Topps 1971 Bert Blyleven (Rookie Card)
Future Hall-of-Famer Bert Blyleven debuted with Minnesota Twins on June 5, 1970. Blyleven pitched seven innings, giving up five hits and one earned run in a 2-1 victory over the Washington Senators.
Happy Bert Blyleven Day
The Twins will retire Bert Blyleven’s number Saturday night in a pregame ceremony at Target Field, putting No. 28 on an exclusive list that includes Harmon Killebrew’s No. 3, Tony Oliva’s No. 6, Kent Hrbek’s No. 14, Rod Carew’s No. 29 and Kirby Puckett’s No. 34.
For Blyleven, this kicks off a big week, leading up to his Hall of Fame induction on July 24 in Cooperstown, N.Y. First, he will be honored by the team that brought him to the big leagues in 1970.
“Target Field is going to be here a long time, and maybe 50 years from now, some kid will ask, ‘Who was No. 28?’ ” Blyleven said. “Hopefully their father or grandfather will explain what I did.”
Blyleven went 149-138 with a 3.28 ERA and 2,035 strikeouts over 11 seasons with the Twins. He was with them from 1970 to 1976 and returned from 1985 to ‘88.
- Joe Christensen, Minneapolis StarTribune
Congrats, Bert!
Nishioka went over to Danny Valencia and said, in his best English, ‘Try to use your glove next time.’
- Bert Blyleven (via upontheroofdeck)
(Source: lastbitofbreath)
via @minnesotatwins
Bert!
