Baseball's Dutch Treat

But the injuries may have been a blessing in disguise, because they made him a better pitcher. When he was younger, his stuff was so good that he didn't need a changeup or pinpoint control. Now he throws an excellent change, an occasional slider, an assortment of fastballs and, of course, his curve. He's also not afraid to throw inside to a hitter.

Says Roy Smith, a rookie pitcher who dressed next to Blyleven last season, "Because his stuff is so good, it really doesn't do me any good to ask him what he throws to certain hitters. I have to ask him, 'Bert, what would you throw if you had my stuff?' "

Last year Blyleven was 4-0 with a 1.44 ERA against the American League West champion Royals. "If you gave baseball people their choice among Dan Petry, Jack Morris and Blyleven, Blyleven would probably be third," says Hal McRae, Kansas City's longtime designated hitter. "But if you had to have one pitcher to beat us, Blyleven would be the choice."

Royals manager Dick Howser is also a Blyleven fan. "I saw him when he was 19 and I've seen him now," Howser says. "There's not a lot of dropoff in his stuff. And now he has a little more command. He has all the stats of a potential Hall of Famer. Look at his hits to innings pitched [8.10 per nine innings], his walks to strikeouts [7.02 strikeouts and 2.47 walks per nine innings] and his ERA. Those stats hit me in the face."

Says Mike Ferraro, a K.C. coach who was Blyleven's manager in Cleveland for half a season, "He should win 30 games with the stuff he's got. He just hasn't played on too many clubs that scored a lot of runs for him."

It's like the fellow at the golf tournament said. Who does Bert pitch for these days?

"O.K., I've got a ball here signed by Henry Aaron. Hmmm, maybe I should bid on it. That way I know he won't lose it on me like he did that one time....

"Here's something special. A 1971 Milwaukee Brewers uniform, No. 16, worn by Ron Theobald. That may not mean much to you, but Ron Theobald is the only man in baseball history to go into the on-deck circle without his bat. Yes, he rubbed up his hands, went down for the bat, and it wasn't there!"

In the world of baseball—an image comes to mind here of a white planet with red seams and American League president Bobby Brown's signature on it—labels are very easy to put on and very hard to take off. Blyleven has often been labeled a troublemaker.

Ten years ago he took Twins owner Calvin Griffith to arbitration, and Griffith screamed. Blyleven wanted $85,000, which seems like a piddling sum now, and the Twins were offering $65,000. Things went so sour in Minnesota that in Blyleven's last game as a Twin, some fans serenaded him with "Goodby, Bert, we're glad to see you go." He responded with a flippant gesture. The Twins responded by trading him to the Texas Rangers.