Vida Blue Wiki – Vida Blue Biography
Vida Blue was an American professional baseball player. He was a left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball from 1969 to 1986, most notably as an integral member of the Oakland Athletics dynasty that won three consecutive World Series championships from 1972 to 1974. He won the League’s Cy Young Award American (AL) and the Most Valuable Player Award in 1971.
A six-time All-Star, Blue was the first of only five pitchers in Major League history to start the All-Star Game for both the American League (1971) and National League (1978); Roger Clemens, Randy Johnson, Roy Halladay, and Max Scherzer are the others. During her 17-year career, she pitched for the Oakland Athletics (1969–77), San Francisco Giants (1978–81; 1985–86), and Kansas City Royals (1982–83).
Vida Blue Age
Vida Blue was 73 years old.
Vida Blue Family
Vida Blue was born and raised in Mansfield in DeSoto Parish in northwestern Louisiana. He was the eldest of six children born to Vida Blue, Sr, a worker at a Mansfield iron foundry, and his wife Sallie.
Blue attended DeSoto High School in Mansfield. He pitched for the baseball team and quarterbacked the football team. In his senior year of football, he passed for 3,400 yards and completed 35 touchdown passes while rushing for 1,600 yards. In his senior year of baseball, Blue pitched a no-hitter with 21 strikeouts in just seven innings pitched.
Vida Blue Career
Blue was a power pitcher who worked fast and hit the strike zone. He threw an occasional curveball to keep hitters off balance and an above-average changeup, but his signature pitch was a fastball that consistently threw at 94 miles per hour (151 km/h), but could hit 100 mph. hour (160 km). /hour). In The Neyer/James Guide to Pitchers, all-time hits leader Pete Rose stated that Blue “thrown as hard as anyone” he ever faced, and baseball historian Bill James cited Blue as the top-throwing left-hander. with more force and the second-toughest pitcher. of his time, only behind Nolan Ryan.
In April 1985, Blue returned as a free agent to the San Francisco Giants on a one-year contract. He went 8-8 with a 4.47 ERA in 33 appearances, 20 of them starts, the rest in the middle of innings, and cleanup relief.
In 1985, Blue testified in the Pittsburgh drug trials. Blue’s problems with substance abuse continued to haunt him after his playing career, as he faced multiple DUI charges in 2005. He acknowledged that the trials may have played a role in his being dropped from the Hall of Fame ballot after a year, stating, “I had some problems in my life that might have had a tendency to sway the voting. There are some guys in the Hall of Fame who don’t have halos.”
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Blue re-signed to another one-year contract in 1986, finishing his career going 10-10 with a 3.27 ERA in 28 appearances, all starts, at the age of 36. On April 20, he won the 200th game of his MLB career. Blue signed with the Athletics for the 1987 season but announced his retirement in February 1987.
After baseball, Blue was a baseball analyst for NBC Sports Bay Area, the television home of the San Francisco Giants. In September 1989, Blue married Peggy Shannon on the pitcher’s mound at Candlestick Park. Her godfather was former teammate Willie McCovey, and Orlando Cepeda walked Shannon to the mound.
Vida Blue Cause of Death
Vida Blue, a left-handed pitcher who became one of baseball’s biggest draws in the early 1970s and helped lead the daredevil Oakland A’s to three straight World Series titles before his career was derailed by drug problems, passed away. He was 73 years old.
The A’s said Blue died Saturday, but did not give a cause of death.
“There are few players with a more decorated career than Vida Blue,” the team said in a statement Sunday. “Vida will always be a franchise legend and friend.”
“Vida Blue has been a Bay Area baseball icon for more than 50 years,” Giants president Larry Baer said in a statement. “His impact on the Bay Area transcends his 17 years on the diamond with the influence he has had on our community.”
A’s great Dave Stewart tweeted his condolences and called Blue “my mentor, hero, and friend.”
Vida Blue rest in peace, my mentor, hero, and friend. I remember watching a 19 year old phenom dominate baseball, and at the same time alter my life. There are no words for what you have meant to me and so many others. My heart goes out to the Blue family????
— maddox ?? (@maddoxx000000) May 7, 2023
The #SFGiants are saddened to learn of the passing of six-time All-Star and longtime Bay Area pitcher Vida Blue. Our deepest condolences go to the Blue family, his friends and all those whose lives he touched. pic.twitter.com/gI7k1N68Mv
— SFGiants (@SFGiants) May 7, 2023
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