The big news on the Pirates front while I was on vacation was the announcement that broadcaster Steve Blass will be hanging up his microphone at the conclusion of the 2019 season and retiring. At the age of 76, this year will mark the sixtieth year of Blass' association with the Pirates.
Blass has been a part of the Pirates broadcast team since the 1980's and if you listened to those broadcasts, you know all the stories, as Steve tended to repeat himself as the years went on. One thing that you could never deny is that Steve Blass loved the Pirates, loved the game of baseball, and he knew the game of baseball. When he would drop the act of playing "Steve Blass" he was and is still capable of bringing insight to the game that you are watching.
One can say that Blass hung around five or so years too long in the booth, and those thoughts aren't wrong, but I give him credit for walking away from the booth. In a town where being a play-by-play and/or color announcer is like being a Supreme Court Justice or the Queen of England, I would hope that Blass' move would be an example to a couple of other sports broadcast "institutions" in this town.
Several years ago when I was chairman of the Pittsburgh SABR Chapter, I was able to get Steve Blass to come and speak to the group. I found him to be a sincere and amiable guy with whom to deal. When I sent him a thank you note after that meeting, I was surprised to receive a phone call from him a few days later thanking me for sending him a thank you note. Who does that?
Coming from a genuine World Series Hero, I found that to be a humble and genuine thing from the guy.
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