Out of the Blue

Only eight days earlier he is down in the minor leagues, at Class AAA Iowa to be exact.

He is dominating the American Association there, winning 12 of 15 decisions before the Oakland Athletics decide to bring him back to the major leagues.

His initial return on Sept. 7, 1970 does not go so well, giving up four runs on seven hits and two walks in only four innings against the Chicago White Sox.

No matter.

The A’s give another start to the 21-year-old rookie 54 years ago today in their game against the Royals in Kansas City.

This start goes better.

Much better as the rookie – a hard-throwing lefty from Louisiana named Vida Blue – does not allow a hit until Pat Kelly’s two-out single to right field in the eighth inning. Blue ends up with a one-hitter in Oakland’s 3-0 victory before a Friday night crowd of 6,993 at Kansas City’s old Municipal Stadium.

Blue does even better 10 days later, when on Sept. 21, 1970 he no-hits the Minnesota Twins in a 6-0 victory at Oakland.

Only a walk to future Hall of Famer Harmon Killebrew in the fourth inning keeps Blue from pitching a perfect game.

Not surprisingly, Blue never spends another day in the minor leagues, going on to a 17-year career in which he wins 209 games, a Cy Young Award, an MVP award and three World Series titles with Oakland.