays do need a trivia-focused hook. That came the following season (1971), when Blue (in his age-21 season (he turned 22 on July 28 that year) became the youngest MLB pitcher to win the Cy Young and Most Valuable Player Awards in the same season – a distinction he still holds. In 1971, his first full MLB campaign, Blue went 24-8, with a league-low 1.92 earned run average, 24 complete games, a league-leading eight shutouts and 301 strikeouts in 312 innings. That season, he was 12-4 (1.19) at home and 12-4 (2.53) on the road. How spectacular was Blue in his age 21 season? That season, he was featured on the cover of Time and Sports Illustrated.
Blue was selected by the A’s in the second round of the 1967 MLB draft – out of high school (DeSoto High, Mansfield, Louisiana), where he starred in football and baseball. In three minor-league campaigns, Blue went 30-17, 2.57, with 508 strikeouts (187 walks) in 389 innings. He was called up to the A’s in July of 1969, after a 10-3, 3.20 season at Double-A. He wasn’t quite ready and went 1-1, 6.64 in 12 appearances (four starts). It was back to the minors (Triple-A) to start the 1970 season, and Blue earned a September call up via a 12-3, 2.17 record, with 165 strikeouts and 55 walks in 133 innings. He went 2-0, 2.09 in six late-season starts for the A’s – and that brings us to the 1971 CYA/MVP campaign.
Blue went on to a 17-season MLB career (1969-83, 1985-86… A’s Giants, Royals), during which he went 209-161, 3.27. He was a six-time All Star and three times won 20 or more games in a season.
Blue passed away, at the age of 73, on May 6, 2023.
Primary Resources: Baseball-Reference.com; Baseball-Almanac.com
Baseball Roundtable – Blogging Baseball Since 2012.
Baseball Roundtable is on the Feedspot list of the Top 100 Baseball Blogs. To see the full list, click here.
Baseball Roundtable is also on the Anytime Baseball Supply Top 66 Baseball Sites list. For the full list, click here.
I tweet (on X) baseball @DavidBaseballRT
Follow Baseball Roundtable’s Facebook Page here. More baseball commentary; blog post notifications; PRIZES.
Member: Society for American Baseball Research (SABR); Negro Leagues Baseball Museum; The Baseball Reliquary.
P 1074
Speak Your Mind