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1971 MLB AL Cy Young Award winner Vida Blue biography
The 1971 AL Cy Young Award went to Vida Blue of the Oakland Athletics. The left-handed pitcher also won the MVP that year. Only one other starting pitcher, Roger Clemens in 1986, has since won both awards in the same year.
Blue was born and raised in Mansfield, Louisiana. He was the oldest of six children and his father worked as a laborer in an iron foundry. Blue played quarterback for the football team and pitcher for the baseball team. He excelled at both sports and earned several offers to play college football. Shortly after the sudden death of his father, though, he decided to play baseball and signed a contract with the Oakland A's.
The A's called Blue up in 1970 after he had spent a year in the minor leagues with the Iowa Oaks of the American Association. In just two starts, he gave A's fans a lot to be excited about in the coming seasons. He shut out the Kansas City Royals 3-0 in his first start, giving up only one hit. He no-hit the Minnesota Twins ten days later in a 6-0 home victory. He narrowly missed a perfect game, with the lone baserunner being Harmon Killebrew who walked in the fourth inning.
The 1971 season would be Blue's first full major league season and he picked up right where he left off. He ended up with a 24-8 record and he led the AL in several areas: complete games (24), shutouts (8), and ERA (1.82). For his accomplishments, he won both the AL Cy Young and the MVP Award and started in the 1971 All-Star Game. He was the youngest AL player in the 20th century to win an MVP Award.
Blue's individual success in 1971 translated to team success. The A's won the AL West title for the franchise's first postseason berth since the 1931 World Series when they were the Philadelphia Athletics. They would eventually lose to the Baltimore Orioles who would subsequently lose to the Roberto Clemente-led Pittsburgh Pirates in the World Series.
After losing in the playoffs in 1971, Blue and the A's weren't done yet. They would go on to win the next three straight World Series titles from 1972 to 1974 and four straight AL West pennants. Blue won 20 games in 1973, 17 games in 1974, and 22 games in 1975.
Oakland's heyday would come to an end, however, with baseball's new free agency. Almost all of their best players from the championship teams left or were traded off by owner Charlie Finley. In 1977, Blue remained with the A's to help mentor a team mainly made up of rookies and young players. He left Oakland in 1978 when he was traded to another Bay Area team, the San Francisco Giants.
In his first season with his new team, Blue was dominant. He won 18 games and won the Sporting News NL Pitcher of the Year. He also started for the NL in the All-Star game that season.
Blue stayed with San Francisco until 1982. From 1982 to 1983, he played for the Kansas City Royals. He returned to the Giants in 1985 and stayed there until his retirement in 1986.
Blue still lives in San Francisco. He works for many charitable causes and promotes baseball in the inner city.
About the Author
James Jackson writes reviews on various sporting events including the different sportsbook websites. In this piece of write up the author highlights on some of legends of MLB and MLB Betting odds.The author also takes the readers thought on how to bet on baseball.
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