Legendary Athletics & Giants Pitcher Vida Blue Passes Away; At Age 73
Vida Blue passed away at the age of 73.
At the age of 73, Vida Blue passed away on Saturday night. He was a renowned starting pitcher for the Oakland Athletics and San Francisco Giants and a former NBC Sports Bay Area TV analyst.
On Sunday morning, the A’s issued the following statement and produced a video in memory of Blue:
Dave Stewart, a former pitcher for the A’s, expressed his sorrow over losing his “mentor, hero, and friend.”
The Giants also released a statement lamenting Blue’s demise.
Blue, a native of Louisiana, was selected by the Kansas City A’s in the 1967 amateur draft. One year after the team relocated to Oakland, he made his Major League Baseball debut.
After having a 24-8 record, an MLB-best 1.82 ERA, and 301 strikeouts in 312 innings, Blue developed into a pillar for the A’s in 1971, capturing the American League MVP Award and his sole Cy Young Award.
Blue contributed to the A’s winning three consecutive World Series titles in 1972, 1973, and 1974 as Oakland put together one of the sports’ most powerful teams.
In exchange for seven players and $300,000, Blue was moved to the Giants in 1978 after beginning his MLB career with the A’s for the first nine seasons. He played in San Francisco for the following four seasons, earning three National League All-Star teams.
Before the 1982 season, the Giants traded Blue to the Kansas City Royals, where he played through the 1983 campaign before missing the 1984 campaign due to a drug problem. Blue spent his final two MLB seasons with the Giants the following year.
Along with previous owner Walter A. Haas, Jr., Bert Campaneris, Mark McGwire, and Tony La Russa, Blue was inducted into the A’s Hall of Fame in 2019 as a second-class member.
Blue, a six-time All-Star selection in MLB, has a 3.27 ERA in 17 seasons and 502 total appearances while striking out 2,175 batters.
