April 17, 1974: Steve Blass Disease

April 17, 1974: Steve Blass pitches his last major league game. He was a day short of his 32nd birthday.

He pitches the last 5 innings, but it can hardly be called "relief": 8 runs, 5 hits, 7 walks. (To be fair, the Pirate starter, Jerry Reuss, also usually a pretty good pitcher, also got rocked.) In contrast, Burt Hooton goes the distance for the Chicago Cubs, despite allowing 9 runs on 16 hits. The Cubs win, 18-9 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

Blass went 18-6 in 1968, his .750 winning percentage leading the National League, and had a 2.12 ERA. He went 16-10 in 1969, and 10-12 in 1970. In 1971, he went 15-8, with a 2.85 ERA, and pitched a complete game to win Game 7 of the World Series. In 1972, he went 19-8. His ERA was 2.49. His WHIP was 1.246.

But in 1973, Blass' control left him spectacularly. He dropped to 3-9, his ERA soared to 9.85, his WHIP to 2.177. With the off-season death of Roberto Clemente in a plane crash, the Pirates were in decline as a whole: They went from 96-59, winning the NL Eastern Division by 11 games before losing the NL Championship Series to the Cincinnati Reds, to 80-82, but only 2 1/2 games behind the Division-winning New York Mets. But the team as a whole didn't decline as much as Blass did: Few players have ever fallen apart that badly in just one year.

No cause has ever been found: Blass wasn't injured, he wasn't sick, he didn't have a drinking or drug problem, and nothing was going wrong with his family to serve as a distraction. There was the loss of the beloved Clemente, but Blass had said that that wasn't it, and that's believable, because no other individual Pirate had a similar meltdown.

Blass got sent down to the minors after the April 17, 1974 game, didn't get back up, and was released in Spring Training in 1975. From 1964 to 1972, he was 100-67 with a 3.24 ERA. After that, he was 3-9, 9.80. He became a broadcaster, and remains a beloved figure in Pirates history.

The sudden, inexplicable loss of control by a pitcher has been known, ever since, as Steve Blass Disease. Other notable victims include Mark Wohlers, Rick Ankiel, Dontrelle Willis and Ricky Romero.

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April 17, 1974 was a Wednesday. Singer Victoria Adams, known by her married name Victoria Beckham, and her stage name Posh Spice, was born.

These other Major League Baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Boston Red Sox, 4-3 at Shea Stadium, where they were groundsharing with the Mets while Yankee Stadium was being renovated in 1974 and '75. Bill Lee outpitched Pat Dobson. Carl Yastrzemski went 2-for-4 with a solo home run. The Yankees only got 5 hits, with Lou Piniella getting 2 of them.

* The New York Mets lost to the Montreal Expos, 7-4 at Jarry Park in Montreal. Steve Rogers outpitched George Stone. Dave Schneck went 3-for-4 with 2 home runs and 4 RBIs for the Mets, but it wasn't enough, as Bob Bailey and Barry Foote homered for the Expos.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 12-5 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. Mike Schmidt went 1-for-2 with 3 walks. Mike Anderson went 4-for-4 with a walk and 3 RBIs. Bill Robinson went 3-for-3 with a walk and an RBI. Lou Brock went 0-for-4 with a walk and a stolen base.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Atlanta Braves, 6-1 at Atlanta Stadium (later Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium). Hank Aaron, 9 days after hitting his 715th career home run, and 6 days after his 716th, did not play. Dave Winfield went 1-for-3 with an RBI.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Cincinnati Reds, 14-1 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. Steve Garvey hit 2 home runs, and Jimmy Wynn hit 1. George Foster homered for the Reds. Pete Rose went 1-for-3 with a walk. Johnny Bench went 0-for-3.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Detroit Tigers, 6-1 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Jim Palmer pitched a complete game, while Woodie Fryman didn't get out of the 1st inning. Brooks Robinson went 1-for-4. Al Kaline went 2-for-3 with a walk.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Cleveland Indians, 5-4 at Milwaukee County Stadium. The game went 16 innings, before Bob Coluccio won it with a home run. He was the 1st batter that Ken Sanders faced, after Gaylord Perry pitched 15 innings.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Kansas City Royals, 5-3 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.

* The Houston Astros beat the San Francisco Giants, 3-2 at the Astrodome in Houston.

* The California Angels beat the Minnesota Twins, 5-3 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). Bob Oliver hit 2 home runs for the Angels, and Frank Robinson 1. Rod Carew went 2-for-4. So did Harmon Killebrew, and he added an RBI.

* And the Chicago White Sox beat the Oakland Athletics, 5-3 at the Oakland Coliseum. Stan Bahnsen outpitched Vida Blue. Brian Downing hit a home run for the White Sox. Reggie Jackson went 2-for-4 with a walk, and he drove in all 3 Oakland runs.

Football was out of season. The NBA, Stanley Cup and WHA Playoffs were all underway, but no games were played in any of them. There were 2 games in the ABA Playoffs. The New York Nets beat the Kentucky Colonels, 89-87 at Freedom Hall in Louisville. And the Utah Stars beat the Indiana Pacers, 99-90 at the Indiana State Fair Coliseum (now the Corteva Coliseum) in Indianapolis.