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This article is about Vida Blue, the baseball pitcher. For information on the jam band of the same name, see Vida Blue (band).

Vida Rochelle Blue Jr. (born July 28, 1949, in Mansfield, Louisiana) is a former Major League Baseball left-handed starting pitcher. In his 17-year career, he played for the Oakland Athletics (1969-77), San Francisco Giants (1978-81, 1985-86), and Kansas City Royals (1982-83).

Blue had a 24-8 record in 1971; he also struck out 301 batters, winning both the Cy Young and MVP awards. He was the starting pitcher for the AL in the 1971 All-Star Game, and for the NL in the 1978 All-Star Game.

Blue won 20 games in 1973 as he led the A's to the World Championship that year. He won 22 games in 1975.

In 1976, baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn vetoed an attempt to sell Blue to the New York Yankees and in 1977, Kuhn cancelled an attempted trade of Blue to the Cincinnati Reds. In both instances, Kuhn said the trades would be bad for baseball because they would have benefitted already powerful teams without making them give up any significant talent in return.

In 1978, he won 18 games as he led the Giants to 83 wins as they battled all year for the National League West Division which was won that year by the Los Angeles Dodgers. His great year was rewarded as he won the Sporting News National League Pitcher Of The Year.

Blue also made a name and career after baseball for himself in the San Francisco Bay Area by donating his time to many charitable causes, mostly promoting baseball in the inner city.

Blue battled drug addiction over the course of baseball career. After the 1983 season, he and former teammates, Willie Wilson, Jerry Martin and Willie Aikens, pleaded guilty to attempting to purchase cocaine. In 1985, he testified in the scandalous Pittsburgh drug trials.

Contents 1 Trivia 2 Career statistics 3 See also 4 External link

• Vida Blue is the answer to a classic trick question in trivia circles. He is technically the last switch hitter to win the American League MVP award. Obviously, however, he won not for his .118 batting average but for his 24-8 record, 1.82 ERA and 301 strikeouts.
• He was the last player before Ichiro Suzuki to wear his given name on the back of his uniform instead of his surname, having done so with the Giants.
• The infamous owner of the A's, Charlie O. Finley, offered the 18 year-old Blue $10,000 to change his name to "True" Blue. Blue declined, stating that his given name, Vida, meant "life," and that his mother was fond of it.

Games: 502

Games Started: 479

Wins: 209

Losses: 161

Winning %: .565 (56.5 %)

Earned Run Average (ERA): 3.27

Strikeouts: 2,175

Complete games: 143

Shutouts: 37

All-Star appearances: 5

In his 1971 MVP and Cy Young-winning season, his best, he collected these stats:

24 wins

8 losses

1.89 ERA

301 strikeouts

24 Complete games

8 Shutouts

"On July 9, 1971 the Oakland Athletics' Vida Blue tossed the longest shutout in American League history during a twenty inning, 1-0 triumph over the Anaheim Angels. The A's ace fanned seventeen batters in eleven innings" -baseball almanac

Blue also led the league with the lowest ERA in the American league and the most shutouts in the American League

• Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame

• Baseball-Reference.com - career statistics and analysis

Preceded by Jim Perry

American League Cy Young Award 1971

Succeeded by Gaylord Perry

Preceded by Boog Powell

American League Most Valuable Player 1971

Succeeded by Dick Allen