1981 DRAKES BIG PITCHERS: BERT BLYLEVEN

Good day all!

On the blog today we move along with my recent 1981 "Drakes Big Pitchers" custom set release and spotlight my card for Hall of Fame pitcher Bert Blyleven:

Born in Zeist, Holland (now the Netherlands), Blyleven started his 22-year career in 1970 with the Twins and quickly established himself among the best pitchers in baseball.
During his great MLB run, he posted 17 seasons of 10+ victories, with a high of 20 in 1973, along with eight 200+ strikeout campaigns and nine with a 2.99 ERA or lower.
By the time the prankster retired after the 1992 season, he finished with 287 wins, a 3.31 ERA, 60 career shutouts and 3701 strikeouts over 692 games and 4970 innings pitched.
After having to wait 14 years, the BBWA finally voted him into the Hall of Fame in 2011, finally claiming a spot which he rightfully deserved.

Great baseball lifer on the field and in the broadcast booth!

 

WTHBALLS GUM PACK CUSTOM SET: BERT BLYLEVEN

Hello all!

Time to go ahead and take a look at my mini card for the great Bert Blyleven, Hall of Fame pitcher and longtime broadcaster, from my "Gum Pack" special custom set released in 2022 if memory serves:

Nice shot of the man from the first stretch of his Major league career with the Minnesota Twins.

Born in Zeist, Holland (now the Netherlands), Blyleven started his 22-year career in 1970 with the Twins and quickly established himself among the best pitchers in baseball.
During his great MLB run, he posted 17 seasons of 10+ victories, with a high of 20 in 1973, along with eight 200+ strikeout campaigns and nine with a 2.99 ERA or lower.
By the time the prankster retired after the 1992 season, he finished with 287 wins, a 3.31 ERA, 60 career shutouts and 3701 strikeouts over 692 games and 4970 innings pitched.
After having to wait 14 years, the BBWA finally voted him into the Hall of Fame in 2011, finally claiming a spot which he rightfully deserved.

Great baseball lifer on the field and in the broadcast booth!

 

REVISITING A POST FROM 2015: MISSING IN ACTION "IN-ACTION" 1972 BERT BLYLEVEN

Today we'll revisit a post from 2015, my "missing" 1972 In-Action card for Hall of Fame pitcher Bert Blyleven, part of a fun thread I hope to have printed up as a stand-alone set in the future:

Here's the original post from way back when:

Blyleven just put in his first true full season in 1971 after a solid rookie year the season before, posting a 16-15 record with a 2.81 earned run average and 224 strikeouts.

Turns out it would be the first of six consecutive 200+ strikeout seasons, as well as eight consecutive years of a sub-3.03 E.R.A.

By the time he retired after the 1992 season, he stood at 287-250, with a 3.31 E.R.A., 60 shutouts and 3701 strikeouts over 692 games, 685 of which were starts.

Often overshadowed during the pitching-rich 1970's by guys like Seaver, Carlton and Palmer, Blyleven would have to wait until his 14th year of Cooperstown eligibility before being voted in by the BBWA in 2011.

I just always loved the guy for his pranks, his outspoken personality and the fact that when I was a kid I was mesmerized by the fact that he was born in Holland, something which was unique on the back of a baseball card.

 

EXPANDED LEAGUE LEADER: 1978 A.L. E.R.A.

On the blog today, we move on to the American League and the top three pitchers in regards to earned run average for the 1977 season, displayed on an “expanded league leader” card:

 

We begin with young power-pitching stud Frank Tanana, who was building an impressive career in just a couple of seasons in the Big Leagues, leading the American League with his 2.54 ERA for the California Angels.

Still only 23 years of age, the man was already a strikeout king in 1975 with his 269 K’s, a 19-game winner the following year, and now an ERA leader along with a league-leading seven shutouts in 1977.

He’d continue this into 1978 when he posted 18 wins, though his strikeouts decreased from 205 in 1977 to 137, a sign of things to come.

In 1979 he’d appear in only 18 games, with arm trouble settling in, but he managed to successfully turn his pitching style into one of “pitcher” instead of “flamethrower”, incredibly putting in another 15 years in the Major Leagues, retiring in 1993 with 240 wins and 2773 K’s, along with 34 shutouts over 638 games.

In second place with a 2.72 ERA in 1977, a pitcher who seemed to be in second place in many categories over the decade, Hall of Famer Bert Blyleven, who put in another “typical” Blyleven-esque season with 14 wins, five shutouts and 182 strikeouts, the first time he didn’t reach 200 in over seven years.

Another absolute stud from that era who was grossly overlooked, thanks in part because of pitching at the same time as guys named “Seaver”, “Palmer” and “Carlton”, among many others.

Blyleven also pitched more than 20 years in the Majors, finishing up in 1992 after 22 years, with 287 wins and 3701 strikeouts, along with 60 shutouts and a very nice 3.31 ERA.

In third place with a 2.77 ERA in 1977, yet ANOTHER pitcher who played for over 20 years, the great Nolan Ryan, who put in a staggering 27 seasons under the Big League sun!

His 1977 season was another successful one for the “Ryan Express”, posting 19 wins along with a league-leading 22 complete games and 341 strikeouts, giving him a third place finish in the Cy Young race, one of three such finishes over the course of his career.

By the time he was done in 1993, all he did was post 324 wins over 807 appearances, with a 3.19 ERA and 61 shutouts, with an astronomical 5714 strikeouts over 5386 innings. Just insane.

What a trio of pitchers here! Perhaps a record for total number of years shown on a three-panel card!

1975 IN-ACTION: BERT BLYLEVEN

Been a while since I created a new 1975 "In-Action" card, so I went ahead and created one for Hall of Fame pitcher Bert Blyleven to add to my long-running thread:

 

Blyleven was already five years into his Big League career, and still only 24 years old entering the 1975 season, topping 200 strikeouts four times, four seasons of 16+ wins and four of sub-3.00 ERA's.

1975 would be more of the same, as he'd post 15 wins with an even 3.00 ERA and 233 strikeouts, completing 20 of his 35 starts.

Born in Zeist, Holland (now the Netherlands), Blyleven started his 22-year career in 1970 with the Minnesota Twins and quickly established himself among the best pitchers in baseball.
During his great MLB run, he posted 17 seasons of 10+ victories, with a high of 20 in 1973, along with eight 200+ strikeout campaigns and nine with a 2.99 ERA or lower.
By the time the prankster retired after the 1992 season, he finished with 287 wins, a 3.31 ERA, 60 career shutouts and 3701 strikeouts over 692 games and 4970 innings pitched.
After having to wait 14 years, the BBWA finally voted him into the Hall of Fame in 2011, finally claiming a spot which he rightfully deserved.

EXPANDED LEAGUE LEADERS- 1977 A.L. STRIKEOUTS

Next up in my on-going "expanded league leaders" thread, the 1977 card celebrating the top three American League strikeout pitchers of 1976:

 

Of course, if we're talking strikeouts during the decade of the 1970's, we talk about the great Nolan Ryan of the California Angels, who led the league once again with his 327 K's.

It was the fourth time he topped the magic "300" in five seasons, all league leading totals, while also topping the league with his seven shutouts, while also ironically leading the league with 18 losses against 17 wins, with a 3.36 earned run average.

The man was a machine in his prime, and would go on to lead his league in strikeouts another seven times before he was done some 17 years later at the age of 46!

Behind him with 261 strikeouts, his teammate and the league leader in 1975, Frank Tanana, who put together another wonderful year, going 19-10 with a 2.43 ERA over 34 starts, with two shutouts and 23 complete games with 288 innings of work.

Those numbers got him a third place finish in the Cy Young race by the end of the season, while making his first All-Star team, something he'd do in the successive two seasons.

By the time HE was done in his Major League career, he'd have 2773 strikeouts and 240 wins over 21 seasons, reinventing himself from "power" pitcher to "professional" pitcher after injuries almost derailed him in the late 1970's.

In third place with 219 K's, Hall of Famer Bert Blyleven, who split the season between the Minnesota Twins and Texas Rangers.

It was the sixth consecutive year he topped 200 strikeouts, while posting a record of 13-16 over 36 starts, with six shutouts and 18 complete games.

By the time he hung them up in 1992 at the age of 41, he'd finish with 3701 K's with 287 wins and 60 shutouts, enough to get him into Cooperstown, albeit many years later in 2011.

EXPANDED LEAGUE LEADERS- 1975 A.L. STRIKEOUTS

On the blog today, we move on to the American League and their top three strikeout pitchers of 1974, proudly displayed on a 1975 “Expanded League Leader” card, and boy are they some heavy duty arms:

 

 

The first of the three Hall of Fame pitchers is the top K-man of 1974, legend Nolan Ryan of course, who topped the Junior Circuit with 367 strikeouts, following up his historic 1973 season when he set the (still) standing Major League record of 383 K’s.

I mean, the man did this EVEN with the introduction of the Designated Hitter! Can we theoretically add about 10-20 more strikeouts per season for the man had he also faced pitchers batting in the ninth spot? Could he have reached 400 strikeouts in 1973? Just staggering.

Almost 120 strikeouts behind Ryan for second place, another Hall of Famer, Bert Blyleven of the Minnesota twins, who STILL managed to whiff a very nice 249 batters in 1974.

It was his fourth straight season of 200+ K’s, on his way to eight such seasons before he was done in 1992, finishing up with 3701 strikeouts over his incredible career.

In third place, another legend, who had no problem adjusting to a new league, Hall of Famer Fergie Jenkins, who made the most of his first season with the Texas Rangers after coming over in a blockbuster trade from the Chicago Cubs, striking out 225 batters while also tying for the league lead with 25 wins, his seventh and final 20+ win season of his amazing career. It was also his last season with 200+ K’s, the sixth of his career, on his way to 3192 strikeouts, while also becoming the first pitcher to ever finish his career with 3000+ strikeouts with LESS than 1000 base on balls, in his case just under the mark with 997.

Three of the era’s best pitchers on one nifty “expanded league leader” card right here!

EXPANDED LEAGUE LEADERS-: 1974 A.L. STRIKEOUTS

The next card in line in my on-going "expanded league leaders" sub-set is the A.L. 1974 strikeout leaders card:

 

Of course we begin with the great Nolan Ryan and his record breaking 1973 campaign, when he broke the MLB strikeout record by one, with 383 K's.

Ryan was beginning his insane run at the record books, reaching 300+ strikeouts for the second straight year, in what would be five times out of six seasons between 1972 and 1977.

In addition to the strikeouts, he reached 20 wins for the first time in his career with 21, while posting a 2.87 ERA and four shutouts over 41 appearances, 39 of those starts.

Behind him with 258 strikeouts is another future Hall of Famer, Minnesota Twins ace Bert Blyleven, who reached 200+ K's for the third of what would be six seasons between 1971 and 1976.

Blyleven also reached 20 wins, the only time he would do so over his long career, tossing a league-leading nine shouts and posting an ERA of 2.52 over 40 starts.

Incredibly, after his 1976 season, he wouldn't reach 200-K's again until 1985 when he'd lead the A.L. with 206 in a season split between the Cleveland Indians and Minnesota Twins.

In third place in the American League with 241 strikeouts in 1973, is another California Angels pitcher, Bill Singer, who had a great first season with his new team.

Coming over from the Los Angeles Dodgers, Singer posted his second 20-win season, going 20-14 over 40 starts, with a 3.22 ERA and two shutouts, and helping set a new Major League record for strikeouts by teammates with Nolan Ryan, an astounding 624 between the two.

The record would stand until almost 30-years later when two dudes by the name of Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling would seemingly strike everyone out in 2001, reaching 665 K's between them.

Well there you have it! The three top strikeout pitchers in the American League for 1973, expanded on a 1974 League Leader card.

EXPANDED LEAGUE LEADERS: 1974 A.L. EARNED RUN AVERAGE

Up on the blog today, we move on to the American League and their top 1973 E.R.A. trio, featuring a couple of Hall of Famers and a nice surprise starter:

 

We begin with the Baltimore Orioles Jim Palmer, who took home the first of his two career E.R.A. crowns with a 2.40 finish for 1973.

It was also the year he took home the first of his three Cy Young Awards, finishing 22-9 with six shutouts, 19 complete games and 158 strikeouts, even picking up a save along the way.

It was the fourth of what would be an incredible eight 20-win seasons for the ace, eventually finishing with 268 wins over 19 seasons, with those three Cy Young Awards, four Gold Gloves, and five other top-5 finishes in the Cy Young race.

Right behind him with a 2.52 E.R.A. is Hall of Famer Bert Blyleven, who led the American League with nine shutouts in 1973, as he would finish with a record of 20-17, the only 20-win season of his long career, while striking out 258 batters, the third 200 of what would be eight 200-strikeout seasons in his career.

For Blyleven, he'd win 287 games, toss 60 shutouts, and strikeout 3701 batters over 22 years, but STILL had to wait a while before getting the Cooperstown nod to the Hall of Fame. Just ridiculous.

In third place with a nice 2.75 E.R.A. is Boston Red Sox starter Bill Lee, who had himself a very nice first season as a Big League Starter in 1973 when he posted a record of 17-11 over 38 appearances, 33 of them starts, tossing a shutouts while striking out 120 batters, making his only All-Star team as well.

Lee would put together three straight 17-win seasons for Boston between 1973 and 1975, completing 18, 16 and 17 games respectively before arm issues derailed his career.

Aside from 10 wins for Boston in 1978 and 16 for the Montreal Expos in 1979, Lee wouldn't reach double-digit wins again in his career over the last seven years of his career.

He'd retire with a record of 119 and 90, along with an E.R.A. of 3.62 over 416 appearances between 1969 and 1982, throwing 10 shutouts, saving 19, and striking out 713 over 1944.1 innings.

Now onto the Major League Wins leaders! See you next time!

1976 TRADED- BERT BLYLEVEN

Time to go an add future Hall of Famer Bert Blyleven to the long-running “traded” thread on the blog with a 1976 edition, marking his move from the Minnesota Twins to the Texas Rangers as part of a blockbuster six-player trade that also included $250,000:

Blyleven was sent packing along with Danny Thompson to the Rangers for a package of Mike Cubbage, Jim Gideon, Bill Singer and Roy Smalley along with $250,000 on June 1st of 1976.
Before the trade he was 4-5 with a 3.12 earned run average over 12 starts, and would go on to post a record of 9-11 with Texas, starting 24 games and completing 14 of them with six shutouts.
He’d finish the combined season with over 200 strikeouts, the sixth straight season doing so, along with a very nice 2.87 ERA over 297.2 innings of work.
Of course, little did anyone realize that the man would go on to pitch another 16 years in the Majors, finishing up with 287 wins, 60 shutouts and 3701 strikeouts, which at the time of his retirement was third all-time.
I’m still amazed that it took BBWA so many years for them to select him for Hall of Fame enshrinement considering his career numbers, produced for generally bad teams.
His post season numbers were even better, going 5-1 over eight games with an ERA of 2.47, with 36 strike outs in 47.1 innings pitched with only eight walks allowed.
“The Frying Dutchman”!

NO-HITTERS SPECIAL SUB-SET: BERT BLYLEVEN. SEPTEMBER 22ND, 1977

The next no-hitter profiled in the long-running thread is the second consecutive gem tossed by a future Hall of Famer, this time it’s Bert Blyleven of the Texas Rangers, who held the California Angels hitless on September 22nd, 1977, winning 6-0:

Blyleven faced the minimum 27 batters that day, allowing only a walk to pinch-hitter Carlos May, while shortstop Bert Campaneris committed an error that was quickly erased by an Andy Etchebarren double-play.
In just two hours and seven minutes, the “Frying Dutchman” struck out seven on his way to improving his record to 14-12 while lowering his ERA to 2.72 on the season.
Sadly, only 8031 fans were on hand to see the gem on that Thursday night at Anaheim Stadium, due in part to the Angels record of 72-79 at that point, while the Rangers improved to a 86-67 record, though still 10.5 games behind the division leading Kansas City Royals, who would steam-roll to the West title and a meeting with the defending American League champion New York Yankees.
As for Blyleven, he finished the season with that 14-12 record as well as “only” 182 strikeouts, the first time he didn’t top 200 K’s since his rookie year of 1970.
Nevertheless, he’d go on to collect 3701 strikeouts over his HOF career, along with 287 wins, 60 shutouts and a very nice 3.31 ERA in 22 years.

NICKNAMES OF THE 1970'S: THE "FRYING DUTCHMAN" BERT BLYLEVEN

Here’s a great nickname in my ongoing “nicknames of the ‘70’s” thread, the “Frying Dutchman” for Hall of Fame pitcher Bert Blyleven:

Born in Zeist, Holland (now the Netherlands), Blyleven started his 22-year career in 1970 with the Minnesota Twins and quickly established himself among the best pitchers in baseball.
During his great MLB run, he posted 17 seasons of 10+ victories, with a high of 20 in 1973, along with eight 200+ strikeout campaigns and nine with a 2.99 ERA or lower.
By the time the prankster retired after the 1992 season, he finished with 287 wins, a 3.31 ERA, 60 career shutouts and 3701 strikeouts over 692 games and 4970 innings pitched.
After having to wait 14 years, the BBWA finally voted him into the Hall of Fame in 2011, finally claiming a spot which he rightfully deserved.

TRADED- 1978 BERT BLYLEVEN

Here’s a “Traded” card for future Hall of Fame pitcher Bert Blyleven, who was smack in the middle of his storied career:

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...

MISSING IN ACTION-"IN ACTION" #23: 1972 BERT BLYLEVEN

Here's a missing 1972 "In Action" card for future Hall of Fame pitcher Bert Blyleven, who was just starting out his excellent Major League career:

Blyleven just put in his first true full season in 1971 after a solid rookie year the season before, posting a 16-15 record with a 2.81 earned run average and 224 strikeouts.

Turns out it would be the first of six consecutive 200+ strikeout seasons, as well as eight consecutive years of a sub-3.03 E.R.A.

By the time he retired after the 1992 season, he stood at 287-250, with a 3.31 E.R.A., 60 shutouts and 3701 strikeouts over 692 games, 685 of which were starts.

Often overshadowed during the pitching-rich 1970's by guys like Seaver, Carlton and Palmer, Blyleven would have to wait until his 14th year of Cooperstown eligibility before being voted in by the BBWA in 2011.

I just always loved the guy for his pranks, his outspoken personality and the fact that when I was a kid I was mesmerized by the fact that he was born in Holland, something which was unique on the back of a baseball card.