Tributes Pour In For Vida Blue, Former A's & Giants Great Who Has Passed Away At The Age Of 73

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Former A's great Vida Blue has died, according to the team. Blue pitched for Oakland from 1969-77 and won three World Series with the Athletics. He also won the 1971 MVP and Cy Young award. He was 73 years old.

“There are few players with a more decorated career than Vida Blue,” the Oakland A's wrote on Twitter. “He was a three-time champion, an MVP, a six-time All-Star, a Cy Young Award winner, and an Oakland A’s Hall of Famer. Vida will always be a franchise legend and a friend. We send our deepest condolences to his family and friends during this arduous time.”

The A's traded Blue following the 1977 season to the San Francisco Giants. He pitched for the Giants for three seasons and started the 1978 All-Star Game for the National League. He became the first pitcher in history to start the All-Star Game for both leagues.

The Giants traded him to the Kansas City Royals following the 1982 season.

Blue pitched one season in Kansas City. Along with three other players, Major League Baseball suspended Blue for the 1984 season after spending three months in prison on a drug charge related to an attempted coacaine purchase.

Blue returned for one more season in 1985, pitching for the Giants. Following his playing career, he remained involved in baseball in the Bay Area, joining NBC Sports Bay Area as a baseball analyst.

Former pitcher Vida Blue of the Oakland Athletics speaks as he is inducted into the team's Hall of Fame before the game against the Texas Rangers at the RingCentral Coliseum on September 21, 2019 in Oakland, California.

Former pitcher Vida Blue of the Oakland Athletics speaks as he is inducted into the team's Hall of Fame before the game against the Texas Rangers at the RingCentral Coliseum on September 21, 2019 in Oakland, California. (Photo by Jason O. Watson/Getty Images)

Vida Blue is not in the Hall of Fame despite great career with the A's, Royals and Giants

Despite his strong career, Blue is not a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame. He believes his issues with substance abuse contributed to his exclusion.

"I had some issues in my life that might have had a tendency to sway voting," Blue said after falling off the Hall of Fame ballot in 1995, according to CBS Sports. "There are some guys in the Hall of Fame who don't have halos."

Blue had his issues, but most in the game had tremendous respect for him as a player and a person.

Tributes continue to come in on Sunday following the announcement of his passing.

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Dan began his sports media career at ESPN, where he survived for nearly a decade. Once the Stockholm Syndrome cleared, he made his way to Outkick. He is secure enough in his masculinity to admit he is a cat-enthusiast with three cats, one of which is named “Brady” because his wife wishes she were married to Tom instead of him.