Krell: Mazeroski, Pittsburgh, and the 1960 World Series
From SABR member David Krell at The Sports Post on November 30, 2015:
At 3:37 p.m. on October 14, 1960, Bill Mazeroski became a blue-collar legend. A stellar second baseman with eight Gold Gloves, Mazeroski played his entire 17-year career in a Pittsburgh Pirates uniform, never more prominent than in the moment he slammed a Ralph Terry pitch into the stands at Forbes Field. And thus, the Pirates won the 1960 World Series against the New York Yankees, a team stocked with icons named Mantle, Maris, Berra, Ford, and Howard.
In the New York Herald Tribune, legendary sportswriter Red Smith wrote, “Terry watched the ball disappear, brandished his glove hand high overhead, shook himself like a wet spaniel, and started fighting through the mobs that came boiling from the stands to use Mazeroski like a Trampoline.”
It was a victory steeped in fantasy. The Yankees dominated baseball after World War II, winning 10 of their 15 World Series appearances between 1947 and 1964, so their presence in the 1960 edition of the Fall Classic was, in no small measure, a foregone conclusion. Scores reflected Yankee excellence—the Bronx Bombers won Game Two, Game Three, and Game Six with scores of 16-3, 10-0, and 12-0, respectively. Pittsburgh’s triumphs in the remaining games had closer scores, none with a differential more than three runs. In Game Seven, the lead changed hands several times before Mazeroski’s blast in the bottom of the ninth inning ended Game Seven with a score of 10-9.
Read the full article here: http://thesportspost.com/baseball-history-bill-mazeroski-1960-world-series/
Originally published: December 3, 2015. Last Updated: December 3, 2015.