Bert Blyleven: An Underrated Star

Bert Blyleven turns 74 today. We’ve known since we were about 10 that this guy is the most underrated starting pitcher in modern baseball history and he’s always been a favorite. This monster with a killer curve had 3,701 strikeouts and isn’t usually even mentioned in the same breath with Nolan Ryan, Tom Seaver or Steve Carlton. His 94.5 WAR made him an indispensable part of every rotation he pitched in, yet he played in just 2 All Star games, never won a Cy Young and only won 20 games once. Folks like to talk about how many more wins Ryan would have had if he’d played for better teams. But what about Blyleven? Yes, he’s got two well-deserved World Series rings. But he also languished on teams with low run support in the 1970s and 80s (think Cleveland 1981-85, some of the worst years in franchise history). Anyway, we love using the occasion of his birthday to remind everyone that Blyleven is one of the greats, and certainly a top 5 starting pitcher of his era. Are you a Bert fan and did you ever get to see him pitch in person?

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