HARTFORD, Conn. — Steve Blass had just pitched the game of his life, of any pitcher’s life, beating the Orioles, 2-1, in Game 7 of the World Series. After the championship Pirates of 1971 boarded their plane home in Baltimore, MVP Roberto Clemente stood up in front.
“Come up here,” he called to Blass. “Let me embrace you.”
Blass climbed over knees and laps to get to the center aisle and to the front of the plane for that embrace. “Those are the moments,” Blass says, “That stick with you.”
