[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 9]
[Senate]
[Page 12286]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO BERT BLYLEVEN

  Mr. FRANKEN. Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to former 
Minnesota Twins pitcher Bert Blyleven, who this week received his 
sport's highest honor when he was inducted into the Major League 
Baseball Hall of Fame.
  To Bert, I offer hearty and well-deserved congratulations.
  To the rest of the baseball world, I ask the question: What took so 
long? In the 14 years since he first became eligible for the Hall of 
Fame, we in Minnesota all assumed that, with his rare talent and Hall 
of Fame numbers, Bert was a shoo-in, and for many of those 14 years he 
was considered the best player never to have been inducted. I am proud 
to say as a Minnesotan and a lifelong Twins fan that this year Bert 
Blyleven was officially voted into the Hall of Fame.
  People in Minnesota all know Bert belongs on the distinguished list 
of Minnesota Twins already in the Hall of Fame, including Harmon 
Killebrew, Rod Carew, and Kirby Puckett, as well as two other baseball 
greats who grew up in St. Paul, MN, and later played for the Twins and 
were inducted into the Hall of Fame: Paul Molitor and Dave Winfield. 
Each of them had Hall of Fame careers, and now Bert has finally joined 
them.
  Bert pitched 22 seasons in the Major Leagues, 11 of them for the 
Twins, but he also took his talents to Texas, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, 
and California. During his career, he won 287 games, he struck out an 
amazing 3,701 batters, and is fifth on the alltime career strikeout 
list, with more career strikeouts than pitching greats Tom Seaver, 
Walter Johnson, Bob Gibson, Greg Maddux, Cy Young, or even his boyhood 
idol, Sandy Koufax. He pitched 60 shutouts and led the league in 
shutouts three times. He had a career earned run average of just 3.31. 
He pitched 242 complete games, something that would be unheard of 
today. He played on two world championship teams: in Minnesota, with 
the 1987 Twins and in Pittsburgh. For Twins fans, we all know Bert was 
a major part of that 1987 Twins world championship team which we all 
revere for finally bringing a world championship to our State. And we 
won again in 1991.
  Bert mentioned in his acceptance speech on Sunday that he is the 
first Hall of Famer born in Holland. He moved to California as a child 
and became interested in baseball by watching Sandy Koufax pitch for 
the Dodgers. His father Joe, also a baseball fan, built him a pitcher's 
mound in the backyard, where he developed one of the best curveballs in 
baseball history. I would like to think if my dad had built me--no, I 
don't think so.
  Bert finished his playing career in 1992. In 1996, he rejoined the 
Twins in the broadcast booth, where for many years he and Dick Bremer 
have become familiar voices to Twins fans all over the upper Midwest. I 
personally love nothing more than watching a Twins game on TV and 
listening to Dick and Bert, who, in my humble opinion, are an 
authoritative and amazingly entertaining broadcast team.
  During broadcasts, Bert has created a phenomenon using his 
telestrator to circle Twins fans who, whether they are in the Target 
Field or on the road, are holding up signs that catch Bert's interest, 
and then he will circle them. There is no higher honor for a Twins fan 
than to be circled by Bert, and every game is packed with fans holding 
signs that simply say ``Circle Me, Bert.''
  It was great to see that Bert was joined at Sunday's induction 
ceremony by his wife Gayle, their children, Bert's siblings, and his 
mother Jenny. During his speech, Bert spoke about his father Joe, who 
died in 2004 of Parkinson's disease, saying, ``I know he is up there 
right now looking down.''
  In memory of his father, Bert and his wife Gayle started the ``Circle 
Me, Bert'' Web site to raise research money for the National Parkinson 
Foundation Minnesota. That says volumes about Bert Blyleven. Bert is 
known in Minnesota for his dedication to other charities and to the 
community there.
  So, once again, Bert, as a lifelong Twins fan, thank you and 
congratulations. After 14 years of waiting, you are hereby ``circled'' 
by the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame, where generations of fans 
from Minnesota and around the country and around the world will know of 
your career and of your amazing contributions to the game of baseball 
and to the community of Minnesota.
  Thank you very much. I yield the floor and maybe also put in a word 
for Tony Oliva and also suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak for 
15 minutes.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The 
Senator may speak for up to 15 minutes.

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