The trade that landed him in Pittsburgh was a blockbuster that included four teams (Texas Rangers, Pirates, Atlanta Braves and New York Mets), and icluded the likes of Al Oliver, Jon Matlack and Willie Montanez.
All told there were 10 players traded involved this transaction, and definitely paid quick dividends for the Bucs, as they’d go on to win the World Series the very next year, beating the Baltimore Orioles for their second championship of the decade.
Blyleven would go on to pitch another 12 years before retiring with 287 wins, 3701 strikeouts and a very nice 3.31 earned run average with 60 shutouts over 692 games, almost all of them starts.
Yet he was denied entry into Cooperstown until his 14th year of eligibility!
I can never figure out these BBWA voters, even if I live to be 1000...
