A’s Official Says Oakland Will Announce the Signing of Pitcher Vida Blue Today

Vida Blue, who broke into major league baseball with the Oakland A’s in 1969 and has recorded 209 pitching victories, is returning to the A’s, a spokesman for the American League club said Tuesday.

The signing of the 37-year-old pitcher, who became a free agent after going 10-10 with the San Francisco Giants last season, will be formally announced at a 10 a.m. news conference today at the Oakland Coliseum.

Another former A’s star, slugger Reggie Jackson, rejoined the team by signing a contract Dec. 24. Jackson and Blue were stars on the Oakland clubs that won three consecutive World Series titles and five straight division crowns in the 1970s. Both make their off-season homes in Oakland.

The A’s were short on left-handed pitchers last season, both in their starting rotation and in the bullpen, and Blue could help the team in both areas. He began a baseball comeback with the Giants as a reliever in 1985, after missing the 1984 season because of drug problems, but he later took over as a starting pitcher.