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“Fickle Fate at Forbes” by Graig Kreindler
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Maz Photo Gallery
Happy Birthday Maz!
Lets remember Bill Mazeroski’s “Homer for the Ages”
“I’ll never make the mistake of turning 70 again.” -Casey Stengel, after the Yankees fired him following the 1960 World Series loss
With today being Bill Mazeroski’s 89th birthday, I’d like to wish Bill a “Happy Birthday” by saying a few words about the classic 1960 World Series and Bill’s homer in the seventh game – possibly the most dramatic walk-off home run in baseball history, right up there with Bobby Thomson’s blast in the 1951 play-off series.
In the featured photo above, we see Bill rounding third after his historic blast. One side note: A few years ago, I interviewed the kid on the right in the photo. His name is Ken Simons. You can read the interview here.
The beautiful photo below shows Rocky Nelson’s first-inning home run in Game Seven. Roberto Clemente greets Rocky at the plate while Yankee catcher Johnny Blanchard and umpire Bill Jackowski look on.
A few words about this great World Series
The 1960 World Series was played from October 5 to 13, 1960. It’s considered one of the most exciting World Series of all time, ending on Bill Mazeroski’s dramatic walk-off home run in Game Seven which gave the Pirates a 10-9 victory in the decisive game. It was the Pirates’ third World Championship overall and first since 1925. The Yankees were making their eighth appearance in the last ten years.
Six future Hall of Famers appeared in the Series: Roberto Clemente, Bill Mazeroski, Whitey Ford, Yogi Berra, Mickey Mantle, and Casey Stengel. Bobby Richardson was the MVP of the series.
Our “senior” readers will recall with nostalgic affection the names of the umpires: Dusty Boggess, Johnny Stevens, Bill Jackowski, Nestor Chylak (HOF), Stan Landes, and Jim Honochick. Old-time Cub fans will be surprised to learn that Cubs’ announcer Jack Quinlan was at the radio mike.
How Did the Pirates Win This Series??
Looking over the statistics from the series, if you didn’t know better you’d guess that the Yankees had won. They outscored the Pirates 55–27, out-hit them 91–60, hit for a higher average .338-.256, blasted 10 home runs to the Pirate’s four (three of which came in Game Seven), and got two complete-game shutouts from Whitey Ford. And yet they lost the series! The Pirates’ inconsistent pitching and Stengel’s controversial decision not to start Ford in games one and four resulted in the peculiar combination of close games and routs.
The Historic Game Seven
Game Seven is one of the most memorable games in World Series history. The Pirates took an early 4-0 lead with Vernon Law on the mound. The Yankees came back and led 5-4 after six innings, then scored two more in the top of the eight to make it 7-4.
In the Pirates’ eighth, singles by Gino Cimoli, Bill Virdon (a sharp grounder that struck Tony Kubek in the throat), and Dick Groat cut the lead to 7-5. An infield hit by Roberto Clemente scored Virdon and advanced Groat to third making it 7-6. With two runners on, Hal Smith then sent shock waves through Forbes Field by blasting a homer over the left-field wall. The Pirates now led 9-7 after eight innings.
Bob Friend came on in the ninth to protect the lead. After singles by Bobby Richardson and pinch-hitter Dale Long, Danny Murtaugh lifted Friend and brought in veteran Harvey Haddix. With one out, Haddix gave up a single to Mantle that scored Richardson and moved Long to third. Yogi Berra followed with a short grounder to first. Rocky Nelson stepped on the bag for the second out which was followed by a key base path move by Mantle:
Mantle, seeing he had no chance to beat a play at second, scurried back to first and avoided Nelson’s tag which would have been the third out as McDougald raced home to tie the score, 9-9. The Yankees were still alive. (1)
Maz’s Dramatic Moment!
Ralph Terry, who had gotten the final out in the Pirates’ eighth, returned to the mound in the bottom of the ninth. The first man he faced was Bill Mazeroski. With a 1-0 count, the Pirates’ second baseman smashed his dramatic drive over the wall in left ending the game and the Series.
As the Pirates erupted in a wild celebration, the Yankees stood in disbelief knowing that they had clearly dominated the Series but had somehow managed to lose. Years later, Mickey Mantle was quoted as saying that losing the 1960 series was the biggest disappointment of his career. For Bill Mazeroski, it was undoubtedly the highlight.
What an ending to what has become a classic World Series!
Happy Birthday Maz! And thanks for the memories!
Gary Livacari
Photo Credits: All from public domain through a Google search.
Information: Quote (1) from the 1960 Baseball Almanac page. Also, excerpts edited from the 1960 World Series Wikipedia page. Statistics from Baseball-Reference.com
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