When word spread that Bert Blyleven was finally voted to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, there was much celebration in the baseball blogosphere. The hard work of a small group of online writers had successfully shined light on one of the most underrated careers in baseball history. They proved Blyleven's career was much more than his win-loss record or the reputation of the teams he played for, it was a collection of the effects he could control, such as strikeouts, innings, and runs allowed.
Leading the charge in the pro-Blyleven camp was baseball writer Rich Lederer, one of the main voices for The Baseball Analysts. Starting way back in the pre-historic blog days of 2003, Lederer campaigned for Blyleven, seemingly winning over supporters one at a time. Of course, the effort worked, as votes for Blyleven increased every year to the point where he finally made it over the necessary threshold for induction.
For his tireless efforts, Lederer was finally able to meet Blyleven and play catch with his new Hall of Fame hero.
On a much smaller note, in honor of the pitching great's eventual induction, I have my own Blyleven story I would like to share. It's not really directly about Blyleven, but more about the effects of his teachings and the only bus leagues player I faced in the Eau Gallie Little League system.
From the late 1970s to the 1990s, the Minnesota Twins had a trainer by the name of Dick Martin. Martin was one of the best in his field - so much so that Baseball Prospectus named their Training Staff of the Year Award after him. A little known fact however, was that Dick Martin lived in Melbourne, Florida, home of the Twins' minor league training facility from 1964 to 1989 and coincidentally, the same town I grew up in.
Although I couldn't tell you anything about Dick Martin, I had a few encounters with his son, Tyler. During my heyday as a soft-tossing left-handed control specialist, my little league was dominated by the younger Martin. He was a flashy shortstop/pitcher with a golden arm and the most natural swing in the county. He was one of the few switch-hitters in the league and the only kid who could regularly hit the ball to the fence, if not over. But the most impressive thing about Martin was that he knew how to throw a curveball. While the rest of the league's moundsmen, myself included, learned the basic concepts of a changeup and struggled to control our erratic fastballs, Martin was breaking off 12-6 curves and forcing opposing coaches to teach their kids how to hit a pitch they themselves couldn't even hit, no less throw.
And who taught Tyler Martin this great equalizer? Rumor has it, it was Bert Blyleven. During the summer months, while young Tyler Martin filled in as a batboy for the Twins, he supposedly learned numerous tips and tricks from the ballplayers, tips that helped him destroy the confidence and smash the big league dreams of dozens, if not hundreds, of Melbourne-area little leaguers.
After wrecking havoc on our league, Tyler Martin played baseball at Mississippi State University, where he was part of teams that made the College World Series in 1997 and 1998. He would eventually also be drafted and toil for four seasons in the Rangers' minor league system before calling it a career in 2003.
Although nowhere near as cool as Lederer's story, playing in a league with Tyler Martin is my connection to Burt Blyleven.
