Vida Blue, a flamethrowing left-hander who became the youngest MVP in AL/NL history in 1971 and helped the Athletics win three straight World Series championships from 1972-74, died on Saturday. He was 73.
https://www.mlb.com/news/vida-blue-dies-at-73?partnerID=mlbapp-android_article-share&fbclid=IwAR0ssMG20FWaLytE9F0uYSkBALgiIsqPx22xE61AwvOhfr9OxEIWnsRM3gM
Wow, there's a blast from the past. I remember him. RIP
QuoteBlue’s career took off in 1971, as he won the AL Cy Young and MVP Awards after going 24-8 with a 1.82 ERA and 301 strikeouts over 312 innings.
Not likely to ever see those stats again.
Always sad to hear of the passing of a one time outstanding athlete. In 1971 Vida was the talk of baseball and his passing, as was the case of so many other greats in recent years, leaves a little gap in our hearts. On the good news front yesterday Wilie Mays celebrated his 92nd Birthday. That should take a little of the sadness out of Vida's passing to see the Say Hey Kid still kicking along.
I remember Vida Blue well as I was really getting into baseball when he was coming through, and him being so young.