Bert Blyleven (born Rik Aalbert Blijleven, April 6, 1951 in Zeist, Netherlands but raised in Garden Grove, California). Bert Blyleven is a former Major League Baseball pitcher who played from 1970 to 1992, and was best known for his outstanding curveball. He currently resides in Ft. Myers, Florida. Blyleven was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2011.
Bert Blyleven became interested in baseball as a young boy watching Sandy Koufax pitch for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Blyleven starred on the Santiago High School baseball team, also running cross country to build up his stamina and leg strength. He was drafted straight out of high school by the Minnesota Twins in the third round in 1969, where after only 21 minor league starts he found himself called up to the Majors at age 19, June 2, 1970. In his first season, his sharp curveball helped him to ten victories and he was named AL Rookie Pitcher of the Year by The Sporting News. In 1973 he pitched the most shutouts of any AL pitcher, with 9.
However, Bert Blyleven 's early career with the Twins was not always pleasant as he was hounded by critics and fans. Becoming more vocal, Bert Blyleven was traded to the Texas Rangers on June 1, 1976. He pitched well with the Rangers, having 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. His 2.74 career ERA with the Rangers remains the best in team history.
Then, following an incident in which Blyleven blatantly gave the finger to a television camera obviously focused on him during one of the Rangers' rare nationally-broadcast games, Bert Blyleven was again traded on December 8, 1977 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, Blyleven became disgruntled with the Pirates and threatened to retire during the 1980 season if he was not traded. Eventually, the Pirates did trade him to the Cleveland Indians on December 9, 1980. Blyleven 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. He missed a second 20-win season that year when he was forced to miss a couple of starts after breaking his foot when joking around in the bullpen. In 1985 he again lead the American League in shutouts with 5. That year he also pitched 293 2/3 innings and completed 24 games, a feat never repeated (no pitcher has completed even ten games in a season since 2000.) Blyleven was unhappy playing for the lackluster Indians and forced a trade back to the Twins, where he passed the 3,000-strikeout mark and helped the Twins to a 1987 World Series victory.
Bert Blyleven 's first two full seasons back with the Twins also produced major league records for home runs allowed in a single season (50) and in back-to-back seasons (96). Bert Blyleven never surrendered more than 24 home runs in any year before and after the 1986-87 campaigns, averaging 21 allowed per season over the course of his career.
Bert Blyleven went to the California Angels in 1989 and pitched a 2.73 ERA for a 17-5 record in his first season, and lead the league for his third and final time in shutouts (5). He then missed the entire 1991 season following rotator cuff surgery. He came back in 1992, but was mostly unproductive, going 8-12 with a 4.74 ERA. He retired following that season with a career 287-250 record with 3,701 strikeouts (only 16 other pitchers have at least 3,000 career 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.
MLB Hall of Fame third baseman Brooks Robinson stated "It (his curveball) was nasty, I'll tell you that. Enough to make your knees buckle. Bert was a terrific pitcher — a dominating pitcher."
Bert Blyleven was a pitching coach for the Netherlands in the 2009 World Baseball Classic.
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