Starkey Tests Steelers Fan With Autobiographical Memory
PITTSBURGH 93-7 (The FAN) - When he was in high school, Bob Pitrella first began to figure he was "a little unique."
Pitrella, a native of Beaver Falls and a diehard Pittsburgh Steelers fan, was left amazed by the fact that his teen-aged friends failed to recall the exact dates in which memorable past events occurred.
"They just kind of looked at me," Pitrella told Joe Starkey Monday afternoon on 93-7 The Fan. "I thought everybody remembered dates and where they were at on certain days of the week in their life."
Pitrella has a condition known in the medical world as Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory, or HSAM, for short. One of 60 people in the world with HSAM, Pitrella is able to recite on impulse almost anything that happened to him every day in the last 50 years of his life.
Starkey tested Pitrella's bionic Steelers memory, and the results were breathtaking.
Sept. 16, 1984?
"The L.A. Rams came to Three Rivers Stadium that day," Pitrella said in immediate response. "The Steelers won. That was their second win of the season. They had beaten the Jets 10 days earlier. They won by about 10 points... I watched it in California with a couple of people."
Pitrella has recited Steelers outcomes under pressure before. He has been on the CBS show "60 Minutes" three times, including the appearance shown below.
Starkey wondered if Pitrella could make a connection between 93-7 The Fan co-host Josh Miller and Dec. 28, 2003.
"[The Steelers] lost to Baltimore in overtime, and Josh Miller threw an 81-yard pass to Chris Hope," Pitrella said. "It was a fake punt, which was a turning point in the game."
Pitrella turned in a perfect score on Starkey's test of Steelers history, which can be heard in its entirety in the audio clip below.