Baseball's Dutch Treat

In his parting shot, Blyleven called the Twins' fans "bleep bleep" and said, "They're behind you when you do good, and they turn on you when things go wrong. But bleep them. They have a right to act any way they like."

When he beat the Twins for Texas on July 26, 1976, Blyleven didn't mince words. "Aw bleep, that was for him [Griffith] and his family." In Texas, Blyleven got blamed for something he never did. The story went that the reason Eddie Stanky quit after one game as manager of the Rangers was that he went out to the mound to remove Blyleven from the game, and Byleven told him to go back to the dugout. Actually, Blyleven was suffering from a groin pull and eventually took himself out of the game. Stanky quit on his own.

Tanner is almost universally beloved, so Blyleven came out as the bad guy in Pittsburgh, especially after Tanner called him "Cryleven." They had a profound disagreement over how often Blyleven should pitch; he wanted to go every fourth game, and Tanner gave him the ball every fifth. Also, he felt that Tanner was pulling him from games too quickly. "I think the world of Chuck Tanner," says Blyleven now. "I just don't think he knew how to use me." Blyleven got so upset with his role in Pittsburgh that he walked out on the Pirates for 10 days early in 1980. "It was the worst time I've ever had in baseball," he says. "It finally ended when I was out in the back of the house, pulling weeds. Patty came out and said, 'Don't you think you should go back?' And I said, 'Yes.' "

One of the nicknames for a curveball is a "yakker." So it seems only fitting that Blyleven is something of a yakker. His heart is invariably in the right place—it's just that his foot sometimes ends up in his mouth.

Again last season he got embroiled in a couple of controversies. He argued vehemently with the official scorer and later phoned the league office when outfielder George Vukovich wasn't given an error on a play on which two earned runs scored. He also suggested publicly that the Indians might be better off trading him to a contender for younger talent—as they would soon do with his friend Rick Sutcliffe. Cleveland president Gabe Paul said, "Bert Blyleven isn't going anywhere. For two years we paid him a good salary, and he did nothing because he was hurt. Now he owes the Indians and the city of Cleveland something in return."

That upset Blyleven, especially because he has given of himself to Cleveland. He's celebrity chairman of the 65 Roses Club for Cystic Fibrosis there. And he couldn't help it if he was injured. Almost everybody says this of Blyleven: "He wants the ball." There aren't many higher compliments than that for any pitcher.

Because of his competitive streak, Blyleven says things he probably shouldn't, and he usually says them with a biting wit. For instance, he referred to Paul and Phil Seghi, the Indians' general manager, as "two old men sitting up in the booth playing checkers." But he's not a bad guy. "He's a great guy," says Judy Kirkpatrick. "I know Ed thinks the world of him."

The evening is winding down, and there are only a few more souvenirs left to be auctioned.

"Here's a ball autographed by the 1957 Milwaukee Braves. Let's look at some of the names. Hank Aaron, Warren Spahn, Lew Burdette, Joe Adcock, Eddie Mathews.... Sold for $150.

"And here's a ball signed by the 1984 Cleveland Indians. If you think you just heard some big names, listen to these. Steve Farr. Tom Waddell. Mike Jeffcoat. Jerry Willard. Bert Blyleven. Hey, these names might not seem too important now, but someday.... Do I hear $2?"