Vida Blue ✝

Vida Rochelle Blue Jr. (born July 28, 1949) is an American former Major League Baseball left-handed pitcher. During a 17-year career, he pitched for the Oakland Athletics (1969–77), San Francisco Giants (1978–81; 1985–86), and Kansas City Royals (1982–83). He won the American League Cy Young Award and Most Valuable Player Award in 1971. He is a six-time All-Star, and is the first of only five pitchers in major league history to start the All-Star Game for both the American League (1971) and the National League (1978); Roger Clemens, Randy Johnson, Roy Halladay, and Max Scherzer later duplicated the feat.\n', ' Blue, the oldest of six children, was born and raised in Mansfield in DeSoto Parish in northwestern Louisiana. His father worked as a laborer in an iron foundry. In high school, Blue pitched for the baseball team and also was the quarterback for the football team. In his senior year, he threw for 3,400 yards and completed 35 touchdown passes while rushing for 1,600 yards in football. In his senior year of baseball, Blue threw a no-hitter. Blue also had a 21 strikeout game, in seven innings pitched. He received several offers to play college football, but after his father died suddenly Blue signed a contract with the Oakland A\'s.\n', ' Unlike many southpaws, Blue was a power pitcher who worked fast and pounded the strike zone. He threw an occasional curveball to keep hitters off balance and an above average change-up, but his signature pitch was a blistering fastball that could dial up to 100 miles per hour (160 km/h). In The Neyer/James Guide to Pitchers, all-time hits leader Pete Rose stated that Blue "threw as hard as anyone" he had ever faced, and baseball historian Bill James cited Blue as the hardest-throwing lefty, and the hardest thrower of his era, behind only Nolan Ryan.\n', '