bert blyleven fastball speed bert blyleven fastball speed

Scheinblum's son, Monte, who's active in SADD at Villa Park High School in Villa Park, Calif., asked Blyleven if he'd help him organize a tournament. "With his hands and wrist, he could throw that damn thing without any seams and it would curve," says Corrales. Possessing both a screwball and a curveball to go with a deceptive palmball, Cuellar was nearly untouchable in the prime of his career. 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. Bah! If you enjoyed it, consider subscribing to Baseball Prospectus. If you went back further, you could find guys whod risen up: Billy Williams, Luis Aparicio, Bob Lemon. Being close to his 100th win is. None had ever fallen below 30 percent. I've had a nice life since, and tried my best never to look back. For the benefit of those who don't knowand it's quite understandable so don't feel ashamedBlyleven, a right-hander, pitches for the Cleveland Indians. He responded with a flippant gesture. These arent items I learned in the last week, but they are things I found out during the course of Blylevens seemingly never-ending Cooperstown candidacy. [8] He pitched well with the Rangers, posting a 2.76 ERA. Blyleven went to the California Angels in 1989 and pitched a 2.73 ERA for a 175 record in his first season; he led the league for his third and final time in shutouts (5). Updated: Saturday, March 4, 2023 3:30 AM ET, Park Factors How hard, in miles per hour, a pitch is thrown. Call it sunspots for all I care, it aint run support. Spanky, we love you.". Weve already figured out what Blylevens record should be based on pythaging his RA/9IP and league-average run support. Blyleven said the Twins then played on the road in Detroit and there was a Twins fan with a sign, asking to be circled. The house has lots of toys, some for the kids, some for Bert. The Twins responded by trading him to the Texas Rangers. A couple of years ago when he was on the disabled list and back home, he came to watch my son Monte pitch. As Blyleven wanders into earshot, Scheinblum says, "Of course, I feel very strongly that a person born in a foreign country should not be allowed to play in the major leagues.". So did Steve Busby, Jeff Conine, Bill Singer, John Smiley, and Ron Fairly. Thanks for the link at WGOM, by the way. Don Drysdale was done two weeks after his 33rd birthday. He began teaching the pitch to himself, learning to throw a drop in junior high. 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! Calico Jack (Suwinski) is Back for the Attack. Roberto Alomar, Pat Gillick and Bert Blyleven on stage during a press conference during the 2011 Hall of Fame Weekend. After all, 17 wins in eight years is a lot. 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. ", Not only does Blyleven pitch for the Indians, he actually likes being an Indian. If the pitchers were different, the results were the same. 1. The Baseball Analysts: Optimal Fastball-Changeup Speed Separation *Examining the Past, Present, and Future* Lineup Card Rich Lederer Baseball Beat Patrick Sullivan Change-Up Jeremy Greenhouse Touching Bases Dave Allen F/X Visualizations Sky Andrecheck Behind the Scoreboard Marc Hulet Around the Minors Al Doyle Past Times "But I thought it was kind of nice. Do I hear $275? On a recent afternoon Blyleven went to see Todd play basketball for his seventh-grade team. 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. Others will call it pitching to the score. You have a half-dozen 300 game winnersGaylord Perry, Phil Niekro, Steve Carlton, Don Sutton, Nolan Ryan, and Tom Seaver. Corrales feels the secret of Blyleven's curve is not in the grip but in his big, strong hands. Even alone Blyleven is a terror, whether he's giving a hotfoot, tying clothes in knots, cutting neckties or pulling down McMahon's pants. Thats it? and 32 degrees. background-color:#ba3434; He took quiet pride in Todd's 10-point game, a performance that reminded one of a young Jack Sikma. Then he filled out, picked up some speed on his fastball and wowed batters in rookie and A ball. Theres a better factoid, though: Blyleven won 15 different 1-0 complete games, more than anyone else since Walter Johnson. Joe's brother, Cor, had gone to the U.S. before the war, and because it was easier to enter from Canada than from Holland, the Blylevens emigrated to Saskatchewan when Bert was two. 5.0. He came back in 1992 but was mostly unproductive, going 812 with a 4.74 ERA. Nolan Ryan and Bert Blyleven had the tightest rotation and velocity combination," Schmidt was quoted as saying in a recent Associated Press story. 1.18 ERA 184 Fastball Speed 165 Regular Speed 160 Slowball Speed 10 Left Curve 6 Right Curve 9 Drop Rating 54 Endurance Bio Born Rik Aalbert Blyleven on April 6, 1951 in Zeist, Holland. See details. Note that since the Neyer Board discussion ten years ago, things have already shifted. Blyleven starred on the Santiago High School baseball team, also running cross country to build up his stamina and leg strength. Bert Blyleven. His 2.74 career ERA with the Rangers remains the best in team history. Blyleven and his Villa Park neighbors could probably win the American League West. It's one of the hardest things in sports to execute. (Thanks, Ron, wherever you are.) Here you go. Enough to make your knees buckle. Of course, that might be half-baked psychoanalysis, but it does make one wonder. One of his favorite marks is Indians public relations director Bob DiBiasio. His 20 no decisions in 1979 are the most by an MLB starting pitcher in a season, dating back to at least 1908.[13]. Even back in 1969 Blyleven had his sensational curve. Before the game Blyleven went over to the lineup card and changed the spelling of his name from "Blylevan." "When they asked us who wanted to play in the Instructional League in the fall of '69, I was the first one to raise my hand," he says. All UZR (ultimate zone rating) calculations are provided courtesy of Mitchel Lichtman. When the Angels came to nearby Anaheim in 1966, Bert didn't switch his allegiance, although he did become one of the stadium rats. Blyleven, like so many Hall of Fame players, was driven to succeed. He argued vehemently with the official scorer and later phoned the league office when outfielder George Vukovich wasn't given an error on a play on which two earned runs scored. Angels pitcher Bert Blyleven throws a pitch during a game against the Baltimore Orioles on May 3, 1990 . 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. become a hit. But Blyleven is still a big kid at heart. They just started throwing me the curveball.. In 15 years with four teams he has 195 wins and a 3.00 ERA. Blyleven, who has a seven handicap, is teamed with a couple of Cadillac dealers and an attorney, a zany Mormon named Tom Anthony. Baseball-Reference.com provided the stats. Blyleven pitched very well for the Indians in the strike year of 1981 (11-7, 2.89 ERA), but in the first game after play resumed, he hurt his right elbow. And I could throw it over at any time, any count."[6]. About 10 years ago, there was a debate at the late, great Rob Neyer Message Board about Blylevens Hall of Fame chances. Nolan Ryan is widely considered one of the most dominant pitchers in the history of Major League Baseball. Julio Franco, who had been arrested the previous winter for possession of a gun without a permit, received a toy pistol. Given another five years of success, Blyleven will have Hall of Fame credentials. You've got work to do. Looking it up, in his 37 starts, the Twins scored 151 runs, 4.1/game. 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. "Here's a ball autographed by the 1957 Milwaukee Braves. Hmmm, I wanted the color TV. In his last game with the Twins in 1976 before being traded, he made an obscene gesture to the crowd while walking off the mound. Hal Newhouser barely won 200 games. Koosman was also an crucial piece to the Mets improbable World Series Championship in 1969. Says Roy Smith, a rookie pitcher who dressed next to Blyleven last season, "Because his stuff is so good, it really doesn't do me any good to ask him what he throws to certain hitters. Essentially a two-pitch hurler (curveball and fastball) thus far in his career, Blyleven developed an offspeed pitch during spring training in 1971, and the results were immediate. I wondered how anyone could pitch 7,000 innings like Cy Young. The no-hitter was his final start as a Ranger; not until Cole Hamels during the 2015 season would a pitcher be traded after pitching a no-hitter in his most recent start for the team that traded him. The ones better than him who are not in would make legitimate candidates. The Twins ran short of pitching early, the crusher coming on June 1, when Luis Tiant was put on the disabled list. In Blyleven's first spring training with the Twins, manager Bill Rigney watched him throw batting practice and yelled to his pitching coach, Marv Grissom, "Get him out of there. 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. Hmmm, maybe I should bid on it. Given his temperamental behaviour and (more happily) reputation as a practical jokester as a player, which have carried over somewhat into an occasionally prickly demeanor as a broadcaster, I wonder if Blylevens early debut in the majors is partially to blame for his personalitys lack of leavening. Hes going in. Esteban Loaiza made two. Blue 90672, raise your hand. Bert knew what had happened right away and got Monte's elbow in a bucket of ice. When I first discovered Retrosheet eons ago, the first thing I wanted to do was look at Blylevens run support. Kirkpatrick, 40, is sitting in the back of the dining room with his wife, Judy. "I have to say this for him, though. So why did this happen to Blyleven? Nearly a decade later while an Indian, he flipped the bird to fans in Baltimore. He was drafted straight out of high school by the Minnesota Twins in the third round in 1969. How much time, in seconds, it takes a runner to get from The ones worse than him who are in are generally mistakes. 1996-2023 DIY Baseball LLC All Rights Reserved. According to baseball-reference Cy Young won 195 games befroe his age 30 season. 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. Last year he had 19 wins, seven losses and a dozen ties. "Bert's always doing things for people," he says. Bert Blyleven (born Rik Aalbert Blijleven, April 6, 1951) is a Dutch-American former professional baseball pitcher who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1970 to 1992, primarily with the Minnesota Twins. Actually, Blyleven was suffering from a groin pull and eventually took himself out of the game. Steve Farr. He generally did better in the second half of the year. 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 knows how to pitch. shouts someone from a passing golf cart. (And the difference between Blylevens actual record and the second projection quantifies that murky third factor, but well get back to that in a second). exit velocity of 95 mph or higher. See all categories. What have we got here? Blyleven, just 19, was called up to replace him. Jerry Koosman was a two-time, all-star for the New York Mets and, like most lefties, relied heavily on his curveball for success. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for 1974 TOPPS BASEBALL #98 BERT BLYLEVEN MINNESOTA TWINS V.G. In the early days it was fashionable to deny that a curveball actually curved, many scientists even claiming it was nothing but an optical illusion. 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. Blyleven has often been labeled a troublemaker. "Aw bleep, that was for him [Griffith] and his family." by Handedness, 10 things I didnt know about Bert Blyleven, http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/forgotten-pennant-push-jim-kaat-1967/. "I open the bidding at $200. "Somebody had a sign that read, 'We drove 660 miles from Detroit Lakes,' I . Even the guys who didnt completely implode aged poorly. Two years ago, when brush fires swept through the surrounding hills, Blyleven ascended to his roof, to water it down lest a flying spark set it afire, and fell off, breaking his left elbow. Especially back in those days, a pitchers win-loss record really mattered. But he's not a bad guy. Well, his curveball was good enough to strike out 27 batters in a nine-inning game at Class D Bristol and followed that up with a 24-strikeout performance. When Blyleven and Sutcliffe were together in Cleveland, their teammates had to be on constant lookout for pranks. If youre going to try to adjust Blylevens record by his run support, you actually have to focus on his run support. For some reason it has taken Blyleven 3,422 innings, 468 games, 195 wins, 15 years and four teams to be appreciated. Thats a lot better than I wouldve expected. Play-by-play data prior to 2002 was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted No takers? He also tied for third in shutouts, with four, and for fourth in complete games, with 12. I'll have to admit that was a hell of a curveball.". MLB Advanced Media, LP. The curve ball was something to behold, but the argument that a guy belongs because of the aesthetics of a pitch's arc is simply ridiculous. Francisco, come up here. At 6 feet 3 inches, with long arms and large hands, he throws. "This is for a free membership to Racquetball World. 300, a la Early Wynn. This is a free article. For years he thought his first name was Rikaalbert. But Blyleven debuted on a ballot near the end of a stretch of 11 consecutive years with at least one 300-game winner up for nomination. Just take a look at who emerged in baseball from 1959 to 1970. He got him to fly out. Bert Blyleven (born Rik Aalbert Blijleven, April 6, 1951) is a Dutch-American former professional baseball pitcher who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1970 to 1992, primarily with the Minnesota Twins. Rice benefited from an orchestrated movement by the Boston press corps. Bert Blyleven Statcast, Visuals & Advanced Metrics | MLB.com | baseballsavant.com Bert Blyleven P | B/T: R/R | 6' 3" 207LBS | Age: 71 Draft: 1969 | Rd: 3, #55, Minnesota Twins | Santiago HS (Garden Grove, CA) Stats Standard Splits Game Logs Minors Batting Pitching Fielding Visuals Standard MLB Pitching Statistics He wound up completing 242 games and throwing 60 shutouts, the two numbers of which he is most proud. Blyleven mingled easily with the other parents. The worst election by any of 20 guys who had gone on to election was one time Tony Perez finished exactly one vote shy of 50 percent. After I ran off the mound, I looked over at the St. Louis' dugout. He has to have it. Jerry Willard. Subscriptions support ongoing public baseball research and analysis in an increasingly proprietary environment. Upon his return, he was plagued by chronic stomach ulcers and a torn rotator cuff. Actually, given that the park factor was 104, Blylevens run support was nearly league average; 96% of league average to be precise. Nicknamed "the Barber," Sal Maglie commanded the corners of the plate as well as any pitcher in the history of baseball. It's hard to say anything based on one game, but he looks like he's got a great future ahead of him.".