Bucs' pitcher Steve Blass finally regains his accuracy

Former Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Steve Blass, 67, inexplicably developed the pitching yips, resulting in his inability to throw strikes and ending his career in 1974, less than two years after winning 19 games.

Suffice it to say that he's never been more accurate than he was on Thursday, when he made two holes-in-one in a Pirates' alumni golf outing at Greensburg Country Club.

Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that Blass aced the 158-yard 15th hole with an 8-iron and the 175-yard seventh hole with a 7-iron (he played the back nine first).

"The first one we all went berserk," Blass tells Dulac. "The second one, I took off my glasses, and started rolling down the hill like a little kid. I looked like a big, fat bear rolling down the hill.

"When I was driving home, I was still so numb, still shaking. It was like after the World Series -- I was too thrilled to get drunk."

He spent $400 in the bar afterwards nonetheless.

-- John Strege