Bert Blyleven
| Bert Blyleven | |||
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Blyleven in 2008
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| Pitcher | |||
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Born: April 6, 1951 Zeist, Netherlands |
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| MLB debut | |||
| June 5, 1970, for the Minnesota Twins | |||
| Last MLB appearance | |||
| October 4, 1992, for the California Angels | |||
| MLB statistics | |||
| Win–loss record | 287–250 | ||
| Earned run average | 3.31 | ||
| Strikeouts | 3,701 | ||
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| Career highlights and awards | |||
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| Member of the National | |||
 Baseball Hall of Fame
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| Inducted | 2011 | ||
| Vote | 79.7% (14th ballot) | ||
Bert Blyleven (born Rik Aalbert Blijleven, April 6, 1951) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher who played from 1970 to 1992, and was best known for his curveball. Blyleven was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2011. He is currently the color commentator for the Minnesota Twins on Fox Sports North.
Blyleven was born in the Netherlands, but raised in Garden Grove, California where he attended Santiago High School. His father moved the family to Melville, Saskatchewan, Canada when Blyleven was two years old, and then to Southern California when he was age 5. He became interested in baseball as a young boy watching Sandy Koufax pitch for the Los Angeles Dodgers and listening to Vin Scully and Jerry Doggett announce the Dodgers' radio broadcasts. Blyleven was quoted as saying, "My dad built me a mound in the backyard with a canvas backdrop over our horseshoe pits, and I would go back there and just throw and throw and throw until I developed it, and it became my curveball. And I could throw it over at any time, any count."
Blyleven starred on the Santiago High School baseball team, also running cross country to build up his stamina and leg strength. He was drafted straight out of high school by the Minnesota Twins in the third round in 1969, where after only 21 minor league starts he found himself called up to the Majors at age 19 on June 2, 1970. In his first season, his sharp curveball helped him to ten victories and he was named AL Rookie Pitcher of the Year by The Sporting News. In 1973 he pitched the most shutouts of any AL pitcher, with 9.
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