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A big loss

 
Vida Blue died yesterday.

For any kid who grew up following baseball in the 1970s, this is a big loss.

Vida Blue had the name of a superhero, and he might as well have been one during the early-to-mid 1970s. A pure power pitcher in a golden uniform, no kid could ignore that. Blue had a colorful name, uniform and career. Maybe best of all, his cards are colorful, too.


This is my favorite Vida Blue card. It ticks every box on the rainbow.
 


If I'm being super-accurate, though, my favorite is probably his '75 mini.
 


This is my second favorite. I'm sure it's a lot of others' favorite. I completely understand. It's an iconic card. One of the best. A Cardboard Appreciation Hall of Famer. I've written about this card ... and Blue ... many times.

My two favorites come together on one card that is straight out my first year of collecting cards.


There it is in all of its glory. It's now framed with an assortment of other 1975 cards that I pulled out of the first three packs I ever bought.

This card was epic -- I was attracted immediately to the players on the black-border cards and both of these cards were akin to works of art hanging in a museum to me. I couldn't conceive of the day of owning either of them. Now I have both of them.
 


My third-favorite Vida Blue card is the popular 1973 version. Blue, who could be pitching to Cesar Tovar here, possessed a wonderfully expressive pitching motion in which his leg kicked high, yet his ball hand practically scraped the mound and his knee actually did. He reached highs and lows there on the mound, which mirrored his career.
 
Blue started the All-Star Game for both leagues. He was part of three consecutive World Series champions. He won the MVP at the age of 22. He was also suspended for drug use and battled both drug and alcohol abuse well into his post-baseball career.
 
Blue's finest moments were with the A's. His cards will tell you that.
 

 But he pitched decently for the Giants for a handful of years, too.
 

 I remember him starting for the National League in the 1978 All-Star Game. It was in San Diego. Although he pitched for the Giants, it felt good to be rooting for him, on "my side." (It felt even better when Steve Garvey hit that triple off of Goose Gossage).
 


About his only highlight for the Royals was this '82 Traded card in which "Blue" is actually blue.

I'm not a player-collector, but there are certain players I do gravitate toward, you usually had to have played in the '70s. Best that I can tell, these are the five most recent Vida Blue cards to enter my collection:


I pulled this out of the 50-cent bin at the card show I attended last month. I had never seen before.



This 2021 Heritage High Numbers insert arrived in a friendly mailing just before Christmas. It is all kinds of awesome, it covers like four of my collecting interests.
 


This 1979 Kellogg's card was one of the last few that I needed to finish the set.



This Topps Senior Professional Baseball League card arrived with the whole rest of the set in January from Rod of Padrographs. You'll be seeing another great mailing from Rod tomorrow.



And I finally landed Vida Blue's rookie card not too long ago.

I have around 60-70 Vida cards. There are still plenty that I'd like to get. He made himself available on cards after his retirement and card companies paid tribute.

Like Reggie Jackson, it's odd that I should revere Blue as much as I do. He played on an A's team that knocked off the Dodgers in the '74 World Series. But that was before I paid attention to baseball, outside of collecting picture cards.

The first Vida Blue card I ever saw besides the 1971 MVPs card in the 1975 set was his 1976 Topps card. I loved it. The first time I remember reading about Blue, other than on a card, is when Charlie Finley attempted to trade him to the Yankees before Bowie Kuhn stepped in. I admit I was a bit horrified at the thought of Blue as a Yankee.

Later on, after his career, Blue lived in my neck of the woods, about an hour north of here. I think he may have been living with the woman he married on the Candlestick Park pitcher's mound in 1989. Her name was Peggy Shannon.

Anyway, I feel like I'm rambling. Just know that it's a big loss ... and that I don't like it ... and there was nothing like the players from the '70s ... and it's a shame some people don't know that. I'll do what I can to keep relaying how wonderful they were. Hopefully, some of those times will not be when they die.

RIP.

Comments

He is one of my PC guys. May he rest in peace.
1984 Tigers said…
My three favorite Oakland As from my early and mid 70s memories: Vida, Joe Rudi, Sal Bando. We lost Sal not too long ago too.

Loved the 1971 semi high number. It sells for between 50 and 100 bucks these days if in Exmt or better. I believe the next pitcher to win both Cy young and mvp was Willie Hernandez from my 1984 tigers.

Finley tried to sell off his stars but kuhn wouldn't go for it. Oakland lost so many stars after 1976 (rudi, bando, fingers, tenace) that it catered. Blue was kept and then traded to the Giants for a slew of players, none of whom were ever stars.

I was interning in Houston in summer 1985 and remember watching him beat the Astros in candlestick on TV. Was happy for him that he got his life under control.

RIP 71 MVP!
Chris said…
I didn't get to see him pitch (he retired just before I was aware of baseball) but I've learned through researching my posts that he was very underrated compared to his contemporaries. Damn good pitcher with some damn good cardboard. I rarely say this, but I think his best active year card comes from 1973 Topps. What an angle there.

One unimportant thing I thought was cool about Vida was that he wore his *first* name on the back of his jersey. I doubt we'll see that again. RIP Vida.
Angus said…
I'm going to agree that his name made me love him before I saw him pitch. I wish I had seen him pitch in the early 70s. RIP
steelehere said…
R.I.P. to one of my favorites as well. He was the Dwight Gooden of the 1970’s.
Old Cards said…
Had not heard of Vida's passing. Nice lineup of cards. Did the umpire take that shot of Vida om his 73 card?
Brett Alan said…
Was hit hard when the Mets announcers mentioned this today. I too, consider myself a fan of him even though he never played for my team and in fact was part of a big disappointment for them.

I do have his rookie and two autographs, which I'm very happy with. Perhaps someday I'll pick up a relic for the trifecta--I don't think he has many.
GCA said…
I've got a PC of him too, which I'll proabably scan and post this week. Don't have a lot of unique things, but it's one of my more complete player collections.

His is one of the most iconic images on a '71 design. (There are several).
Michael D said…
My two favorite Vida Blue cards are the '71 and '73. I don't remember much about Blue other than him being part of that Oakland A's dynasty and how good of a team they were. It's always sad when we lose a former athlete from our childhood. Rest in Peace Vida Blue!
Doc Samson said…
Obviously, a major loss. I always though the All Star ribbon in the 1979 was such an awesome design element, along with the shield in the 1978 Topps set.
Fuji said…
I wanted to do a tribute post when I heard the news, but was a little busy on Sunday. I did manage to grab his autograph on COMC that I will hopefully write about one day. It's a reprint of one of the cards featured in your post and my favorite Blue card.
Anonymous said…
Was at my 2nd MLB game when a rookie named Vida started the front-end of a DH. He mowed them down, Reggie was at 2nd, Sal at 3rd, Rudi in left. Blue Moon won the second while my cousin and I explored the far reaches of Oakland Alemeda. What a great memory. Have several of him in my PC along with the game program from that day.
Rest in peace Vida, you are remebered