A modern day Steve Blass

Steve Blass was a major league pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 1960's and 1970's . He was a talented pitcher, not to the level of contemporaries like Hall-of-Famers Tom Seaver or Bob Gibson, but a stalwart of the Pirates rotation. In his career he amassed a 103-76 record with a 3.63 earned run average. Blass pitched two complete game victories for the Pirates in the 1971 World Series over the Baltimore Orioles and was selected to the 1972 All-Star Game. For those not familar with baseball statistics, those are very solid accomplishments and indicative of an impressive major league career.

Then something happened in 1973. The once reliable, dependable Blass couldn't throw strikes anymore. The pitcher, not known for a blazing fastball, was known for his control and clutch ability to be around the plate. He didn't suffer an injury, no torn ligaments, no strains, no rotator cuff injury. For some unknown reason, Steve Blass could no longer do what he did best... get batters out. He struggled through that season, spent much of 1974 in the minor leagues searching for the talent brought him to the heights of his career, then retired from the game unable to regain the magic. The most common theory to explain his demise was that it was largely psychological. To this very day, when a baseball player mysteriously loses his talent and ability to play the game it is referred to as "Steve Blass Disease." More recently examples of this syndrome are Chuck Knoblauch, Rick Ankiel and Mark Wohlers.

I feel like a modern day Steve Blass. During a show Saturday night I stood in the middle of the administrative office and said out loud, "I can't do this anymore." I don't know if anyone else was in their office and heard me. I know I've recently mentioned the frustration that I have with the people working around me, but this isn't that. I don't think I could continue to do this job if I had an all-star team of my own working for me. I can't seem to wrap my hands around things anymore, like I've lost touch of knowing the right things to do. My thought process and preparation have been the same as the past, but the results just aren't there. I can't get the ball over the plate anymore. I can't get the batters out. There have been some stressful and difficult events in my career, but in those cases I felt I was able to handle things, make the right decisions, and the show would go on. That doesn't happen anymore. Like Steve Blass, every time I take the mound these days it seems like I'm throwing the ball all over the place, walking batters, and giving up more hits than Billy Joel.

These days, Steve Blass is a color commentator for the Pittsburgh Pirates radio broadcasts. He had been doing it full-time starting in 1986, but in 2005 announced he would only work home games in order to spend more time with his family. If one of the things I'm working on pans out, I'd get to work in an associated field and be close enough to spend more time to be with my family. There probably aren't too many people who would pick out Steve Blass as their hero. I'll be one of them if things work out the way I want them.