Paul Aaron Lindblad (August 9, 1941 – January 1, 2006) was an American

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

left-handed middle-relief pitcher. During his career, he pitched primarily for the Kansas City / Oakland Athletics. At the time of his retirement in 1978, he had recorded the seventh-most appearances (655) of any left-hander in history. Lindblad was born in

Chanute, Kansas Chanute () is a city in Neosho County, Kansas, United States. Founded on January 1, 1873, it was named after railroad engineer and aviation pioneer Octave Chanute. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 8,722. Chanute is home ...

. A member of three

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

championship teams, he was a solid

left-handed specialist In baseball, a left-handed specialist (also known as lefty specialist) is a relief pitcher who throws left-handed and specializes in pitching to left-handed batters, weak right-handed batters, and switch-hitters who bat poorly right-handed. Bec ...

in the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

for 14 seasons. A very fine fielder as well, he set a major league record by playing from 1966 to 1974 without making an

error An error (from the Latin ''error'', meaning "wandering") is an action which is inaccurate or incorrect. In some usages, an error is synonymous with a mistake. The etymology derives from the Latin term 'errare', meaning 'to stray'. In statistics ...

in 385 games. Lindblad was signed by the Kansas City Athletics in 1962, who moved to Oakland in 1968. His most productive season came in 1969, when he posted career highs with nine wins and nine saves. A year later he followed with an 8–2 mark, and in the 1971 midseason he was traded to the Washington Senators, who became the Texas Rangers a year later. With Texas, he led American League pitchers with 66 appearances in 1972. He returned to Oakland at the end of the season. Lindblad was the winning pitcher for Oakland in Game Three of the

1973 World Series The 1973 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1973 season. The 70th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the American League (AL) champion (and defending World Series ch ...

against the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

, by working shutout baseball in the ninth and tenth innings. In the 10th, he became the last pitcher faced by future

Hall of Famer A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actual halls or muse ...

Willie Mays Willie Howard Mays Jr. (born May 6, 1931), nicknamed "the Say Hey Kid" and "Buck", is a former center fielder in Major League Baseball (MLB). Regarded as one of the greatest players ever, Mays ranks second behind only Babe Ruth on most all-tim ...

, who grounded out as a

pinch-hitter In baseball, a pinch hitter is a substitute batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the ball is dead (not in active play); the manager may use any player who has not yet entered the game as a substitute. Unlike basketball, America ...

. In 1975, Lindblad had a 9–1 record with seven saves. On the final day of the regular season, he combined with

Vida Blue Vida Rochelle Blue Jr. (born July 28, 1949) is a former American professional baseball player. He was a left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball between and , most notably as an integral member of the Oakland Athletics dynasty that won thr ...

Glenn Abbott William Glenn Abbott (born February 16, 1951) is a former Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher and former pitching coach for the Syracuse Mets. During an 11-year baseball career, he pitched for the Oakland Athletics (1973–76), Seattle Mariners ...

, and Rollie Fingers on a no-hitter against the California Angels. He appeared in two games against the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eigh ...

in the ALCS. Lindblad came back to Texas for part of two seasons and made his final majors appearance with the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...

in Game One of the

1978 World Series The 1978 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1978 season. The 75th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the American League (AL) champion New York Yankees and the Natio ...

. He finished his career with a 68–63 record and 64 saves in 665 games. He posted a 3.29

ERA An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Comp ...

and

struck out In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is denote ...

671 batters in 1,213 innings pitched. Following his playing career, Lindblad joined the minor league baseball system as a pitching coach, and also worked as a custom home builder for several years. Lindblad died in 2006 from Alzheimer's disease in Arlington, Texas at the age of 64.World Series reliever Lindblad dies
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References

External links

Paul Lindblad
at Baseball Almanac
Paul Lindblad
at Baseball Biography

at Baseball Toaster *
Paul Lindblad
at Pura Pelota (Venezuelan Professional Baseball League) :
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lindblad, Paul 1941 births 2006 deaths Baseball players from Kansas Birmingham Barons players Burlington Bees players Neurological disease deaths in Texas Deaths from Alzheimer's disease Florida Instructional League Athletics players Leones del Caracas players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Major League Baseball pitchers Kansas City Athletics players New York Yankees players Oakland Athletics players People from Chanute, Kansas Texas Rangers players Vancouver Mounties players Washington Senators (1961–1971) players Neosho County Panthers baseball players