Bert Blyleven

Rik Aalbert Blijleven, born in Zeist, Netherlands, in 1951, is a Dutch American former professional baseball pitcher. He grew up in Garden Grove, California, and was drafted by the Minnesota Twins right after high school in 1969, graduating to the Majors the following year, and named American League Rookie of the Year by The Sporting News.

Blyleven pitched in the Majors from 1970 to 1992, and was notorious for his curveball which, according to Brooks Robinson, "was nasty I'll tell you that. Enough to make your knees buckle. Bert was a terrific pitcher – a dominant pitcher."

Blyleven went on to play for the Texas Rangers, the California Angels, the Pittsburgh Pirates (winning the 1979 World Series) the Cleveland Indians (leading the American League in shutouts in 1985, and pitching 293 2/3 innings & completing 24 games - which no pitcher has done since), returned to the Minnesota Twins (exceeding 3,000 strikeouts and winning the 1987 World Series), and the California Angels (again leading the league in shutouts).

Since 1996, Blyleven has been doing color commentary for the Minnesota Twins, leading to his mastery of the "Circle Machine" (the telestrator, which permits on-screen highlighting by the commentator), which in turn gave rise to the Circle Me Bert phenomenon. Blyleven and his wife Gayle have leveraged the Circle Me Bert craziness into an opportunity to raise money for a cause close to their hearts, the fight to end Parkinson's Disease.