VIDA BLUE

As a child in the 1980's I would go to Candlestick Park and watch a late-30s Vida Blue. Looking back, I can still picture his powerful windup. If that's what he was doing as an older player, what did his heat look like when he was twenty-one? Viewing his career is an exercise in tragedy. The question boils down to "what would have been if?" The man who was named Vida by his parents after the Spanish word for life certainly lead La Vida Loca.

Vida was signed by the Athletics at the age of nineteen. An excellent high school athlete in Louisiana, he turned down a chance to be a college quarterback. He was called up for four starts in 1969. The next year he hit his stride. He was called up by the A's late in the season, and a few days later went the distance, one-hitting the Royals. Ten days later he would no-hit the Twins, only a walk to Harmon Killebrew spoiling the perfecto. At the tender age of twenty, he was a foe to be reckoned with.

Then came 1971. At 24-8 with a league-leading 1.82 ERA, 301 strikeouts and 8 shut-outs, Vida won not only the Cy Yound Award, but also the MVP. Who was the last switch-hitter to win MVP? Our friend Vida. He also went to the All Star Game and was the winning pitcher. However, there was trouble in paradise. Blue's salary for that amazing season was a paltry $14,700.

The next year Blue held out, hoping to get more money out of penny-pinching Charlie Finley. He didn't suit up until May, and then only after Commissioner Bowie Kuhn got involved with the contract negotiations. After his bitter dispute, Vida signed for $63,000. His 1972 season was a complete loss. Many factors were involved in this crash. Even this early in his career, Vida was dabbling with drugs. Also, the A's had torched his arm the year before. He had pitched in 312 inning in 1971, including a mid-season start where he struck out 17 in 11 innings. That kind of wear-and-tear can be a disaster to a young arm. The modern-day posterboy for pitcher abuse, Kerry Wood, blew out his arm at roughly the same age in a season where he pitched fewer than 170 innings. Blue finished at 6-10 as his teammates won the first of their three-peat World Series titles.

Vida was a big contributor to the A's dynasty of the early 1970's. 20 wins in 1973, 17 in 1974 and 22 in 1975. But the landscape of baseball had changed. Free agency was now put into the equation, and Charlie Finley, knowing that he couldn't re-sign his big stars, decided to sell them to the highest bidder. First Finley sold Blue to the Yankees for $1.5M, only to have the trade voided by Kuhn as "not in the best interest of baseball." Then he was traded to the Reds, the major component being a payment of $1.75M. Again, Kuhn vetoed the sale. Finally he was sent across the bay to San Francisco in 1978. He enjoyed a good year with the Giants, going 18-10 with a 2.79 ERA, and became the first pitcher to start for each league in the All Star Game.

Blue faded in his early 30s, and was traded to Kansas City. There his career hit rock bottom. After the 1983 season, he and several teammates pleaded guilty to cocaine charges. He figured that he would only get community service, but this was Missouri, and he got jail time. Kuhn again played a role in Vida's careeer, the commissioner suspended Blue for the entire 1984 season.

Vida found work with the Giants when he was allowed to return to baseball. At the age of 35 he was able to post an 8-8 record on a team that lost 100 games. In 1986 he went 10-10 and notched his 200th win. He was supposed to rejoin Reggie Jackson in Oakland, but retired abruptly during spring training in 1987. Rumors of a failed drug test circled around the media.

On fan appreciation day in 1989, Vida was married at Candlestick Park. Orlando Cepeda gave away the bride and Willie McCovey was the best man. Over 50,000 fans thanked Vida for years of entertainment.

Compare Vida to some other smoke-throwers who were felled by substance abuse: