The Numbers Don’t Add Up to Full Story : Hall Inductee Blyleven Had Plenty Up His Sleeve

So what do we make of Bert Blyleven now that his baseball career is over, now that he’s focused on home improvements and vacation plans?

It isn’t an easy assignment, all those contradictory bits of evidence make judgment tricky in Blyleven’s case.

Looking back, it’s difficult to typecast him. There is no easy summary to the man, or his 23-year career in the majors. Just when you thought you had him pegged, he threw you another one of those biting curves.

Many times, it’s easy to focus on the raw numbers to get a gauge on a player’s greatness. But that, too, would seem to lead one astray because there is always so much more to Blyleven than cold, hard statistics on a page.

His strengths as a pitcher for the Angels, Minnesota Twins, Texas Rangers, Pittsburgh Pirates and Cleveland Indians always were tied to his personality, according to Manager Buck Rodgers, who was there at the beginning and end of Blyleven’s career.

Rodgers hopes like hell people don’t judge Blyleven only as a practical joker, whose forte was giving others a hot foot, lighting unsuspecting teammates’ shoelaces on fire.

He was a master, just as he was with that curveball of his. Both were unstoppable when Blyleven was in his prime.

Once, during a game at the Kingdome in Seattle, he crawled under the stands with a straightened clothes hanger rigged with matches to deliver a hot foot to a Mariner bullpen coach.

The fire extinguisher in the Angel clubhouse still bears this warning: “In case of Blyleven. Pull. “

That vision of Blyleven as clubhouse cut up, as team prankster, will surely stay with him forever. But Rodgers wants to remind people what Blyleven accomplished on the mound, too.

“I’d hate to think that Bert’s legacy is as a practical joker,” Rodgers said. “He’s a great pitcher. He’s a guy who should be in the Hall of Fame.”

Rodgers means Cooperstown, but for now he’ll settle for seeing Blyleven enter the Orange County Hall of Fame.

Certainly, Blyleven’s statistics are impeccable.

In 23 seasons, he won 287 games, 22nd on the all-time list, and was only 30 2/3 innings away from pitching 5,000. He might have been a cinch for Cooperstown if only he had topped 300 victories and 5,000 innings pitched.

He was 41 with a spring-time earned-run average of 6.27 and a worn out right shoulder. And the Twins, Blyleven’s team from 1970-76 and again from 1985-89, released him before the end of spring training last season.

In the end, it didn’t matter that he been an All-Star and a 20-game winner, a club record holder and a near no-hit pitcher before he was 25.

His fierce, driving spirit couldn’t carry him forever, and he left the game, if not willingly, then with a sense of recognition that his time was up.

Now, there are new disciplines to be mastered. Skiing in the Sierra Nevada. Fishing and camping at Lake Havasu, Ariz. Overseeing work on his home. Following his eldest son’s progress through the Angels’ minor league system. Todd was a rookie-league pitcher last year.

And he’ll await the call from Cooperstown.

In his favor: 287 victories, 241 complete games, 60 shutouts, 3,701 strikeouts (No. 3 all-time), a career ERA of 3.31, a 1.60 ERA in the 1979 World Series, a 17-5 record for the Angels in 1989 and his wacky personality.

Going against him: not winning 300 games and giving up a major-league record 50 home runs in 1986.

Home runs were another Blyleven trademark. He allowed so many it became a running joke, and even he didn’t seem to mind.

When Hollywood made a movie revolving around the Chicago Cubs beating the Angels in the World Series, the script called for Blyleven to serve up the Series-winning homer to Mark Grace. It seemed fitting and Blyleven came through for the film’s director.

“Oh, that only took a couple of pitches,” he said after filming was complete. “It was the perfect role for me.”

You can almost imagine him breaking into a wide smile when he said that.

Laughter, in retrospect, was almost as important as winning for Blyleven.

“I guess I was always able to make guys laugh when they were frustrated,” Blyleven said the other day. “It was a way of relaxing and trying to have fun with everybody.”

Don’t be fooled, Rodgers said, Blyleven needed that more for himself than anyone else. It was his way of relaxing.

“He needed that little release,” Rodgers said. “He did it for himself. He didn’t do it for the club. It was something he needed and something that was good for the club.”

That’s not to say, Blyleven was a clubhouse comic right from the start. He was something of a wallflower when he broke in with the Twins in 1970.

Rodgers was his first pitching coach at Minnesota.

“I remember him as not outgoing,” Rodgers said. “Very observant. Not cocky. A relatively shy kid.”

Blyleven was only a year removed from Santiago High in Garden Grove and determined to make the most of his quick rise to the majors.

“I always had a feeling if I worked hard I could play in the big leagues for a long time,” he said.

Others, Rodgers included, had the same ideas.

“Bert always had great tools,” he said. “He was 19 years old when I first saw him. He was determined. He wasn’t going to be sidetracked for anything. As his success came in the majors so did his confidence.”

And rest assured, Blyleven kept ‘em rolling in the aisles year after year.

When he came to the Angels in 1989, it looked as if his career might be over. He was 10-17 with a 5.24 ERA in Minnesota the year before and it seemed the end was near.

But Blyleven fooled everybody with a stunning performance, going 17-5 with a 2.73 ERA and earning the American League comeback player of the year award. The good times didn’t last, but Blyleven’s place in history had been secured.

Now, after serving as the Angels’ roving pitching instructor for part of last season, he ponders a managerial career. But broadcasting sounds good, too.

“It’s just a matter of waiting, seeing what’s out there,” Blyleven said. “As long as it’s something around baseball. I love it and I miss it.”

Hall of Fame Induction Facts

What: 13th Orange County Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

Where: Gate 6, Anaheim Stadium.

When: Sunday, 11 a.m.

Highlights: Ceremony inducting Bert Blyleven, Gary Carter, Maurice (Red) Guyer, Hal Sherbeck, Jerry Shipkey and Ray Willsey will take place outside Anaheim Stadium. The public can then gain admission to the newly opened Hall of Fame for $3.

Bert Blyleven in the Major Leagues

Year Team W-L ERA G GS IP H R ER BB SO 1970 Minnesota 10-9 3.18 27 25 164.0 143 66 58 47 135 1971 Minnesota 16-15 2.82 38 38 278.1 267 95 87 59 224 1972 Minnesota 17-17 2.73 39 38 287.1 247 93 87 69 228 1973 Minnesota 20-17 2.52 40 40 325.0 296 109 91 67 258 1974 Minnesota 17-17 2.66 37 37 281.0 244 99 83 77 249 1975 Minnesota 15-10 3.00 35 35 275.2 219 104 92 84 233 1976 Minnesota 4-5 3.13 12 12 95.0 101 39 33 35 75 Texas 9-11 2.76 24 24 202.0 182 67 62 46 144 1977 Texas 14-12 2.72 30 30 234.2 181 81 71 69 182 1978 Pittsburgh 14-10 3.02 34 34 244.0 217 94 82 66 182 1979 Pittsburgh 12-5 3.61 37 37 237.0 238 102 95 92 172 1980 Pittsburgh 8-13 3.82 34 32 17.0 219 102 92 59 168 1981 Cleveland 11-7 2.89 20 20 159.1 145 52 51 40 107 1982 Cleveland 2-2 4.87 4 4 20.1 16 14 11 11 19 1983 Cleveland 7-10 3.91 24 24 156.1 160 74 68 44 123 1984 Cleveland 19-7 2.87 33 32 245.0 204 86 78 74 170 1985 Cleveland 9-11 3.26 23 23 179.2 163 76 65 49 129 Minnesota 8-5 3.00 14 14 114.0 101 45 38 26 77 1986 Minnesota 17-14 4.01 36 36 271.2 262 134 121 58 215 1987 Minnesota 15-12 4.01 37 37 267.0 249 132 119 101 196 1988 Minnesota 10-17 5.43 33 33 207.1 240 128 125 51 145 1989 Angels 17-5 2.73 33 33 241.0 225 76 73 44 131 1990 Angels 8-7 5.24 23 23 134.0 163 85 78 25 69 1991 Angels Did not play 1992 Angels 1-3 8.06 5 5 22.1 28 22 20 7 13