Baseball spew and a pick 07/08 - Thurs [B]Remembering the Past[/B]: In my local paper this morning, there was an article about Vida Blue. It reminded me of that year, 1971. I was a very impressionable young adult of nineteen, just three years younger than Vida. He was a rookie with the "swinging A's" and took the entire baseball country by storm, just like Strasburg has thirty nine years later. Vida was the biggest thing in baseball drawing huge crowds on the road. Home attendance doubled or tripled on the days he pitched. I vividly remember listening to my radio and rooting with every pitch for him to do well. Back then only 20 games (or so) would be televised a year so the "radio" was the way to go.
Vidya and his "Blue Blazer" swept the awards . He had 20 wins by July 28th, 24 for the season. His ERA that year was an eye dropping 1.82. He had 24 complete games with 8 shutouts. WOW what a year. He won BOTH the MVP and Cy Young awards. And, all of this was done with just two pitches, a rising fastball and what Vida called a "slurve".
[B]Trivia[/B]: Vidya is the answer to a trivia question: Who was the last American League player to win the MVP as a switch hitter? It was Vida Blue. Back then the Designated Hitter had not yet been born.
[B]Speaking of Blue[/B]: The Baltimore Orioles have won a total of 9 games on the road this year. That win total should not change tonight. They play the Rangers and Tommy Hunter, one the hottest hurlers in baseball. I'm going to play this game but won't lay it on the side. It will be the total. The Orioles can't hit or pitch and, they have "Mr. 13 loss" Jeremy Guthrie on the hill tonight, ripe for loss number 14.
His one saving grace? He's pitched well against Texas in his career going 3-0 with an ERA of just under 3.20.
I'll hope that Guthrie can keep it close for a while and I am confident Hunter will keep Baltimore from scoring. Let's hope, 6-1 Rangers?
[B]922 Rangers UNDER 9.5[/B] (-105)
Good luck.
