PITTSBURGH - As part of a ceremony honoring Pirates broadcaster Steve Blass' years of service to the organization before Sunday's game against the Mets, Blass was slated to throw out the ceremonial first pitch. He took the mound all smiles but proceeded to lob one eight feet over the head of catcher Ron Paulino. Blass hung down his head and grimaced.Paulino signaled for him to throw another. This time, the ball sailed into the stands over the Mets' dugout, nipping funnyman vendor T.C. Congdon on the hand. "Wow!" Congdon shouted. "If I didn't know better, I'd say Steve Blass was back pitching."
Pirates pitching coach Jim Colburn strolled to the mound to calm down the 64-year old right hander. But after three more wild pitches, it was clear Blass had picked up exactly where he had left off when he was forced to retire in 1975 after an inexplicable loss of control. Finally, Pirates manager Jim Tracy had seen enough. He strolled to the mound and signaled for Manny Sanguillen, who runs Manny's Bar-B-Q at PNC Park behind the center field stands, to come in and throw out the first pitch.
Later, Tracy made little effort to hide his displeasure to reporters. "I didn't like what I saw out there, let's leave it at that," he said curtly. "Let's just say that's no way to start a ballgame, that's all."
A dejected Blass sat in a corner of the Pirates' broadcast booth with his head down. Unable to look a reporter in the eye, he blamed Jim Colburn for changing his delivery. "I was finally going to break out of the the slump, after thirty-three years, but then Colburn had to foul me up," he muttered. In the next breath he admitted that he "just didn't have it today, no excuses. I'm just going to have to go out and work harder for next time."
