Baseball documentarian John Leonoudakis described Hall of Very Good inductee Steve Blass as “a character straight out of baseball mythology…a World Series champion and stellar pitcher whose star fell from the sky.”
And he might be right.
Prior to his sudden retirement in 1974, Blass won 103 games, completing a stunning 57 of them. Here are ten more numbers that you might not have known about the Pittsburgh Pirates World Champion.
117:84
In 1972, Steve Blass had a 117:84 strikeout-to-walk ratio. The next season, it had flip flopped to 27:84.
95
From his first full year in 1966, until his last full year in 1972, only Hall of Famer Jim Palmer matched Steve Blass’ 95 wins, while recording fewer losses than his 59.
36
During Steve Blass’ career, he faced 129 batters with the bases loaded. Of those 129, he only allowed 36 total bases.
13
In the 1971 World Series, Steve Blass had 13 strikeouts in his two starts, more than he had in any two consecutive starts the last three months of the season.
5
In 1971, Steve Blass tied for the National League lead with five shutouts. Three of those shutouts came within a five start span.
4
In 1968, Steve Blass made four starts against the New York Mets…all four were complete game victories.
3
Three times in his career, Steve Blass finished within the top ten in the National League in Baseball-Reference pitcher wins.
.295
In 12 career starts at Dodger Stadium, Steve Blass allowed a measly .295 slugging percentage.
.276
In 1972, Steve Blass faced 350 batters with no outs…and allowed just a .276 on base percentage.
0
Steve Blass had three starts with Chris Cannizzaro behind the plate as his catcher. In those starts, he did not give up a single run.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Neal Kendrick enjoys baseball and numbers…often mixing the two to form a wonderful Twitter account. You can follow Neal at @funbaseballfact.
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