BOISE, Idaho — THIS DAY IN SPORTS…May 30, 1992:
Bert Blyleven becomes only the second pitcher in major league history to win a game as a teenager and another as a 40-year-old as the California Angels down the Cleveland Indians 3-1. Blyleven was in his final season—his first win came as a 19-year-old with the Minnesota Twins in 1970. Blyleven, who also played for the Texas Rangers, Pittsburgh Pirates and the Indians, notched 287 career victories, including one 20-win campaign and a no-hitter in 1977.
There’s been plenty of other teenaged pitchers to notch major league victories over the years. Examples are Fernando Valenzuela of the L.A. Dodgers (19 years old in 1980) and Felix Hernandez of the Seattle Mariners (19 in 2005). But grabbing another win at the age of 40 is another matter. The first pitcher to win as both a teenager and 40-year-old was Herb Pennock, who retired in 1934.
Blyleven was known for more than just those milestone bookend victories, though. He is fifth in MLB history in strikeouts with 3,701. In 2011, Blyleven became the first Dutch-born player ever to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. He was a broadcaster for the Twins for 25 years, ending that phase of his career in 2020. Blyleven became a critic of modern pitch counts that limit starting pitchers to six or seven innings. On his website he says, “Very seldom do we read of a starter upset about coming out of a game. All I hear is that ‘I did my job!’ Going to work from 8 to 2 is a great job, isn’t it? I want the guy that wants to go to work from 8 to 5.”
I don’t know about you, but one thing I remember most about Blyleven was watching Chris Berman during the peak of his ESPN career narrating highlights. He had more nicknames for players than you can count, including Bert “Be Home Blyleven.” In baseball, there was also Moises “Skip To My” Alou, Mike “Pepperoni” Piazza, Rollie “Chicken” Fingers, Sammy “Say It Ain’t” Sosa, Chuck “New Kids On The” Knoblauch, Albert “Winnie The” Pujols and Scott “Supercalifragilisticexpiala” Brosius.
(Tom Scott hosts the Scott Slant segment during the football season on KTVB’s Sunday Sports Extra. He also anchors four sports segments each weekday on 95.3 FM KTIK and one on News/Talk KBOI. His Scott Slant column runs every Wednesday.)
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