Thursday, May 20, 1971
OAKLAND FLAMETHROWER:
Ace Vida makes
OAKLAND (MP -- Vida Blue, continue his football ca
the hottest pitching property in scholarship.
baseball today, faced an embar- "But my father died
rassing situation after he signed I left high school. '2
with the Oakland Athletics four biggest reason I went
years ago. ball," says Blue, who
He had to tell A's ownes en on the second rou
Charles O. Finley that his name free agent draft and s
didn't carry any w sight in the A's in August 1967.
Mansfield, La., Blue's home Also, he missed fin
town. as a senior and didn't
"I remember that the first ploma until after goin
thing he asked for after he mer school.
signed was a dozen baseballs. "My life just got a
I told him to go buy them at up that year," he say
the hardware store and charge Now he helps suppor
them to me," Finley recalls. sisters and a brother,
"But they wouldn't give him all younger, and spend
any. We had to send him a ters in Mansfield. Ther
box of baseballs from Oakland.,, off-season opportunitii
baseball player in tt
Blue, who once preferred west Louisiana town o
throwing a football, is now They also put Blue
throwing baseballs past Amers- convertible over the w
can League batters with star- drove him around tom
ting regularity, two high school bands
"He's a young Sandy Kou- Blue Day," celebratin
fax," says A's Manager Dick hitter he threw again
Williams of his 21year-old left- sota Twins last Sept.
handed pitching star. "His po- Blue also had a
tential is unlimited. His present against Kansas City,
looks pretty good, iOo. after the A's brought
Koufax, the former Los Ange- from their Iowa farm
les Dodgers southpaw, was 27 the A m e r i c a n A
years old and his ninth season where he was 12-3.
with the team before he had his "Not bringing him
first 20-victory year, might have cost us ou
Blue, starting his first full sea- title," Finley says. ,
son with the A's, owns an 8-1 re- But the A's felt t
cord. He could be the game's who was rushed to th
next 30-game winner. in 1969 and hit hard,
Denny McLain, who won 31 full season in .Class A
games for the Detroit Tigers ball to work on his co
in 1968, got his eighth victory regain confidence.
on May 29th and his ninth on He was 10-3 with
June 5. ham, Ala., of the Class
Blue once dreamed of quarter- thern Association in 19
backing the Baltimore Colts, and joining the A's in Jo
he earned the nickname "Golden games against Americs
Arm" in high school, where he batters, he gave up 13 h
threw 35 touchdown passes his a n hda21 igearned
senior year. age in 42 innings.
Grambling was one of several "Everyone in the 1
colleges which wanted him to knew I couldn't cot

THE MICHIGAN DAILY
batters blue

areer on a
d the year
That's the
into base-
was chos-
nd of the
igned with
al exams
get a di-
g to sum-
ll messed
,s.
rt his four
who are
is his win-
re are few
es for a
he North-
 3:000.
in a red
winter and
wn behind
on "Vida
g the no-
st Minne-
21.
one-hitter,
last fall
t him up
n club in
ssociation,
up earlier
r division
lhat Blue,
e majors
needed a
.AA base-
ontrol and
Birming-
s AA Sou-
969 before
ly. In 12
a League
home runs
run aver-
ball park
ntrol my

breaking ball. They'd just lean
back and wait for my fast ball,"
says Blue.
After reeling off eight straight
victories this year, he had
walked just 28 batters in 77
innings, had 81 strikeouts and an
ERA of 1.27.
Blue credits A's pitching
coach Bill Posedel ind major
league veteran Juan Pizarro, a
teammate at Iowa last year,
with solving his control prob-
lems.
" "They both told me to take
a shorter stride when I threw my
curve ball," he explains.
"He got his feet on the ground
last year," says Phil Seghi, the
A's farm director, "He had to
get over that hump control.
Some young pitchers never do.
He's just done it in a big way."
Of the Oakland ace, Frank
Robinson of the Baltimore Ori-
oles said, "As young as he is, it
might be a good idea to give him
five days rest someitmes. With
him, they've got to be thinking
about the next 10 years."
Dick Williams will use Blue
every fourth or fifth day, though
he sympathizes with Robinson.
"Vida has pitched against
Baltimore, the world cham-
pions, twice now and they've
scored one run in 18 innings,"
Williams notes.
Robinson, with just one single
in six at-bats against Blue, may,
suggest an even longer rest per-
iod for the pitcher the next time
around.
Choose a
Hairstylist
without risking
a bad haircut
NOW 4 SHOPS
" ARBORLAND
" MAPLE VILLAGE
" LIBERTY OFF STATE
* EAST UNIV. AT SO. UNIV.
THE DASCOLA BARBERS

Page Eleven
Gridders set to tour Vietnam
KANSAS CITY OPl -- Eight days. The date of their departure
college football players will was not announced.
visit U.S. servicemen in the Pa- Tommy Casanova, Louisiana
State defensive halfback; Ernie
cific-area hospitals and in Viet- Cook, Minnesota fullback; Siny-
nam this summer, lie Gebhart, Georgia Tech defen-
The National Collegiate Ath- sive end; and Curt Watson, Ten-
letic Association announced that nessee fullback, will tour the
Johnny Musso, Alabama half- Pacific-area hospitals for six-
back; Lydell Mitchcil, Penn teen days.
State halfback; Stan Maudlin,
Texas linebacker; and Rocky The visits are being sponsored
Long, New Mexico quarterback by the Department )f Defense in
will visit Vietnam for twenty cooperation with the NCAA.
_ /
Liberty Inn Lounge
PIANO BAR
112 W. Liberty-Ann Arbor
FEATURING THE INCREDIBLE
Dave Alexander
Blues Pianist
Star of the Ann Arbor Blues Festival
THURS., FRI. AND SAT. NIGHTS
.r.
} }y4"= ;+ '" 14 " ,,.1' r t" 't'e.4-l ' ,tr. r r1;,a

The Appetite-
BRAWNY BEEF
69c
Lots of beef for ittle bread
Scotty's
3362 Washtenaw Ave. (Just up from Arborland)


,.,,

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