| Subject: VIDA BLUE (1949-2023) --HE ONCE LOVED MY "SHINY SHOES" (HONEST) |
Author:
Rob Durkee
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Date Posted: 05/ 7/23 3:00:33pm
In reply to:
Dead at 73
's message, "Baseball’s Vida Blue" on 05/ 7/23 12:06:02pm
He once called for me to see him before a game between his Oakland Athletics and the team I was writing for, the Texas Rangers.
Why? Because he liked my “shiny shoes."
Honest.
He was also the subject of one of the most hilarious guess-I-showed-HIM remarks made by one of my best friends and a former boss.
First things first.
Superstar pitcher Vida Blue died this weekend. He was 73 but stories dealing with his passing haven’t listed the cause of death. He’d had his share of battles against drugs that may have been a contributing factor.
Looking back some 51 years, I was on the Arlington Stadium field during pre-game festivities when suddenly an Athletics player told me, “Vida wants to see you in the bullpen.”
Me?
Yup, me.
When I got there, Vida said he just loved “your shiny shoes” that he noticed from a distance. They were probably the corfams I wore during my Air Force years.
Meanwhile, my then boss at the Fort Worth Press, the late Larry Reese, got into a heated-but-private knock-down drag-out debate with HIS boss, the late Andy Anderson. This was later on in 1972.
Anyway, Larry and Andy were going at it…because of some serious work disagreements between Larry and Andy.
At one point, Andy told Larry in so many words (I’m paraphrasing him), “I’ve been around this (newspaper) business for a long time. I know what I’m doing.”
To which Larry replied…
“Did you know the Vida Blue was an MVP his rookie year?”
Andy was dumbfounded. He couldn’t believe what Larry had said. But, more importantly, he couldn’t think of a rebuttal remark!
Yes, Vida Blue WAS an MVP his 1971 rookie year. He won 24 games and also captured the American League Cy Young Award. He led the Oakland A’s to three straight World Series titles (1972-74) and won 209 games in his stellar career. He’s in the Athletics Hall of Fame and on the Giants Wall of Fame. He won 20-plus games three times.
I own not one but TWO books on him. He ranks among the most athletic talented people ever. Just think…as a high school senior at Mansfield La. DeSoto High School, as a QB, he passed for over 3400 yards and 35 touchdowns.
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