Before his fastball faded and spray hitters such as Ozzie Smith could pull it with power, the Cardinals saw the vintage Vida Blue, the one who, as Sports Illustrated noted, threw heat that “explodes in all directions.”
Blue was 28 when he came to the National League in a trade from the Athletics to the Giants in 1978. Though he would continue to pitch in the majors until 1986, his first year as a Giant was the last of his prominent seasons.
A left-hander who totaled 209 wins, Blue helped the Athletics win three World Series titles.
Rhapsody in Blue
Blue, 18, made his big-league debut with the Athletics on July 20, 1969. Two years later, he was the best pitcher in the American League, winning the Cy Young and Most Valuable Player awards. His numbers in 1971: 24-8 record, 1.82 ERA, 24 complete games, eight shutouts and 301 strikeouts in 312 innings.
“He throws harder than Sandy Koufax did,” Orioles slugger Boog Powell said to Sports Illustrated.
After Blue produced three seasons of 20 or more wins, Athletics owner Charlie Finley wanted to cash in on that success. In June 1976, he tried to trade Blue to the Yankees in exchange for $1.5 million, but baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn voided the deal, declaring he did so in the best interests of baseball. (At the same time, Kuhn also canceled Finley’s attempt to swap reliever Rollie Fingers and outfielder Joe Rudi to the Red Sox for $1 million apiece.)
A year later, in December 1977, Finley sent Blue to the Reds for $1.75 million and first baseman Dave Revering. “They call Cincinnati the Big Red Machine. Now they have to call it the Big Blue Machine,” Vida said to The Sporting News.
The Reds envisioned a starting rotation led by Blue and Tom Seaver, but Kuhn again voided the deal. Part of the reasoning for Kuhn’s decision is he said he didn’t think the Athletics were getting enough talent in return. (In his nine seasons with the Athletics, Blue had a 124-86 record and 2.95 ERA.)
Ace vs. Cards
Giants general manager Spec Richardson sensed an opportunity. On March 15, 1978, Blue was traded to the Giants for seven players and nearly $400,000 in cash. Kuhn had no objections.
Naturally, Blue’s Giants debut came against the Reds at Cincinnati and he was the losing pitcher. Boxscore
After that, he went on a roll, winning six in a row. Two of those wins came against the Cardinals.
Blue’s first appearance versus the Cardinals was on May 1, 1978, at St. Louis. He limited them to four hits through seven innings on a mere 57 pitches. Trailing 2-0, the Cardinals scored a run against him in the eighth, but Blue got the win with strong relief help from Randy Moffitt in the ninth. Boxscore
Two weeks later, Blue faced the Cardinals at San Francisco and pitched a complete game for the win. He also singled, walked and scored a run in the Giants’ 9-3 triumph. Boxscore
Blue made three starts against the 1978 Cardinals and was 3-0 with a 2.08 ERA. For the season, he was 18-10 with four shutouts and a 2.79 ERA.
The Padres’ Gaylord Perry (21-6, 2.73) was selected as the 1978 National League Cy Young Award recipient by the Baseball Writers Association of America, but Blue was named The Sporting News National League pitcher of the year in voting by the players.
Throughout the season, Blue was backed by the hitting of 22-year-old Jack Clark, who batted .306 and led the 1978 Giants in doubles (46), home runs (25), RBI (98) and runs scored (90).
Hard time
In an eight-year stretch from 1971 to 1978, Blue pitched 258 innings or more in seven of those seasons. He wouldn’t work that many again.
In 1979, he was 0-2 with a 4.84 ERA in three starts against the Cardinals. On Aug. 29 that year, he gave up a career-high 14 hits to the Cardinals. Tony Scott had four hits and scored twice in the 5-1 Cardinals triumph at San Francisco. George Hendrick, Blue’s former teammate with the Athletics, hit a home run. Boxscore
Cardinals first baseman Keith Hernandez told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, “That’s the slowest I’ve seen him throw.”
In March 1982, the Giants traded Blue to the Royals. A year later, he pleaded guilty to a cocaine possession charge and was sentenced to three months in federal prison. Kuhn suspended him for the 1984 season.
Blue returned to the Giants in 1985 and eventually joined a starting rotation with ex-Cardinal Dave LaPoint and Atlee Hammaker, one of the players acquired from the Royals in the Blue trade.
On July 10, 1985, at St. Louis, Blue started, gave up five runs in three innings and took the loss. With two outs in the second, Blue threw a waist-high fastball to Ozzie Smith, who yanked it over the wall in left for a two-run home run. “A terrible pitch,” Giants manager Jim Davenport told United Press International.
An inning later, Blue’s former teammate, Jack Clark, also launched a two-run homer. “He challenges you,” Clark told the Post-Dispatch. “He gives you the fastball.” (Clark produced four hits, including two home runs, in five career at-bats versus Blue.)
In 17 career appearances, including 12 starts, versus the Cardinals, Blue was 5-5 with a 5.36 ERA.
Ted Simmons hit .316 (12-for-38) against Blue. Those with high on-base percentages against him included Tommy Her (.500, with six hits and three walks in 18 plate appearances) and Keith Hernandez (.421, with 13 hits and three walks in 38 plate appearances).
RetroSimba 
In retrospect, the potential Revering trade wasn’t all that bad considering the handful of prospects the Giants gave the A’s turned out to be all a bunch of bush-leaguers. The A’s did end up acquiring Revering in a completely different trade and he was a pretty solid first-sacker in his 3 years in Oakland.
Another great write-up, Mark. I always enjoy doing a little sleuthing concerning your posts….and I found out that the bass player in my first punk band actually went to the same high school as Revering. (Bella Vista in FairOaks, Ca.–which is a suburb of Sacramento)
As singer and bass player Suzi Quatro said, “Guitar is for the head, drums are for the chest but bass gets you in the groin.”
Regarding Bella Vista High School, I thought you’d appreciate this from the May 19, 1971, Sacramento Bee: In a Capital Valley Tournament of Champions high school baseball game at Harry Renfree Field, Bella Vista beat Case Roble, 19-2. The batting star for Bella Vista, Dave Revering, had two towering first-inning triples and followed that with an inside-the-park grand slam in the third inning.
Among Revering’s big-league highlights were two home runs against the Brewers’ Rollie Fingers. On May 9, 1981, the Brewers led the A’s, 4-3, when Revering led off the bottom of the 8th for Oakland with a homer vs. Fingers. The A’s went on to win, 6-5, in 12 innings. On Aug. 21, 1982, Revering hit a two-run home run vs. Fingers in the bottom of the 9th for the Mariners vs. Milwaukee, but Fingers then retired Rick Sweet and Dave Henderson to seal a 3-2 Brewers win.
Without a doubt, Vida Blue was one of the best pitchers of his era. If not for his personal battles and struggles off the field, you can only wonder how much more success he might have experienced. I came across a couple of interesting articles that dealt with Vida Blue having a big impact on attendance figures during that incredible 1971 season. Speaking of the numbers that Vida Blue put up that year, I’d be curious to know what today’s new generation of pitching coaches would have to say. I find it almost humorous that then Commissioner Bowie Kuhn said OK to the A’s trading Vida Blue to the Giants. The Giants were just basically doing some house cleaning. Not one of those 7 players that they sent to Oakland made any significant contributions.
I appreciate all the good insights, Phillip.
Red Schoendienst was a coach on that 1978 A’s team that traded Vida Blue to the Giants in March 1978. Amazingly, the A’s got off to a splendid start that season under manager Bobby Winkles. They were 24-15 and in first place in the American League West Division on May 22, 1978, but then A’s owner Charlie Finley “got in the way and messed things up,” Schoendienst said in his autobiography.
When Finley couldn’t locate Winkles by phone during an off-day on May 22, he threw a tantrum, and Winkles quit rather than tolerate the abuse. According to Schoendienst, Finley then “wanted to know if I would take over as manager. There was no way I was going to manage for him.”
Jack McKeon replaced Winkles and the A’s nosedived, finishing 69-93.
Vida Blue’s popularity was the “Fernandomania” of 1971.
That’s a good point.
In 1981, when Fernando Valenzuela went on earn the National League Cy Young and Rookie of the Year awards, he and Vida Blue were the starting pitchers in a game at Candlestick Park on April 14. Valenzuela pitched a 4-hitter for the win as the Dodgers prevailed over the Giants, 7-1. Blue pitched 7.1 innings and gave up four runs.
Great write up Mark and extra special to me because I know so little about Vida Blue. Must have been a treat to live in the Bay Area when he was pitching for Oakland and then be disappointed to hear he had been traded, but then feeling euphoric to find out he’d been traded to the Giants.
Blue seems to have HOF worthy numbers.
To your point, Steve, Vida Blue has career numbers that are similar to his A’s teammate, Catfish Hunter, who was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Hunter record: 224-166 (.574 winning pct.)
Blue record: 209-161 (.565 winning pct.)
Hunter ERA: 3.26
Blue ERA: 3.27
Hunter shutouts: 42
Blue shutouts: 37
Hunter strikeouts: 2,012
Blue strikeouts: 2,175
Hunter innings pitched: 3,449.1
Blue innings pitched: 3,343.1
After the trade of Blue to the Giants, the San Francisco Examiner reported the reaction of A’s fans in Oakland was mixed. if he had to be traded, some said, they were glad it was to the Giants and not to the Reds so that they could still see him pitch. Others expected collusion by the owners of the 2 Bay Area clubs. The A’s at the time were reportedly trying to move to Denver and, if that happened, the Giants were considering playing half their home games in San Francisco and half in Oakland, the Examiner reported.
For sure, the Giants players were happy to have Blue on their side. After the trade, the Examiner reported, “To say there is joy in the Giants’ camp is to understate. The majority of players, particularly the pitchers, are close to being giddy about the Vida Blue trade.”
Definitely has the numbers for the HOF. Thanks for sharing those.
That 24-15 record for the A’s through May 21 in 1978 was quite misleading. Up to that time, they hadn’t played a game against the Brewers, Orioles, Yankees or Red Sox. I don’t think Bobby Winkles would have made a difference.
The 1978 Athletics finished 0-11 vs. the Orioles, 1-9 vs. the Brewers and 2-8 vs. the American League champion Yankees, but were 13-2 vs. the Mariners, who had the worst record in the league.
[…] was one of three top prep pitchers in north Louisiana in the late 1960s. The others: Vida Blue and J.R. Richard. McGlothen and Blue never started against one another, but McGlothen and Richard […]