During the 1971 World Series, the heavily favored Baltimore Orioles raced out to a 2-0 series lead and looked headed toward a championship.  They had a pitching trio of Jim Palmer, Dave McNally, and Mike Cuellar - the best 1-2-3 punch in baseball.  Not to mention future Hall of Famers Brooks and Frank Robinson.  Sure, the underdog Pirates had Roberto Clemente and Willie Stargell, undoubtedly all time greats, but their pitching could simply not measure up to the mighty Orioles.

 

Enter Steve Blass.  When the Pirates headed home for Game 3, in a must win situation, Steve Blass was the man whom Pittsburgh's hopes rode on.  The emotional hurler was up to the challenge.  All Steve Blass did was shut down the potent Baltimore lineup, giving up just three hits in a 5-1 Pirate win.  The victory propelled the Pirates to three straight wins before Baltimore won Game 6 and forced a deciding Game 7.   In that deciding game, the ball was once again given to Blass.  He silenced the Baltimore bats, as well as their rabid fans, giving up just four hits in a complete game, 3-1 victory.   The Pittsburgh Pirates were world champions and Steve Blass stood on top of the baseball world. 

 

Blass rode the momentum into the 1972 season, winning a career high 19 games with a 2.49 ERA.  He finished second in the Cy Young Award voting.  The Pirates lost to Cincinnati in the NLCS, but Blass pitched well going 1-0 with a 1.72 ERA.  Soon after, however, the heart and soul of the Pirates, Roberto Clemente, was tragically killed in a plane crash.  The eloquent Blass gave Clemete's eulogy in Puerto Rico.

 

In 1973, suddenly, Steve Blass completely lost it.  His once pinpoint control vanished.  He would pitch fine in warm-ups, but would turn completely wild once the game started.  His arm felt fine, it was examined several times and nothing was found.  He went just 3-9 with a 9.85 ERA and had 84 walks in 88 innings.  His career was effectively over. 

 

Blass tried everything in an attempt to regain his form.  He tried psychotherapy, transcendental meditation, optometherapy, and just about anything else that was suggested to him.  Nothing worked.  Even today, what happened to Steve Blass remains a mystery.

 

Unfortunately, when Blass' name is mentioned today it usually is associate with his control problems and is sometimes the butt of jokes.  It should be remembered, however, that Steve Blass was once one of baseballs best.  He was a true clutch pitcher that brought a championship to the city of Pittsburgh.

 

-David Zingler, April 2002