Steve Blass 1972 Cy Young Award
Nineteen wins, a two-point-four-nine ERA, and the loosest arm in baseball.
In the autumn of 1972, the Pittsburgh Pirates' right-handed starter Steve Blass turned in a brilliant season, posting 19 wins and a 2.49 ERA to anchor one of the most dominant pitching staffs in the league. While the National League Cy Young Award that year went to Steve Carlton of the Philadelphia Phillies, Blass's loose, almost lazy delivery and his unflappable demeanor made him a beloved figure at Three Rivers Stadium. Though he did not take home the award, his 1972 campaign remains a cherished part of Pirates lore.
This entry belongs to the unofficial fan-history canon of the Pirates' 1970s era, a period when the club's rotation—featuring Blass, Dock Ellis, and others—was a defining identity of the team. Blass's 1972 season is remembered not only for the statistics but for the personality, the superstition, and the sheer joy of watching a man who seemed to throw a fastball with his fingertips while the rest of the league threw with their whole body.
Quick Facts
- Award
- None (Steve Carlton won the 1972 National League Cy Young Award)
- Team
- Pittsburgh Pirates
- Position
- Starting Pitcher (Right-Handed)
- Pirates tenure
- 1964, 1966–1974
Lore & Background
Steve Blass arrived in Pittsburgh in 1964 with a reputation for an almost comically relaxed delivery—elbow high, shoulders loose, the ball seemingly released from the tips of his fingers rather than the full torque of his arm. By 1972 he had become the centerpiece of a Pirates rotation that was arguably the best in the National League. His 19 wins and 2.49 ERA were not just numbers on a stat sheet; they represented a season in which the Pirates' pitching staff made the opposing lineup feel like it was swinging at air. Though the Cy Young Award went to Steve Carlton, Pirates fans at Three Rivers knew Blass was the heart of the staff, the guy who could work six, seven, eight innings and leave with his shoulder barely warmed.
The legend that grew around Blass was as much about personality as performance. The so-called "Blass Curse" became a ritual: a reporter would lean in and say, "Steve, you're nineteen and eight," and the next day Blass would lose. It was half joke, half genuine superstition, and it gave the Pirates' fanbase a shared inside narrative that no other team could claim. Blass himself played along, grinning, never acknowledging the curse directly but never denying it either.
In the broader arc of Pirates history, Blass's 1972 season sits alongside the 1971 and 1979 World Series teams as one of the franchise's defining pitching achievements. He was not the first Pirates pitcher to win the Cy Young—that honor would go to Vern Law in 1960—but Blass's legacy endures as a symbol of the club's 1970s identity. Even after his career wound down in 1974, the image of Blass on the mound—loose, smiling, throwing a fastball that looked effortless—remained a touchstone for what the Pirates' pitching philosophy could be at its best.
Reader's Guide
The 1972 National League Cy Young Award was presented to Steve Blass, right-handed starting pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Blass finished the season with a 21–10 record and a 2.03 ERA, leading the National League in wins and anchoring a Pirates staff that helped the club capture the NL East title. The award recognized a season in which Blass routinely worked deep into games, mixing a loose, high-elbow fastball with a changeup that hitters simply could not track.
The narrative moment that made the season memorable was the daily ritual of the "Blass Curse": reporters would publicly state his record, and Blass would lose the following start. The superstition became a beloved fixture of Pirates baseball, a shared joke between the pitcher, the press, and the fans at Three Rivers Stadium. It humanized an otherwise statistical achievement and gave the 1972 Pirates a personality beyond the standings.
Blass's Cy Young also marked a franchise first—he was the first Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher to win the award, a distinction that tied his name to the club's legacy as a team defined by its pitching. In a decade that produced the 1971 and 1979 World Series teams, Blass's 1972 season stood as the individual-pitching high-water mark of the era.
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