Steve Blass has spent the past 50 years with the Pirates as a player and a broadcaster.

Pittsburgh Pirates color commentator Steve Blass is in his 50th year with the organization.

Blass, 67, made his professional debut with Kingport in the Pirates' farm system in 1960. He was 103-76 with a 3.63 earned run average in 10 major league seasons and. in 1971, became the last National League pitcher to record a complete game in Game 7 of the World Series.

Blass' playing career ended in spring training of 1975 after two seasons of inexplicable wildness following his best big league season (19-8, 2.49 ERA) of 1972.

Now in his 24th year as a Pirates broadcaster, Blass trails only Lanny Frattare (33 years) and Bob Prince (28) in longevity on that job.

Blass recently sat down for an interview with the Butler Eagle.

Has any other player been with the same major league organization for 50 straight years?"Not that I know of. It's been a wonderful two-way street. I've always wanted to be part of the Pirates, but they've had to want me here, too, for it to work. And they have."If I was ever presented the opportunity to broadcast baseball on a national basis, I'd turn it down. Pittsburgh is my home and the Pirates are the team I want to be around."

You reached the majors as an undrafted player. How did the Pirates find you?"The baseball draft didn't exist back in those days. Teams went out and found their own talent. I pitched five no-hitters my senior year, so plenty of scouts came around to watch me pitch."One game, there were 15 scouts on hand. I walked one batter for each one of them: 15 walks, 15 strikeouts. The Pirates scout was the only one left by the end of the game."I really wanted to sign with the Cleveland Indians. They offered me a $4,500 bonus. The Pirates offered me $6,000. No-brainer."

What do you remember most about your major league debut on May 10, 1964?"I was just called up and my wife and I were staying with pitcher Tommie Sisk and his wife. Tommie started that night against the Braves, was pulled in the first inning and I came in and pitched five scoreless innings."I rode with Tommie to the ballpark that night. After the game, he was sent to the minor leagues. He eventually came back, of course, but the ride back to his house that night — that was awkward."

Besides the 1971 World Series, what was your fondest memory as a player?"You always remember your first game. That and signing my first professional contract. That was a big deal for me, coming from a small high school in Connecticut. We scheduled 30 games and played about 12 because of weather."There were 120 in my graduating class. Three of us signed major league contracts, including Tom Parsons, who was the losing pitcher in Casey Stengel's last game as manager."

You pitched from 1964-74. Who was the greatest pitcher of your era?"I answer that question with a starting rotation: Sandy Koufax, Tom Seaver, Bob Gibson and Juan Marichal. If I had to put one at the top, it'd be Koufax. An incredible talent."I've always believed I played in an era when there were more great pitchers and great hitters than at any other time in baseball history."

What opposing hitter gave you the most trouble at the plate?"Billy Williams, hands down. I couldn't get him out. I pitched a four-hitter against the Cubs one time and he went 4-for-4 with two doubles and maybe a home run."

With your playing career ending the way it did, what kept you from walking away from baseball?"Honestly, I don't know because I was crushed by the way it ended. But I'm so happy that I didn't walk away. Baseball has been such a positive part of my life, it would have been terrible to see it end with that type of negative."I was in other lines of work for a little while after I retired, but the Pirates had me doing camps and clinics. I was always connected on an informal basis with the team until it became more permanent."

Who helped you the most when you entered broadcasting?"Three names: Bob Prince, Mike Lange, Lanny Frattare. And I have to credit Jim Rooker, who told the Pirates to stop auditioning other guys and just hire me."I worked with Lanny longer than I ever worked with anybody. He helped me integrate into this business without resentment. Lanny earned his stripes, worked himself up the ladder in his profession. I was given a job because I was a ballplayer. I knew that and so did he."Still, he worked with me. He made me feel comfortable. I'll never forget that."

You've interviewed numerous baseball greats in your "Greats of the Game" segment on radio. Any favorites?"I did a one-on-one with Pete Rose years ago. He said the Pirates-Reds rivalry of the 1970s was the most intense baseball he's ever been associated with. I reminded him that I was one of maybe three pitchers to ever strike him out three times in a game."Pete acknowledged that, then reminded me of a game in which he went 4-for-4 against me, describing each hit in great detail. That's the kind of baseball mind he has."

Any humorous moments in your years in the broadcast booth?"I was working with Bob Prince and he ordered two screwdrivers from downstairs. I thought something was broken in the booth."

The Pirates honored you for your 50 years with the organization on Opening Day this year. What did that mean to you?"I still can't believe I held it together during that ceremony. The Pirates gave me a DVD of that and I've sat down to watch it a couple of times. I get emotional when I view it now. That day, standing on that field, with my high school coach next to me. ... Next to the seventh game of that World Series, it was my greatest moment in baseball."

Complete games by starting pitchers are rare in this era of pitch counts. Is that good or bad for the game?"The world has changed and the game of baseball has changed with it. When I played, they built up your arm strength in the minor leagues and when you got to the majors, your arm was equipped to throw and throw and throw. I always thought that was the way to go."When I was given the ball as a starting pitcher, I felt my job was to pitch the whole game. Pitchers aren't trained that way now. Then again, when I pitched, there weren't three or four guys in the bullpen who could throw 95 mph or faster, either."My arm was worth $15,000. Arms today are worth four or five million dollars. That's a factor, too. There's no right or wrong here. It's just different."

Forbes Field, Three Rivers Stadium or PNC Park. You can only have one. Which do you choose?"That depends. There is no better place in the world to watch a baseball game than PNC Park. As a pitcher, it was 457 feet to center field at Forbes Field and 365 feet to left with the ball having to clear the scoreboard to go out."My best years in baseball and the best teams I played on were at Three Rivers Stadium. So I'm partial to all three for different reasons."

You played with Roberto Clemente, Willie Stargell and Bill Mazeroski. What made them so special?"They all had Hall of Fame caliber talent, for one. Roberto Clemente had a presence, a grace about him. Maz was old school with the wad of tobacco and a glove that looked like it was made out of a pile of cow crap. And Willie Stargell was the class act of the major leagues at the time."You look at our team back then. We had a mixture of white, black and Latin players. The white players had Mazeroski to look to, the blacks had Stargell, the Latins had Clemente. Find three leaders of ethnic groups like that on the same team again? You won't."

You pitched for the Pirates in their glory days. Now that the team is on the verge of a 17th straight losing season, is it tough to watch?"It's very frustrating. Of course it is. But only because I want these guys to experience winning like I was fortunate enough to do."The only thing I'll take issue with on the field is a lack of effort. Talent is relative. Sometimes it's there, sometimes it's not. I see no lack of effort on this team. Regardless of the score or their record, these guys bust their butts all the time and I have a lot of respect for that."I get to come to this ballpark to go to work and I'm excited about it every day I do so. If I see effort, I'm happy."I'm happy."