he "must have gotten the contract concessions he wanted." The 1977 season proved to arguably be Blue's worst in the majors, going 14-19 with a 3.83 ERA and leading the AL both in hits and earned runs surrendered. Blue was finally traded in March of 1978, to the San Francisco Giants for Gary Thomasson, Gary Alexander, Dave Heaverlo, John Henry Johnson, Phil Huffman, Alan Wirth and $300,000. Mario Guerrero was sent to the Athletics just over three weeks later on April 7 to complete the transaction. San Francisco Giants In 1978, Blue went 18-10 with a 2.79 ERA as he led the Giants to 89 wins and a third-place finish in the National League West Division, which was won by the Los Angeles Dodgers. His great year was rewarded as he won the Sporting News National League Pitcher of the Year. He, along with Chili Davis, were the last players before Ichiro Suzuki to wear a name on the back of their uniforms other than their surname, both having done so with the Giants. Blue went 14-14 with a career worst 5.01 ERA as a full-time starter in 1979, 14-10 with a 2.97 ERA again in 1980, and 8-6 with a 2.45 ERA once more in 1981, a strike-interrupted season. No longer the power pitcher he once was, his strike-out totals (per inning pitched) had fallen by half since his youthful peak. Kansas City Royals The 32 year-old Blue joined the Kansas City Royals to start the 1982 season, dealt that March for promising young lefty Atlee Hammaker in a six-man swap. He went 13-12 with a 3.78 ERA in 31 starts in 31 appearances for a 2nd place club that had improved dramatically from a sub-.500 team in 1981. The bottom fell out, however, in 1983, with Blue going 0-5 with a 6.01 ERA in 19 appearances, 13 of them starts. Some time that season a remarkable skein where Blue had started every single game he had appeared in at least since 1973 - a minimum of 340 consecutive starts - but for a single relief appearance in 1976 (when he earned a save finishing that game) came to an end. A workhorse who had averaged 34 starts and approximately 250 innings pitched per year across an entire decade (including the shortened 111-game 1981 San Francisco season), Blue had also started 23 of 25 games in 1972, possibly extending