Former Birmingham A's pitcher, three-time World Series champion Vida Blue dies at 73

Former Birmingham A's pitcher Vida Blue died Saturday, according to a statement from the Oakland Athletics. He was 73.

Blue pitched one season in Birmingham, starting 14 games for the A's double-A affiliate that played at Rickwood Field in 1969. During his time in Birmingham, Blue had a 10-3 record with a 3.20 earned run average, striking out 112 batters over 104 innings. He pitched eight complete games and had one shutout.

Before the 1969 season wrapped up, Blue was called up to Oakland for his major league debut. The following year, Blue became the fourth-youngest pitcher to ever throw a no-hitter. In 1971, he won a Cy Young Award and an MVP after posting a 24-8 record with a 1.82 ERA. He's won of 10 players to ever win the Cy Young and MVP in the same season.

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Blue went on to win three World Series titles with Oakland including when he started the decisive Game 5 in 1974 when the Athletics beat the Los Angeles Dodgers for the team's third straight title. During his career, Blue was named an all-star six times before he retired in 1986.

Blue finished 209-161 with a 3.27 ERA, 2,175 strikeouts, 143 complete games and 37 shutouts over 17 seasons with Oakland (1969-77), San Francisco (1978-81, 85-86) and Kansas City (1982-83).

In 2002, Blue returned to Birmingham to throw out the first pitch at Rickwood Field before the Birmingham Barons played in its annual Rickwood Classic game.