Steve Blass - what happened?

[shredman]

I'm not a baseball fan but I read about this guy's story and found it absolutely fascinating. Does anyone here know what explanation this guy has given for his problems?

I know there was an article from the 70s in the New Yorker called "Down the Drain" where he apparently talked about this, has anyone read it?

I also read this in a review of his autobiography:

BUT, the most interesting part is how a psychologist helped him solve the problem that ended his major league pitching career by blocking out the negatives and focusing on the positive.

 

[Sharkey]

Whatever the exclamation Blass gave I'm sure Daniel Bard would love to know. That's if he hasn't committed suicide yet. Went from being one of the best relief pitchers in the majors a few years ago and now can't even get A-ball hitters out. Literally. Well, almost. He did get outs on 2 of the 18 batters that he faced in A-ball this year. But of the other 16, he walked 9 of those and then the other 7 reached after being hit by a pitch from him. 13 runs against him in only 0.2 innings pitched in total. ERA of 175.50. If there's a bright side to Bard's uh, "struggles" this year it may in the fact that he didn't throw a single wild pitch. I guess.

 

[iwhoopedbatman]

This just happens to guys. Rick Ankiel, Steve Sax, Chuck Knoblauch and plenty more from back in the day. Mental blocks can be horrible things. At least the recent players got paid before it all came crashing down.

 

[ChillyPalmer]

Should be called Ricky Romero disease.

Went from being an ace to a can in Triple-A.

 

[shredman]

This just happens to guys. Rick Ankiel, Steve Sax, Chuck Knoblauch and plenty more from back in the day. Mental blocks can be horrible things. At least the recent players got paid before it all came crashing down.

Yes, but what is "this?" What the heck goes through a guy's mind that such a thing can happen? And you can understand it happening for a game maybe, but to render a guy completely useless?

Has anyone heard any of these guys talk about it? How it started? What went through their minds that started this?

Has anyone read Blass' auotbiography, or that New Yorker profile?