RetroSimba

(Updated Oct. 6, 2019)

Bert Blyleven usually pitched impressively against the Cardinals, but that didn’t always translate into wins for him.

Blyleven, elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame on Jan. 5, 2011, was 4-2 with a 2.84 ERA against the Cardinals while he was with the Pirates from 1978-80.

He also started twice for the Twins against the Cardinals in the 1987 World Series, winning Game 2 and losing Game 5.

In a 2019 edition of the Baseball Hall of Fame magazine, “Memories and Dreams,” Blyleven credited former Cardinals reliever Marv Grissom with helping him become a better pitcher. Grissom was pitching coach of the Twins in 1970 when Blyleven was a rookie.

“I threw across my body really bad,” Blyleven said. “(Grissom) actually put a folding chair down and I had to step to the left of that folding chair. That really changed my delivery to where my body went toward home plate rather than recoiling.

“I did ask him at one time, ‘What if I land on that folding chair with my left foot?’ He said, ‘Well, you’ll break your neck, won’t you?’ So that was the way for him to get me to open up and utilize the lower part of my body and my pitching delivery.”

Blyleven twice beat the Cardinals on complete-game five-hitters for the Pirates _ a 7-1 win at Pittsburgh on Sept. 13, 1978, Boxscore and a 2-1 win at St. Louis on Sept. 11, 1980. Boxscore

Blyleven also lost twice to the Cardinals in April 1980 despite pitching well. That stretch also contributed to one of the most controversial incidents of his career.

On Opening Day, April 10, 1980, at Busch Stadium, Blyleven started and held the Cardinals to a run (a George Hendrick RBI-double) and two hits in five innings. Cardinals starter Pete Vuckovich was better, pitching a complete-game three-hit shutout for a 1-0 win. In the ninth, Pittsburgh had runners on second and third with no outs, but Vuckovich finished with a flair, striking out Tim Foli, Dave Parker and Willie Stargell. Boxscore

Nine days later, at Pittsburgh, Blyleven faced the Cardinals again and struck out 12 in seven innings before being lifted for a pinch hitter with the score 1-1. In the eighth, the Cardinals scored (a Hendrick RBI-single) off reliever Dave Roberts and won, 2-1. Though Blyleven didn’t get the loss, he was deprived of a win despite a dominant performance. Boxscore

Blyleven then faced Montreal twice without a decision. After five starts, including the two against St. Louis, Blyleven was 0-2 with no complete games for the defending World Series champions.

On April 30, 1980, he quit the team, went home to California and demanded a trade, complaining that manager Chuck Tanner was lifting him from games too quickly.

In an article by Charley Feeney in the May 17, 1980, edition of The Sporting News, Blyleven said he told Pirates executive Pete Peterson he would retire if the Pirates didn’t trade him. Blyleven said Tanner “took a lot of competitiveness away from me” and blamed the manager for “non-support and lack of confidence.”

“I felt I had to speak up,” Blyleven said. “If I didn’t, maybe 20 years from now I’d be wishing that I had spoken up. Maybe 20 years from now I’ll wish I hadn’t spoken up.”

Said Pirates third baseman Bill Madlock: “I can understand a lot of things about ballplayers, but going home … I don’t know why he did that.”

The Yankees reportedly offered to trade pitcher Ed Figueroa for Blyleven but the Pirates declined. Blyleven was placed on the disqualified list.

Bill Conlin, a columnist for The Sporting News, wrote, “Blyleven’s incredible sulk is sending shock waves through National League front offices.” Conlin quoted an unnamed big-league general manager as saying, “I don’t think I’d want a player who so obviously places individual goals over team goals.”

On May 11, 1980, Blyleven offered to return and the Pirates reactivated him. Two days later, Blyleven started against the Giants, pitched a complete game _ and lost, 5-0. Boxscore

In the 1987 World Series, Blyleven had a solid start in Game 2, striking out eight, holding St. Louis to two runs in seven innings and earning the win in an 8-4 Twins victory. Boxscore In the fifth, Cardinals manager Whitey Herzog complained to umpires that Blyleven was balking by not coming to a full stop in his motion. Blyleven said Herzog was “trying to get something in my mind.”

In Game 5 at St. Louis, Blyleven held St. Louis scoreless through five innings. In the sixth, the Cardinals scored three runs off Blyleven (two on Curt Ford’s two-out bases-loaded single) and won, 4-2. Boxscore