Here
was a fun card to create, a 1971 card celebrating the “arrival” of a
young Oakland A’s pitcher named Vida Blue, who no-hit a very good
Minnesota Twins line-up on September 21st, 1970:
Blue struck out nine with only one walk, facing the minimum 27 batters
in his gem, giving him a 2-0 record with a 2.28 earned run average with
the 6-0 win.
The offense supplied was pretty much all by lead-ff hitter Bert
Campaneris, who went 2-for-5 with three RBIs, all on a three-run homer
off Twins starter Jim Perry in the 8th inning.
Of course- we all know that the 21-year old lefty was just getting
started, as he would take over the Majors the following season, going on
to not only win the Cy Young Award, but take the league MVP Award as
well with a 24-8 showing, along with a 1.82 earned run average and eight
shutouts, with 301 strikeouts as the A’s were just about to become a
three-peat world champion dynasty.
Blue would go on to six All-Star games, starting and winning one in each
league, and eventually retire with 209 wins and a 3.27 ERA with 37
shutouts, posting three 20-win seasons over his 17-year career.
A true icon of 1970’s baseball.