Bass was especially smitten by one that was worn during the 1977 season, so he bought it.

The name stitched on the back of jersey No. 40 and also on the waistband of the pants was spelled C-R-I-S-C-I-O-N-E.

Yes, that would be Dave Criscione, the Dunkirk native who is recognized as one of the finest baseball players in Chautauqua County history and who was on the Orioles’ active roster as a catcher 49 summers ago.

Looking to find a home for the uniform, Bass, who lives in Reisterstown, Maryland, reached out to Chautauqua Sports Hall of Fame president Randy Anderson seeking more information about Criscione, a 2010 inductee.

Dave Criscione's Baltimore Orioles jersey from 1977. Photo courtesy of the Chautauqua Sports Hall of Fame

“I would like to either donate Dave Criscione’s home uniform to Dave and his family, or to the Chautauqua Sports Hall of Fame,” Bass wrote. ” … I’ve had the uniform in storage for almost 50 years. The week Dave had in the big leagues was very inspirational. The home run he hit was one of my all-time favorite moments.”

Ah, the home run.

In case anyone needs reminding, Criscione was called up to the Orioles in July 1977 to fill the roster spot of injured starting catcher Rick Dempsey. Although he — Criscione — would only have a handful of at-bats during his time in Baltimore, one of them resulted in a game-winning, walk-off, 11th-inning home run against Milwaukee reliever Sam Hinds. Criscione took Hinds’ 1-2 pitch, a fastball, over the 360-foot mark in left-center, and became Bass’ hero.

Bass, who ended up working in baseball for 23 years, mostly as a minor league clubhouse manager, including 10 years as the minor league equipment manager for the Colorado Rockies, said he always thought he would have a basement filled with baseball memorabilia and a place to display Criscione’s uniform, but when that didn’t become a reality, he did what he felt was the next best thing.

“Perhaps,” he wrote Anderson, “I can find someone who can appreciate what the uniform means as much as it meant to me.”

Dave Criscione's Baltimore Orioles uniform pants from 1977. Photo courtesy of the Chautauqua Sports Hall of Fame

Anderson immediately reached out to Criscione, who now lives in Fredonia.

“I put it out to my three girls (Keri, Casey and Kylee),” Criscione said earlier this week, “and it wasn’t 30 seconds later that (Keri), who was born when I was in the big leagues, said, ‘I want that uniform.’ … I told Randy, ‘I think it has to stay ‘home.'”

Bass ultimately mailed the package to Criscione. It arrived Thursday.

“Fifty years? That was a long time ago,” he mused. “The memories were there and this just brings them all back.”

Sure, his game-winning home run tops the list, but the friendships built with teammates, including Hall-of-Fame third baseman Brooks Robinson, shortstop Mark Belanger, outfielder Terry Crowley, and pitchers Rudy May, Ross Grimsley, Mike Flanagan and Tippy Martinez are every bit as important.

And nearly a half-century after he retired, Criscione, now 74, can add another layer — in the form of a uniform — to his baseball memories, thanks to the generosity and thoughtfulness of a man he has only spoken to on the phone.

Talk about a “home-run” moment.

“It’s probably something I should have done years ago,” Bass wrote on Facebook. “I hope I get a chance to meet Dave someday!