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.