TTM Stats
- Sent: 1/8/2022 | Received: 1/29/2022 | 21 Days
- ’73 Topps, ’81 Topps, ’83 Topps
- Address: Home (address from Sports Card Forum)
The Story of the Autograph
Vida Blue was a left-handed starting pitcher in the major leagues. He played from 1969 to 1986 with the Oakland Athletics, San Francisco Giants (twice) and Kansas City Royals.
Blue was born and raised in Mansfield, Louisiana. The Athletics, who were in Kansas City at the time, drafted him in the second round of the 1967 MLB Draft out of high school. He made his major league debut just two years later on July 20, 1969. While he played for the big ball club sparingly in the first two seasons after he was called up, in 1971 he became an amazing pitcher and a huge piece of the Athletics championship runs in the mid-70’s.
In 1971, when he was just 22, he put up a 24-8 record. Add to that a 1.82 ERA in 39 starts and 312 innings pitched with a major league leading eight shutouts, and it’s no wonder why he was voted not just the AL Cy Young winner but also the MVP. He of course earned his first of six All-Star nods that year. He would go on to win 20 games two more times along with three other years with more than 15 wins. Overall he won 209 games in his career.
From 1972 to 1974 he was part of the three consecutive World Series winning A’s ball clubs. As good as he was in the regular season, he wasn’t that way in the playoffs. He had a 1-5 record for his career with a 4.31 ERA. He still did a lot to get those teams to the mountain top in the regular season though.
He stayed in the Bay Area when the A’s traded him to the Giants in March 1978. He was traded for six other players (including Gary Thomasson and Dave Heaverlo) and cash. He pitched well during his years in San Francisco, including an 18-win season, but not like he pitched in Oakland. He was traded to the Royals in a deal involving Craig Champberlain, Atlee Hammaker, Renie Martin and Brad Wellman in 1982. The Royals would release him in 1982 and he would sign back with the Giants in 1985 after a year off.
Blue passed away on Sunday, May 6, 2023 at a Bay Area hospital. He died as a result of complications stemming from cancer.
The Score on Vida Blue – 7.0
Vida is one of those players that I really wish I had gotten to see play back in the day. There are a lot like that but from what I have heard he was a fun pitcher to watch. Whenever a player dies there’s always regret of not asking him to sign other things, but I’m happy that he signed these when he could. And I like that it shows each of the teams he played for in his career, but especially the A’s.
Rest in peace Mr. Blue. Condolences to your family and friends.
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Information gathered using Wikipedia and Baseball Reference.
He had a cool signature. Everything about him was cool.
I loved the quote I saw in the paper… something like “I just throw a baseball.”