Shoes on fire!! So begins a romp through pitchers’ territory with two pitching personalities who let it fly.
The Pitchers
Bert Blyleven is a Hall of Fame right-hander who came to the majors at age 19 with a curveball that HOF member Brooks Robinson described as “nasty…enough to make your knees buckle…a dominating pitcher.”
Bert won 287 games, with 3701 strikeouts and a no-hitter. He will tell you that of all the figures that brought him to the HOF, he takes great pride in a couple of other numbers that speak to durability and competitiveness.
Blyleven has a Jose Canseco story that Langston loves. Not many pitchers have followed a hitter out of the batter’s box on the way to first base, but leave that to Blyleven to explain.
A spitter in baseball? Could it be so? Again, Blyleven went to the well to learn about that pitch with a story that involves another HOF member.
Mark Langston had a 16-year MLB career with 179 wins, 7 gold gloves and four All-Star Game selections. Mark was a competitor against Blyleven when he pitched for Seattle and Bert was with the Indians and Twins.
The Rivalry
They only faced each other in three starts with Bert besting Mark in those games 2-1. However, their awareness of each other as opponents went well beyond those games.
These two would end up as teammates for two years-1990 and 1992-with the Angels. That’s when the rivalry really got “hot” as Mark will explain.
Bert gets Mark to tell the story of his first start with the Angels, when they were teammates, and what ended up being a game that became a piece of baseball history.
Neither has a problem remembering who they least wanted to see at the plate when they pitched and they’ll tell you why.
When two players who love the game and the stories that go with it come together to talk baseball, we all have an inside look that delights us as fans. Langston and Blyleven are those two you get to enjoy today.
Keep an eye on your shoes!
Further Listening:
Be sure to subscribe to the Sports Rivals podcast to listen to this rivalry on your favorite podcast app:
If you loved this episode, check out our others:
- The Crawl of Fame | Ep 1
- 1985 American League Championship | Ep 2
- Red Sox-Yankees Rivalry | Ep 3
- 1984 Tigers vs Blue Jays | Ep 4
- 2002 World Series | Giants vs Angels | Ep 5
- UCLA vs Arizona | NCAA Mens’ Basketball | Ep 6
- ACC College Basketball | MD vs VT | Ep 7
- Army vs Navy | NCAA Football | Ep 8
- GM vs Agent | Major League Baseball | Ep 9
- 1988 NLCS | Dodgers vs Mets | Ep 10
- In The Press Box | Nightengale vs Miller | Ep 11
- Reporters | Adamson vs Coakley | Ep 12
- Coaches | Raftery vs Carlesimo | Ep 13
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