Bert Blyleven, baseball player, 1970-1992

Bert Blyleven

⭐ Hall of Fame 2011

Born: 4/6/1951 in Zeist, Utrecht, Netherlands

MLB Debut: 1970-06-05 | Final Game: 1992-10-04

Bats: R | Throws: R | Height: 6'3" | Weight: 200 lbs

Full name: Rik Aalbert Blyleven

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Biography

Bert Blyleven was a prominent pitcher in Major League Baseball, whose career spanned from 1970 to 1992. Born in 1951, Blyleven made a significant impact on the game, finishing his career with a record of 287 wins and 250 losses, alongside a commendable earned run average (ERA) of 3.31. His impressive strikeout total of 3,701 placed him among the elite pitchers of his era, showcasing his exceptional ability to dominate hitters with a powerful curveball and a diverse pitching arsenal. Although he never recorded a save, his role as a starter was crucial to the teams he played for, as he consistently provided innings and stability on the mound. Blyleven was selected as an All-Star twice during his career, reflecting his status as one of the top pitchers in the league at various points. He pitched during a transformative period in baseball, navigating the transition away from the deadball era into a time marked by offensive prowess and changing pitching strategies. His contributions to the game were ultimately recognized when he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, cementing his legacy as one of the greatest pitchers in baseball history.

Career Pitching Statistics

W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
287 250 692 685 242 60 0 4970.0 4632 1830 430 1322 3701 3.31 0

Career ERA 3.31 vs. league average 3.79 across their career seasons — 12.4% better than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Year Team Lg W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER BB SO ERA Lg ERA Pitcher PIV
1970 MIN AL 10 9 27 25 5 1 0 164.0 143 58 47 135 3.18 3.89 (+18%) 2754.5
1971 MIN AL 16 15 38 38 17 5 0 278.3 267 87 59 224 2.81 3.47 (+19%) 7036.8
1972 MIN AL 17 17 39 38 11 3 0 287.3 247 87 69 228 2.73 3.26 (+17%) 4806.8
1973 MIN AL 20 17 40 40 25 9 0 325.0 296 91 67 258 2.52 3.75 (+33%) 12365.4
1974 MIN AL 17 17 37 37 19 3 0 281.0 244 83 77 249 2.66 3.63 (+27%) 9329.9
1975 MIN AL 15 10 35 35 20 3 0 275.7 219 92 84 233 3.00 3.71 (+19%) 5276.7
1976 MIN AL 4 5 12 12 4 0 0 95.3 101 33 35 75 3.12 3.51 (+11%) 1989.4
1976 TEX AL 9 11 24 24 14 6 0 202.3 182 62 46 144 2.76 3.51 (+22%) 4202.3
1977 TEX AL 14 12 30 30 15 5 0 234.7 181 71 69 182 2.72 4.00 (+32%) 4502.1
1978 PIT NL 14 10 34 34 11 4 0 243.7 217 82 66 182 3.03 3.69 (+18%) 5133.9
1979 PIT NL 12 5 37 37 4 0 0 237.3 238 95 92 172 3.60 4.00 (+10%) 2055.2
1980 PIT NL 8 13 34 32 5 2 0 216.7 219 92 59 168 3.82 3.84 (+1%) 3526.7
1981 CLE AL 11 7 20 20 9 1 0 159.3 145 51 40 107 2.88 3.58 (+20%) 3063.9
1982 CLE AL 2 2 4 4 0 0 0 20.3 16 11 11 19 4.87 3.86 (-26%) 58.0
1983 CLE AL 7 10 24 24 5 0 0 156.3 160 68 44 123 3.91 3.87 (-1%) 3991.3
1984 CLE AL 19 7 33 32 12 4 0 245.0 204 78 74 170 2.87 3.81 (+25%) 2848.8
1985 CLE AL 9 11 23 23 15 4 0 179.7 163 65 49 129 3.26 3.89 (+16%) 3246.8
1985 MIN AL 8 5 14 14 9 1 0 114.0 101 38 26 77 3.00 3.89 (+23%) 2324.3
1986 MIN AL 17 14 36 36 16 3 0 271.7 262 121 58 215 4.01 3.97 (-1%) -2576.3
1987 MIN AL 15 12 37 37 8 1 0 267.0 249 119 101 196 4.01 4.29 (+7%) -4119.5
1988 MIN AL 10 17 33 33 7 0 0 207.3 240 125 51 145 5.43 3.73 (-45%) 417.1
1989 LAA AL 17 5 33 33 8 5 0 241.0 225 73 44 131 2.73 3.71 (+27%) -
1990 LAA AL 8 7 23 23 2 0 0 134.0 163 78 25 69 5.24 3.86 (-36%) -
1992 LAA AL 8 12 25 24 1 0 0 133.0 150 70 29 70 4.74 3.75 (-26%) -

Career Batting Statistics

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
699 451 19 59 7 0 0 25 0 5 193 0.131 0.144 0.146 0.290 -4330.0

Career AVG .131 vs. league average .258 across their career seasons — 49.2% below league average.

Career OBP .144 vs. league average .324 across their career seasons — 55.5% below league average.

Career SLG .146 vs. league average .382 across their career seasons — 61.7% below league average.

Career OPS 0.290 vs. league average 0.706 across their career seasons — 58.9% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Year Team Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG Lg AVG Lg OBP Lg SLG Lg OPS PIV
1970 MIN AL 27 50 2 7 0 0 0 1 0 1 25 0.140 .253 (-45%) .325 (-52%) .385 (-64%) .711 (-58%) -478.4
1971 MIN AL 38 91 3 12 1 0 0 2 0 1 37 0.132 .249 (-47%) .316 (-52%) .365 (-61%) .682 (-57%) -839.3
1972 MIN AL 39 94 9 15 2 0 0 6 0 2 36 0.160 .243 (-35%) .310 (-43%) .353 (-49%) .664 (-46%) -693.2
1973 MIN AL 40 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1974 MIN AL 37 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1975 MIN AL 35 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1976 MIN AL 12 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1976 TEX AL 24 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1977 TEX AL 30 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1978 PIT NL 37 85 4 11 2 0 0 11 0 1 35 0.129 .257 (-50%) .323 (-57%) .378 (-60%) .702 (-58%) -825.6
1979 PIT NL 38 70 1 9 1 0 0 3 0 0 33 0.129 .265 (-52%) .329 (-61%) .397 (-64%) .727 (-63%) -749.4
1980 PIT NL 37 61 0 5 1 0 0 2 0 0 27 0.082 .264 (-69%) .326 (-70%) .387 (-75%) .714 (-73%) -744.0
1981 CLE AL 20 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1982 CLE AL 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1983 CLE AL 24 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1984 CLE AL 33 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1985 CLE AL 23 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1985 MIN AL 14 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1986 MIN AL 36 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1987 MIN AL 37 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1988 MIN AL 33 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1989 LAA AL 33 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1990 LAA AL 23 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1992 LAA AL 25 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0

Postseason Statistics

Playoff Career Batting

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
8 7 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 0.143

Playoff Batting by Year

Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
1987 ALCS MIN 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
1987 WS MIN 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0.000
1979 NLCS PIT 1 3 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0.333
1979 WS PIT 2 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
1970 ALCS MIN 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000

Playoff Career Pitching

W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
5 1 8 6 0 47.3 43 13 8 36 2.47

Playoff Pitching by Year

Year Round Team W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
1987 ALCS MIN 2 0 2 2 0 13.3 12 6 3 9 4.05
1987 WS MIN 1 1 2 2 0 13.0 13 4 2 12 2.77
1979 NLCS PIT 1 0 1 1 0 9.0 8 1 0 9 1.00
1979 WS PIT 1 0 2 1 0 10.0 8 2 3 4 1.80
1970 ALCS MIN 0 0 1 0 0 2.0 2 0 0 2 0.00

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Position G GS PO A E DP
P 692 685 287 662 30 48

Season-by-Season Fielding

Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1970 MIN P 27 25 5 16 1 1
1971 MIN P 38 38 19 38 2 0
1972 MIN P 39 38 18 45 3 4
1973 MIN P 40 40 21 34 1 0
1974 MIN P 37 37 19 34 3 2
1975 MIN P 35 35 16 48 6 5
1976 MIN P 12 12 5 13 0 1
1976 TEX P 24 24 17 31 0 3
1977 TEX P 30 30 10 35 1 4
1978 PIT P 34 34 11 41 1 4
1979 PIT P 37 37 14 20 0 0
1980 PIT P 34 32 10 30 2 2
1981 CLE P 20 20 9 16 1 2
1982 CLE P 4 4 2 2 0 0
1983 CLE P 24 24 7 26 1 3
1984 CLE P 33 32 21 30 2 2
1985 CLE P 23 23 11 19 0 0
1985 MIN P 14 14 6 13 0 2
1986 MIN P 36 36 15 31 0 0
1987 MIN P 37 37 17 43 4 3
1988 MIN P 33 33 12 22 1 3
1989 CAL P 33 33 14 38 0 6
1990 CAL P 23 23 3 24 1 0
1992 CAL P 25 24 5 13 0 1

Career Games by Position

Position Games
Pitcher 692

Awards & Honors

Year Award Notes
1989 Player of the Week Week of 1989-04-14
1989 TSN Comeback Player of the Year
1985 Player of the Week Week of 1985-08-16
1976 Player of the Week Week of 1976-06-25
1970 TSN Rookie Pitcher of the Year

Salary History

Year Team League Salary
1992 CAL AL $900,000
1991 CAL AL $2,000,000
1990 CAL AL $1,175,000
1989 CAL AL $1,225,000
1988 MIN AL $1,000,000
1987 MIN AL $1,150,000
1986 MIN AL $1,450,000
1985 CLE AL $650,000
Total Career Earnings $9,550,000

Award Voting History

Year Award League Finish Points Won Points Max Votes First
1989 Cy Young Award AL 4th 9.0 140 0
1989 Most Valuable Player AL 13th 32.0 392 0
1985 Cy Young Award AL 3rd 9.0 140 1
1984 Cy Young Award AL 3rd 45.0 140 4
1973 Cy Young Award AL 7th 1.0 120 0
1973 Most Valuable Player AL 26th 4.0 336 0