Todd has also found it helpful to connect with other victims. But after obsessing and fretting all those years about his role in life, hes learned that his profession is secondary to the impact he can have on his family and on this world by listening to others, by helping others and by respecting how short and precious life is. All I wanted to do from that time, he says now, was get back to my wife. After the ballgame, everyones still laughing going, Gotcha, gotcha! Blyleven said. What do you know about baseball? Todd asked her. On April 30, 1980, Blyleven, then pitching for the Pirates, walked out during the season, informing the team that if it didnt trade him, he would, at 29 years old, retire. He had legs and arms that worked, and he wanted to put them to work. Thats when Bert Blyleven the pitcher was born. He and Cathie married and had two children -- a son, Dylan, and a daughter, Gracie. Grissom laid the chair, still folded, on the mound and told Blyleven to pitch. Hes going to get you back tomorrow. . Though the shooting finally stopped soon thereafter, Todd kept going, running from body to body, checking pulses and carrying who he could. Jenny Blyleven wasnt eager to leave home, but Bert recalls her saying years later that shed follow Joe anywhere., Jenny and Joe met when they were 13 years old and World War II was raging. He could have all kinds of fun before the game, sometimes even during it, but when he was on the mound or negotiating a contract, helping one of his teammates in a dispute with ownership or simply expressing an opinion, he spoke up for what he believed was right. A madman with an arsenal of 14 AR-15 and eight AR-10-type rifles, a bolt-action rifle and a revolver had opened fire on the concert crowd from his suite on the 32nd floor. But if youre looking for apologies or regrets or even lengthy explanations, you wont get them from Blyleven. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2011. Then he found a younger woman who had been shot twice, laying near the beer cart where he and his group had once cowered. The ring was one of his most prized possessions. It goes by so quick, so enjoy every moment. But when the plane landed, peace initially prevailed. Once the game starts, Im in heaven as a broadcaster. What I've learned now, in dealing with my own anxiety, is that it's not something you just get over, Todd says. Every time he talked about baseball, she says, his whole face lit up.. As for the 2002 World Series ring -- a symbol of achievement that now carries a different connotation -- Todd tucked it away in a drawer. At night, theyd trek over to the three-day music festival, set on an acre-long patch of asphalt in the shadows of the Mandalay Bay Resort. Then he looked his son in the eye. Kaat, then pitching for the Twins in the 12th season of his own 25-year career, remembers how polished Blyleven seemed so quickly. Bert figured the same son tough enough to quietly nurse a broken arm in the Pirates clubhouse would eventually shake off this experience, too. He was and is unafraid, unabashed and completely confident whether on the mound or in the clubhouse, whether lighting someones shoelaces, posing for a photo wearing a I (tm) to fart, T-shirt, or counting down in the broadcast booth to his Bert-day and circling fans with his Telestrator. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2011. 01 Jan 2023 22:11:39 And then, I ended up doing all of them. He still to this day (does it), and its like, Dad, that is so gross. He thought it was so funny to fart everywhere, and theyre not like, non-smelling.Hes the only person ever, at least that I know, who can fart on command. I think hes given me credit for that over the years, but its up to him to make that decision. Knowing something was coming, Blyleven arrived at the ballpark the next day and stuffed all his clothes in the safe under his locker. What he says is going to gain more respect than somebody who just has minor league experience.. Todd looked his father, his idol, in the eye. Then there was the year during the winter meetings that Blyleven again wanted to negotiate a contract. In Los Angeles -- and, eventually, Dallas, where the Blylevens moved in 2017 -- an aversion to freeways is a complicating factor in day-to-day life. The 430 he allowed are eighth-most on the all-time list. At this timely, he is the color commentator for the Minnesota Twins on Fox Sports North. Its too bad (Josh) Donaldson got hurt already. It really does show me that there are some good people in the world.. Like so many others who would selflessly serve others that night, he was willing to risk his life. Bert Blyleven (born Rik Aalbert Blijleven, April 6, 1951) is a Dutch-American former professional baseball pitcher who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1970 to 1992, primarily with the Minnesota Twins. Gayle has the experience of living in two different cities: North Prairie, WI and Mukwonago, WI. We went on a Winter Caravan after his rookie season, and we were talking on the bus. With his head pounding, he asked a SWAT team member to stand watch outside a bathroom. I aint getting in this thing. . He remains proud of all the hot foots he ignited, all the shoes he froze and the clothes he stole, but he does have a few favorites. But Blylevens fighting spirit, whether something to boast of or shy away from, seemed destined for a big stage. And then I would go down to junior varsity and pitch there. And yet, at home, he wasnt always pulling on the same rope as his wife. In the Three Rivers Stadium dugout, they gathered, yearning for spiritual insight and a baseball spark. Browse Locations Hopkins, MN(1) Inver Grove Heights, MN(1) Lakeville, MN(2) Lonsdale, MN(1) Mankato, MN(1) Minneapolis, MN(2) Rosemount, MN(1) Saint Paul, MN(4) Sleepy Eye, MN(1) He had been raised for a moment like this. Something had to change. Find Gayle Kipp's phone number, address, and email on Spokeo, the leading online directory for contact information. Please just get inside.. His zodiac sign is Aries More about Bert Blyleven Photo Gallery Bert Blyleven Bert Blyleven Bert Blyleven As is usually the case in the transient world of professional sports, the members of the 79 Pirates drifted apart in the ensuing years. He was very recognizable, very personable, and somebody that I looked up to. Timothy was treated and released, but it was later decided to hospitalize him for observation and testing. At one point, he set a person down at an ambulance, and someone standing behind him spoke up. We were down right on the field. Dad! the son said, huffing. He grabbed her boot with one hand, her wrist with the other. Other pitchers like Don Sutton, guys that I thought my numbers were comparable to, I thought four or five years, maybe the sixth year, is when youll see that big increase. He alerted another nurse to her. And when he began to hear screams in the crowd and saw the light flashing from a room about three-quarters of the way up the 43-floor building, he knew. The Twins pitching has been outstanding. Major League teams scouted Todd. During the off-season, Blyleven enjoys spending time with his family and playing golf "three or four times per week." He shot a 73 on the day I first spoke to him. A player needs 75 percent to get into the Hall of Fame, but Blyleven wasnt too worried; he knew he wasnt a first-ballot player. Thomas Blyleven, 6, was ejected from the vehicle and suffered two broken arms. He carried her out and set her near a squad car where a nurse had begun to set up a makeshift triage unit. 34 records for Gayle Kipp. And it continued to serve as a guiding light when the We Are Family Bucs won Games 6 and 7 in Baltimore to capture the crown. And that goes [for anyone who] experiences a traumatic event. Todd interpreted that dream to mean he is not alone, that some higher power protected him and allowed him to get back safely to his wife and kids. They turned off all the lights and hid in a hallway, waiting for the terror to end. But he never advanced past Double-A ball, never got to live out that goal of doing as his dad had done. If you pull together, if you work as a team the man said, you can overcome the odds.. For me to just expect my beautiful wife to just get over [her driving anxiety] because it's a burden on me and maybe I have to drive the kids to their games or whatever? He has also called Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball and Minnesota Golden Gophers football and hockey. 2 records for Gayle Blyleven. Blyleven finds the poetry of this year pleasing, that 2011 and Blyleven makes a nice campaign slogan, and so now he jokes that perhaps there was some sort of cosmic fate that made the wait so long. They are involved in helping raise funds for Parkinson's Association and other charitable . It allows me to process the good parts and the bad parts and to lean more on the goodness of things -- the love, people coming out to help, the selfless acts, being back with my wife -- and really appreciate where Im at today.. At all. If it worked, he kept doing it. According to our records, Bert Blyleven is possibly single. This was Todds nature, to help those in need. Blyleven will be around as a special instructor at times in Fort Myers, the Florida home to the Twins, and also to Blyleven and his wife, Gayle, Quite a half-century journey, from the wide-eyed 18 . Authorities said Blyleven's wife, Patricia,. I can see her at the Otesaga Hotel its just this beautiful mansion. And though he did his best to look out for his teammates, he also took great care in looking out for himself. Thats about the time he met Cathie Illiano, who brought a different kind of love to his life. My shoulder just never responded to the surgery I had, and it was kind of time to retire. And then my sophomore year, I got to pitch on a regular basis. For better or worse, with him, what you see is what you get. They picked a place where they could return to their relationships roots. (262) 363-3289 (Centurytel of Midwest . I think we went from Kansas City to Detroit, somebody brought a sign that said, We drove 446 miles from Detroit Lakes to see the Twins. And so I circled the sign and then it just kind of blossomed from there. Blyleven recorded 3,701 career strikeouts, the fifth-most in MLB history. The night of the shooting, Bert had received a call from his daughter, Kim, alerting him to what was happening at the concert Todd and Cathie were attending. Todd knew the shooter must be reloading. Blyleven admits his frustration with the voting process boiled over in 2001 when he hastily beseeched baseball writers to leave him off their ballots to end his annual misery. You can view more information below including images, social media accounts, and more. Would you just try and go over to the third-base side? I needed that softness, I needed that hug, I needed to kiss, I needed to know that this is not normal and that everythings gonna be fine.. Back at the venue, with the bullets still raining, Todd ventured into a sequence of events he would later piece together in therapy and share in media accounts. Earlier this month, sitting in a downtown Minneapolis diner, cutting up his eggs and buttering his toast, Blyleven talked about all the things he was looking forward to about his induction, about the speech hed write (I know my first line, he said with a grin, is going to be, Are we live? ), about his fight to get in the Hall of Fame and about his unwavering belief that he belongs in Cooperstown. Its not all about baseball and business. That time, Blyleven wanted the major league job and touted his candidacy at the expense of then-Twins pitching coach Dick Such, saying, Nothing against Dick Such, but I think its important when a pitching coach comes to the mound that the pitcher knows that he has 287 career big-league wins. (Jose) Berrios, for example, I like what he did after my suggestion. Circle Me, Bert? Gayle Gayle in Minnesota 622 people named Gayle Gayle found in Saint Paul, Lakeville and 8 other cities. So what is a double? Once the authorities gave the clearance for people to leave the Tropicana, Todd headed in the direction of his wife, and she him. Every team had a catchers glove and gear. His percentage had slipped from 53 percent to 47 percent in the previous two elections, and this time, he made. The Astros visited his home and offered him a signing bonus commensurate with a second-round pick in advance of the 1990 Draft. But I will be up in Minnesota, doing what Rod Carew and Harmon Killebrew have done, and also what Tony (Oliva) does for the club, just being a good ambassador. Through eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), he has been able to piece together the events of a night that had felt like a blur in its immediate aftermath. Blyleven seems content perched up in the broadcast booth, a place where he has ingratiated himself as part of the Twins baseball experience. Hours after the shooting stopped, Todd continued doing his part among a horde of helpers tending to those in need. In the past, Nancy has also been known as Nancy G Blyleven, Nancy Kipp, Nancy Blylevenkipp, Gail Gallman and Gayle Blyleven. So I ended up circling this young man who was sitting up in the upper deck, and one thing led to another. Bert married Gayle Blyleven. Roof got his revenge. There were nine of us, seven kids, and to go out and get a glove and shoes, and sign up for Little League cost a lot of money. He ranks fifth all-time among pitchers in strikeouts, 14th in innings pitched, and 27th in wins. And in the back, theres a beautiful lake. If you give up 50 home runs in a season, youre not backing off of anybody, the hall of famer said. It was 6:30 a.m. Todd, Cathie and all the survivors of the Las Vegas shooting ventured into the first day of their permanently altered lives. And as she began to read reports that the shooter was still active -- and what turned out to be erroneous reports that other shooters may be active in the area -- she began to let herself ponder and fear the worst. He has four children and two step-children. Todd came from that more hard-edged background, where you tough your way through adversity. Anthony Castrovince has been a reporter for MLB.com since 2004. ", Todd: "I got married to live happily ever after and not to upset my wife and make her life a living hell. Those are the words Aldean was singing as Todd, dressed in a white checkered shirt and a cowboy hat and boots that were a gift from Cathie, spun and dipped his niece, Brianna, near the back of the venue. When Todd and Cathie go out to eat, they find a table where they can position their backs against a wall and where they have a view of the entire restaurant. All the rooms are old-fashioned, the wood floors, all that. Bert just finished his ninth season as the color analyst for the Minnesota Twins. Todd turned to find an off-duty EMT, who had been following his path. It was their decision, it was not mine. All the other stuff is secondary. The pitcher, Roof remembered, had to change three times before the game began. I want the weekend to be for her, he said. That affirmation from the man he admired meant a great deal to Todd. I always pictured somebody at home who just went to work from 8 to 5, had dinner with their family, maybe put their feet up on their recliner and turned on the Twins game. They bought their tickets to the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas. But his affinity for his local Orange County team couldnt surpass his love of two Dodgers pitchers Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale. And on this patio, they put these rocking chairs, and I can see my mother sitting there on those rocking chairs. Todd explained that the baseball world -- a world Cathie had experienced only briefly in a couple stray trips to Angel Stadium as a kid -- was his dads world and, by extension, his own world. We need to get out of here! he shouted. A trip meant to be a revival was off to a rough start. I was to be in spring training for three weeks, but because of the virus and everything, I was not able to do that this spring. The Hall of Famer listened intently as his son detailed his experience. One of the women, Sayeh Kahn, remembers Rachael as a selfless, spirited soul who loaned her money for college after her mother died. You are reading his story because he is the son of Hall of Famer Bert Blyleven, and with that profile comes the recognition of what he risked. . I started playing baseball when I was about nine years old. Bob Sansevere can be heard Tuesdays and Thursdays on the KQRS Morning Show, and he does a daily podcast called The BS Show, which can be listened to live on the Tom Barnard digital radio network or downloaded via iTunes, Stitcher or thebsshow.net. He lifted her up and carried her outside to a car that could take her to the hospital. I made the varsity team as a freshman, but I mainly played in the outfield because they had a couple of real good pitchers. He can still remember how brightly that ring shone when he was first presented with it in then-Angels general manager Bill Stonemans office. Whats a strike? According to Molitor, that wasnt a bad thing. But you know, it goes to show that people who aren't first responders for a living can act in such a way. Click on the image to see them & other memorabilia signed by Bert. Yeah, theres a lot of people that watch it day in and day out, but theres one person or maybe a handful thats never seen a game. Finally, this year, 79.7 percent of voters put him on their ballots. What you did is incredible, Bert said. Country music. Blyleven remembers it a little differently, going back to the day then-Twins pitching coach Marv Grissom took him out to the mound with nothing but a ball, a glove, a folding chair and the goal of getting Blyleven to open up his delivery and use the lower half of his body. and 2 phone numbers associated with Gayle in area codes such as 239. And they eagerly awaited the festivals Sunday, Oct. 1., grand finale, featuring headliner Jason Aldean. Find Gayle Blyleven's phone number, address, and email on Spokeo, the leading online directory for contact information. You never quit learning the game. I think, if he wasnt taught to play baseball, he would have been a policeman, maybe a fireman. Todd pulled the large man behind the wheel out of the vehicle and dragged him about 20 yards to safety. And though Cathie was dispassionate about the sport, listening to Todd discuss it so enthusiastically allowed her to see what he could not. They were childhood sweethearts, and Bert clearly admires their relationship still, remembering fondly his dad whom Bert said he takes after in work ethic, stubbornness and sense of humor coming home from work and telling jokes of varying degrees of appropriateness, and a still-smitten Jenny mustering only a slight eye roll and a sheepish, Oh, Joe.. The Dutchman didnt stay long in his native country. When his outing was complete, he returned to the visitors' clubhouse to find Todd sitting by his locker, holding his left arm. But with a growing appreciation of Blylevens achievements, thanks in large part to an Internet campaign spurred by Rich Lederer of baseballanalysts.com, his percentages kept climbing. Yet something about that chapel service and that message always stuck with Todd. Blylevens pedigree was enough to make him a free-agent signee of the Angels after his junior year, and he went on to pitch five seasons in the Minor Leagues. The four were transported by air ambulance to two hospitals in Orange, near the familys home in Villa Park. When Todd and his family visited California in the summer of 2018, Sayeh and the other friend (who asked not to be named) were able to meet him in person. Thats kind of what helps stamp a guys ticket to the Hall of Fame, the strikeouts and the shutouts, former Twins pitcher Jim Kaat said. Today, hes fortunate they didnt listen. He said, Bert told me to tell you, if you look back at the catcher one more time, hes going to drill you, Molitor said. As he ran, though, Todd spotted a man carrying a younger woman, probably 18 or 19 years old. The dream inspired him to design a large tattoo for his right arm. When Dylan was just a baby, Cathie got into a car accident that created severe anxiety issues from that day forward. For the first few years of Blylevens career, he spent much of his time watching and listening and learning. When the whole [Blyleven] family gets together, they have tons of fun, says Cathie, but there's just not as much emotion as I was used to in my family.. His reason, he told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, was the non-support and lack of confidence from manager Chuck Tanner. Minnesota was playing Kansas City, and a Twins hitter had been plunked by a pitch early in the game. Whether you ran back in or you ran out or you ran away, there was no right or wrong. And so Fox (Sports North) was nice enough to allow me to do a hundred games for five years. The Twins traded him to the Angels that offseason. But with that not-so-chance second chance, they got it right. Todd was living proof of the good that can come from people pulling together. It took Harmon four years to get in, he said of Twins icon Harmon Killebrew. But it is what it is and you move on. Genealogy profile for Melissa-Gayle Blyleven Melissa-Gayle Blyleven - Genealogy View Melissa-Gayle Blyleven's genealogy family tree on Geni, with over 230 million profiles of ancestors and living relatives. Then he hit him with that question posed with typical Dutch directness. The incongruity in Todds life was that, while he struggled to meet the needs of his bride, he was always eager to help strangers. Beyond the actions of law enforcement and medical personnel were the ordinary concert attendees who cared for the wounded, led others to safety, performed CPR, made tourniquets, and drove victims to the hospital. He had visions of conquering the corporate world, yet no game plan or experience to realize them. And the message mattered most when Todd needed it most -- on the night of the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history. Everything I do seems to upset you and I know I will never be able to overcome the stupid mistakes I've made and how I ignored your anxiety issues. 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