Oakland Athletics

Armed with a flashy name, an electric personality and an iconic delivery he used to unleash a blazing fastball, Vida Blue was as distinctive as a baseball player could be.

Blue, who died at age 73 late Saturday evening, was a beloved member of both the A’s and Giants during a 17-year career that included winning three consecutive World Series titles during Oakland’s dynasty in the early 1970s.

Blue’s death was confirmed by the A’s on Sunday morning. No cause of death was announced, although friends said he had been battling an undisclosed type of cancer.

“There are few players with a more decorated career than Vida Blue,” the A’s said in a statement. “He was a three-time champion, an MVP, a six-time All-Star, a Cy Young Award winner, and an Oakland A’s Hall of Famer. Vida will always be a franchise legend and a friend. We send our deepest condolences to his family and friends during this arduous time.”

Former A’s star Dave Stewart, who helped pitch the A’s to their last world championship in 1989, posted a tribute to Blue on Twitter as the news of his death was revealed.

“Vida Blue rest in peace, my mentor, hero, and friend. I remember watching a 19 year old phenom dominate baseball, and at the same time alter my life. There are no words for what you have meant to me and so many others. My heart goes out to the Blue family.”

Blue’s last public appearance was at the Oakland Coliseum last month for the 50th anniversary reunion for the A’s 1973 world championship team. He looked frail and needed help moving around. Blue was the third member of Oakland’s ’73 title team to pass away this year — former team captain and third baseman Sal Bando and reserve outfielder Jesus Alou died earlier this year.

A six-time All-Star pitcher, Blue made three All-Star appearances each for the A’s and Giants on his way to winning 209 games in a career that featured one of the greatest individual seasons in baseball history.

Vida Blue, 1976. (AP Photo) 

The longtime Bay Area fan favorite reached unimagined heights as a 21-year-old in 1971 when he went 24-8 with a whopping 301 strikeouts and a 1.82 earned run average to help the A’s reach the postseason for the first time in 40 years. That performance earned Blue both the American League’s Cy Young Award as well as its Most Valuable Player award.

It also turned Vida into an instant star. Suddenly, the fresh-faced kid from Mansfield, Louisiana and his unique, crouching, high-kneed windup were appearing on the covers of magazines such as Time, Ebony and Jet. He was a guest on national television shows such as Dick Cavett’s. He even joined Bob Hope on his USO Christmas Tour in Vietnam.

Then-U.S. president Richard Nixon was so enamored with Blue he insisted Vida and the A’s visit him at the White House in the middle of the ’71 season. It was there that Nixon, taking notice of Blue’s $14,750 salary, foreshadowed trouble by declaring to him: “You must be the most underpaid player in the game.”

That unforgettable season not only thrust Blue into the national spotlight, it made the left-hander the answer to perhaps the greatest sports trivia question: Who was the last switch-hitter to be named A.L. MVP?

Vida Rochelle Blue was the first of six children born to Sallie and Vida Blue Sr. As he grew up in the tiny Louisiana town of less than 5,000, Vida’s physical prowess became impossible to ignore.

His high school, DeSoto, didn’t have a baseball team. The principal cobbled one together so Vida could pitch. He was recruited as a football quarterback by the University of Houston at a time when there were few Blacks playing the position at major colleges.

He was inclined to play football, but during his senior year his father died. Feeling the need to provide for his mother and siblings, Blue signed a two-year, $12,500 contract with the A’s, who had selected him in the second round of the 1967 draft.

Vida flew through the minors, reaching the majors in Oakland as a 19-year-old at the end of 1969. After spending much of 1970 in the minors, he came back to Oakland in September and threw both a one-hitter and a no-hitter, assuring he’d never again pitch in the minor leagues.

After his magical 1971 season, Blue waged a bitter salary holdout the following spring with A’s owner Charlie Finley. During his holdout, Blue took a job as a plumbing executive for a local company in order to earn money.

He didn’t join the team until May 2, and didn’t pitch until May 24. Though he helped the A’s to three World Series titles, and turned in two more 20-win seasons, he was never again the joyous pitching prodigy of 1971.

In 1978 Vida was traded to the Giants for seven players and $300,000. “My reaction was: ‘Free at last, free at last, thank God almighty I’m free at last,’ “ he said.

Blue enjoyed success in San Francisco from 1978-81, winning 18 games in ’78 and finishing third in the N.L. Cy Young vote. He was then traded to Kansas City in 1982.

SAN FRANCISCO – MAY 11: Vida Blue #14 of the San Francisco Giants winds up a pitch during a game against the St. Louis Cardinals at Candlestick Park on May 11, 1985 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images) 

Alas, that’s when his would-be Hall of Fame career was derailed by substance abuse issues. It resulted in Blue being imprisoned and then suspended from baseball for the 1984 season after pleading guilty to cocaine possession.

In his autobiography, released after his retirement, he indicated having had substance abuse issues as far back as 1972.

Blue was first eligible for induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1992. He appeared on the ballot until 1995, never coming close to earning 75 percent of the votes cast that’s required for entry into the hall. His highest total was the 8.7 percent he received in 1993.

Vida’s career numbers were actually not far off from his old A’s teammate, Catfish Hunter, whose 224 games won and 3.26 career ERA were similar to Vida’s 209 wins and 3.27 ERA. In 2001, noted baseball historian and analytics guru Bill James rated Blue as the 86th best pitcher in MLB history.

Vida always believed his struggles with addiction cost him a shot at his dream of becoming a hall of famer.

No matter what was going on in his life, he remained popular with baseball fans on both sides of the bay.

“It was nice to be a part of both teams,” he said. “I was a pretty lucky guy to take in the Bay Area.”