12 Days of Twinsmas: #5 Bert Blyleven

A New Generation
Bert Blyleven had a busy childhood before his family settled in for good in California when he was five. He was born in the Netherlands, moved to California, then Canada, and then back to California, where he became a baseball fan. He and his father watched Sandy Koufax and listened to legends Vin Scully and Jerry Doggett announce Dodgers games. He loved baseball so much that his dad built him a mound in the backyard where he would throw and throw until he developed his curveball. 

Blyleven attended Santiago High School, where he played baseball and ran track. He also played on local American Legion teams in the summers.

He had a natural arm and worked hard to improve where needed. His arm and attitude were drawing the attention of professional scouts by the end of his junior year of high school. In his senior year, he knew playing in the majors was just a matter of which team would take him in the draft. 

The Big Move
The Twins didn't waste time picking up Blyleven right out of high school. He was drafted 55th overall in round three of the 1969 draft. 

As a non-roster invite to spring training in 1970, team skipper Bill Rigney immediately saw something special in the teenager, and it didn't take long before Blyleven came to the majors. 

Early that season, Twins right-hander Luis Tiant was sidelined with a hand fracture. Management decided it was time for Bert Blyleven, at the age of 19 and with a mere 21 starts in the minors, to come up the majors. He never left

On June 5, 1970, Blyleven debuted against the Washington Senators at RFK Stadium. In his MLB debut, he had a stellar game. He started out a little rocky when his first batter faced, Lee Maye, drilled a homer into the right-field seats. That run was all Blyleven allowed. He held the Senators to one run and five hits and earned his first win. 

In his rookie season, Blyleven broke many records. He was the first player in major-league history to be born in The Netherlands. Blyleven was the youngest player in the majors (19) to finish with a 10-9 record. Blyleven was the 25th pitcher to reach double digits in victories as a teenager and posted a 3.18 ERA in 164 innings. 

Young Ace
Bert Blyleven had an excellent start to his 1972 season before hitting a slight slump. The rest of the team  did as well. He started working with the team's new pitching coach, Al Worthington, to improve his mechanics, helping him find his stride for the last few weeks of the season. 

In 1973, Blyleven struggled again early with his mechanics. However, he won the subsequent ten decisions after making a minor adjustment to his timing. He had arguably one of the best seasons of any Twins pitcher, tossing nine shutouts, the most of any pitcher in the AL. 

Blyleven had an even more outstanding season in 1974. He continued to get better and better. In 36 games, he went 17-17, but had an ERA of 2.66 and over 281 innings. He had 249 strikeouts. Blyleven knew his value, and late in the season, he demanded a salary showing his worth.  He continued to negotiate his contract terms with the management, but between his demands and insistence upon being paid more, he was completely frustrated by the end of the season. 

The tension between the ownership and the pitcher was at an all-time high. Blyleven got a raise, but he felt it wasn't enough. The relationship with the front office withered, and with the health with his back and shoulder issues, his 1975 season was derailed early. Blyleven came back strong. He went 15-10 with a 3.00 ERA. He had 20 complete games, and struck out 233 batters. 1975 was his last season (for then). It ended with the Twins trading him to the Rangers. 

Coming Home
Blyleven spent the next nine seasons bouncing around the league with the Rangers, Pirates, and Indians before coming back to the Minnesota Twins halfway through the 1985 season. 

Coming home to the Twins proved to be a smooth transition. Blyleven posted an 8-5 record and completed nine of his 14 starts with the Twins. Blyleven had a 17-16 record and 3.16 ERA overall. He led the AL in starts (37), shutouts (5), and strikeouts (206) while pacing the majors in complete games (24) and innings (293 2/3). 

1987 was another excellent season for Bert Blyleven and the Twins. Along with a core of sluggers (Kirby Puckett, Kent Hrbek, Gary Gaetti, Dan Gladden), he helped the Twins to an ALCS win and the World Series. Along with previous Twinsmas pitcher Frank Viola, they carried each other and the team to the title. 

The 1987 World Series was one of the best times Bert Blyleven had as a pitcher. "When you put fifty-five thousand screaming people in here (Metrodome), it's something," said Blyleven, soaking in the moment.

Beloved Announcer
Bert Blyleven ended his career as a pitcher in California with the Angels. He 'officially' retired from baseball as the Twins announcer in 2020. He was affectionately known for the "Circle Me Bert" trend in which fans would bring a sign to the Twins game with a fun saying on it to catch the attention of the former All-Star. They would "hereby be circled" from the booth. 

In 2002, Bert Blyleven was inducted into the Twins Hall of Fame. Then in 2011, he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, receiving 79.7% of the vote. 

Thank you for reading, and Go, Twins!

Read Previous "12 Days of TwinsMas" articles here: 
#12 - Torii Hunter
#11 - Chuck Knoblauch
#10 - Jim Kaat
#9 - Frank Viola 
#8 - Kent Hrbek 
#7 - Tony Oliva
#6 - Johan Santana
#5 - Bert Blyleven 
#4 - Coming Soon!