http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Steve Blass never thought when he started his career pitching for the Pirates that 50 years later he'd still be with the organization.To be fair, Blass was 18 years old and just out of high school.
He didn't think 50 minutes ahead in life, let alone 50 years.
"You have no idea, no sense of time or the passage of time when you're 18," Blass said. "You think you're going to live forever, never get old, none of that stuff. All I knew was that I wanted to play baseball and the Pirates gave me that chance."
Monday, the Pirates will honor Blass' 50th season with the team at the home opener against the Houston Astros. Pregame ceremonies begin at 12:50 p.m., when Blass, accompanied by family and close friends, will be presented with a gift, address the crowd and watch a video tribute.
Then, almost 35 years to the day since his arm betrayed him for the last time in the Major Leagues, Blass will throw out the first pitch to his 1971 World Series-winning battery mate Manny Sanguillen.
"So many things have happened (since my last game on April 18, 1974), but in retrospectm, it just sometimes seems like a flash, like it went by in an hour," Blass said. "Sometimes, it seems like it was so long ago I never did any of those things."
Oh, but he did, and the numbers still impress.
Blass went 103-76 in his 10-year career with 78 of those wins coming between 1968 and 1972. He was a 1972 All-Star, and in 1971, registered two complete-game wins in the World Series against the Baltimore Orioles, allowing just seven hits in 18 innings with a 1.00 ERA.
The second game was Game 7, and he is still the last NL pitcher to throw a complete game in Game 7 of a World Series.
Then, his career suddenly, inexplicably and famously went off the rails in 1972 when Blass' control abandoned him. In his last game — and his only game in 1974 — the once-clutch pitcher allowed five hits and eight runs, walked seven and struck out two in five innings, and that was that.
10/7/72-Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-Pirates Steve Blass fires first pitch of National League play-off, 10/7, to Reds' Pete Rose. Rose flied out. Catcher is Manny Sanguillen. Umpire is Augie Donatelli.
Blass, 66, remained involved with the team through appearances, speaking engagements and clinics and started working with Bob Prince on the broadcast team in 1983. These days, Blass still broadcasts home games and is involved with the Pirates Caravan, the alumni group and fantasy camp.
If it weren't for his involvement in the fantasy camp, Blass might not be throwing out the first pitch tomorrow.
It was there, 10 years ago, Blass finally threw the ball again.
First, it was just to play catch with Bob Walk. Then, he got on the mound and threw to Pirates Triple-A manager Trent Jewett. Next, he tried it with a batter — a psychologist named Richard Crowley, who was the one who encouraged Blass to throw again in the first place — and then, finally, a fantasy camp participant.
He's been pitching at the camps ever since.
"I absolutely treasure it," he said of time spent throwing the ball. "I hadn't touched a ball in over 20 years and I rediscovered the joy of throwing the ball again. I'd missed it terribly and it was wonderful.
"It became the realization of a fantasy of mine."
Working only home games has allowed Blass more time for luxuries such as a leisurely drive back from spring training in Florida with his wife, Karen, playing golf along the way and reconnecting with old teammates, albeit under less-than-ideal circumstances.
On Thursday, Blass represented the Pirates by throwing out the first pitch at BB&T Coastal Field in Myrtle Beach, S.C., as the Myrtle Beach Pelicans (A-Atlanta Braves) honored former pitching coach — and former Blass teammate — Bruce Dal Canton, who died last fall.
The rest of the time is spent happily indulging the every whim of his five grandchildren, ages 21 and 18 who live in Connecticut, and ages 15, 5 and 4 in Pittsburgh.
"They own their grandfather and they abuse that ownership terribly," Blass said. "And I enjoy every minute of it."
Blass-ic memoriesSteve Blass' top five Pirates memories, in no particular order (except, maybe, the first)
Game 7 of the 1971 World Series: Blass still vividly remembers every detail about the game in which the Pirates beat the Baltimore Orioles, 2-1, to win their fourth World Series title. Blass remains the last NL pitcher to throw a complete game in Game 7 of the World Series. "I can tell you every pitch," he said.
Signing his first professional contract out of high school on June 23, 1960: The contract was for one year, paying a $4,000 bonus and $250 a month. "I thought I was stealing," Blass said.
First major-league game, May 10, 1964: "That's a day every major-leaguer can remember. You can remember what temperature it was, what everyone wore, because that's the day you dream about."
First major-league win, May 13, 1964: "I can tell you chapter and verse about that," he said. "It was in Dodger Stadium, mecca of baseball and pitching. There were 50,000 people there and I'm from a town of 800. I went to warm up and said, 'What in God's name am I doing out here?' And I was playing against Don Drysdale. It was a dream come true."
Playing in the 1972 All-Star Game: "I pitched in the third inning, NBC was broadcasting the game and they had technical difficulties so the third inning was not on TV," Blass said. "I had trouble convincing my parents I pitched. They said, 'Well we heard about it but we didn't see it because it wasn't on TV. They had technical difficulties.' I said, 'You think they did? I had to pitch against all those American League batters!'" The AL scored only one run in the third, and the NL won, 4-3.
Quotable Blass
"He should have been better, pitching on 3,195 days rest."
On Bucs replacement player Jimmy Boudreau in 1995, his first professional appearance since 1986
"It was going to the right."
On why Democratic presidential candidate Michael Dukakis stayed seated during a wave at a Pirates-Dodgers game in Los Angeles
"Think about the numbers Maz would have put up if he'd played on artificial turf and wouldn't have had all those bad hops. They might have had to put him into the Hall of Fame five years before he retired."
On former teammate Bill Mazeroski
"People say my career got cut short. I say wait a minute, I achieved far more than I ever dreamed. ... There are no regrets on this end."
On himself
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