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RIP: Pirates’ legend Bill Mazeroski
Posted on 2/21/26 at 8:51 am
Posted on 2/21/26 at 8:51 am
People say he got into Cooperstown on the basis of one home run that decided a World Series against the Yankees in 1960, but by the old-school eye test and modern analytics the man was, without question, the greatest defensive second baseman who ever lived and if defense which is a co-equal part of the game to batting and pitching is recognized, and I think it should be, he has a place in the HoF.
Here’s some trivia for you. Phil Niekro lost only one game as a high school pitcher. It was on a home run by Maz. Their schools played each other because Knucksie lived in Ohio right on the West Virginia border, and Maz lived in West Virginia right on the Ohio border. And you may have heard of Niekro’s catcher that day who was also his BFF and Niekro gave the eulogy at his funeral and said the guy was the best catcher he ever threw to as far as handling the knuckleball. He went in a different direction sportswise, name was Havlicek.
Here’s some trivia for you. Phil Niekro lost only one game as a high school pitcher. It was on a home run by Maz. Their schools played each other because Knucksie lived in Ohio right on the West Virginia border, and Maz lived in West Virginia right on the Ohio border. And you may have heard of Niekro’s catcher that day who was also his BFF and Niekro gave the eulogy at his funeral and said the guy was the best catcher he ever threw to as far as handling the knuckleball. He went in a different direction sportswise, name was Havlicek.
This post was edited on 2/21/26 at 8:56 am
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Posted on 2/21/26 at 9:24 am to InkStainedWretch
Another bit of trivia I learned today - the Yankees left fielder who futilely chased after Mazeroski's walk off World Series homer only to watch it sail over the fence was Yogi Berra.
I knew Yogi played a little outfield later in his career but never knew that was him in that iconic baseball moment.
Posted on 2/21/26 at 9:33 am to AUFANATL
Yogi played LF a lot in 1961, the Maris/Mantle home run chase year, and in a crucial game in September against the Tigers (Detroit won 101 games that year but were still 8 games behind the Yankees, who wore them out head to head), he famously threw Al Kaline out at 2B trying to stretch a single into a double with a laser beam throw from left.
Posted on 2/21/26 at 10:17 am to InkStainedWretch
Mazeroski appeared in the movie The Odd Couple
Posted on 2/21/26 at 11:15 am to TigerintheNO
Posted on 2/21/26 at 3:20 pm to Mizz-SEC
That 7th game homer Maz hit was not a cheapie. It cleared the wall by a good 10 feet just to the left of the 406' mark.
I saw him hit one at Busch Stadium in St. Louis that went well over 400 feet.
He was never a big slugger, but he loved him some high fastballs.
One of the truly great defensive players ever. He could really turn a double play.
RIP Maz. Great gentleman.
I saw him hit one at Busch Stadium in St. Louis that went well over 400 feet.
He was never a big slugger, but he loved him some high fastballs.
One of the truly great defensive players ever. He could really turn a double play.
RIP Maz. Great gentleman.
Posted on 2/21/26 at 3:51 pm to 308
quote:
I saw him hit one at Busch Stadium in St. Louis that went well over 400 feet.
Apparently people in their 70s are on the MSB
Posted on 2/21/26 at 4:29 pm to InkStainedWretch
RIP Maz. Met him several times at Pirates events over the years. He was always an absolute gentleman and a true Pirate great.
A fun fact about the video from game 7. Bing Crosby was one of the Pirates owners in that era and the only reason we have video of Game 7 of the 1960 World Series is because Bing was too nervous to watch the game live so he had a company record the game for him. During this time TV networks didn't keep records of the games. The tape was found 50 years later in his wine cellar by his family after he passed away.
A fun fact about the video from game 7. Bing Crosby was one of the Pirates owners in that era and the only reason we have video of Game 7 of the 1960 World Series is because Bing was too nervous to watch the game live so he had a company record the game for him. During this time TV networks didn't keep records of the games. The tape was found 50 years later in his wine cellar by his family after he passed away.
Posted on 2/21/26 at 4:47 pm to InkStainedWretch
That’s awesome. 3 hall of famers in a high school baseball game. I wonder if that’s the only time that ever happened
Posted on 2/21/26 at 5:08 pm to EvrybodysAllAmerican
A long time Yankee fan......still.....I had a transistor radio hidden under my books, in my 7th grade chemistry class, Caught the last 3 innings. When Maz hit that walk off, I cursed rather loudly. Teacher just stopped talking & asked me for the score. Anger a lot higher than any embarrassment on the richter scale.
Posted on 2/21/26 at 6:48 pm to Keltic Tiger
Big Pirates fan here, I loved that '60 WS.
The Yankees won their 3 games by scores of 16-3, 12-0. and 10-0.
The Pirates won their 4 games by scores of 6-4, 3-2, 5-2, and 10-9.
It made it even sweeter that the Yankees were clearly the better team on paper, but the "Battling Bucs" took it down!
Mantle was in tears after the 7th game, Maris was mad as hell, and Whitey Ford wouldn't speak to Stengel for not starting him in game 1. The Pirates couldn't get anything off Ford in that series.
I spoke to Mantle at a banquet in the late '80s. He was still pissed about that '60 Series, lol.
RIP, Maz. You were great.
The Yankees won their 3 games by scores of 16-3, 12-0. and 10-0.
The Pirates won their 4 games by scores of 6-4, 3-2, 5-2, and 10-9.
It made it even sweeter that the Yankees were clearly the better team on paper, but the "Battling Bucs" took it down!
Mantle was in tears after the 7th game, Maris was mad as hell, and Whitey Ford wouldn't speak to Stengel for not starting him in game 1. The Pirates couldn't get anything off Ford in that series.
I spoke to Mantle at a banquet in the late '80s. He was still pissed about that '60 Series, lol.
RIP, Maz. You were great.
This post was edited on 2/21/26 at 6:57 pm
Posted on 2/21/26 at 10:19 pm to 308
Art Ditmar who started Game 1 for the Yankees in 1960 had better numbers than Ford that year, and Ford had stunk it up in his most recent postseason appearances. Whitey was great but if he’d been run over by a bus the night before the World Series that year he’d have never seen Cooperstown, the stretch that got him in the Hall of Fame started in this Series. I’ve always thought Stengel got a bad rap over that.
But Danny Murtaugh … who IMO should be in Cooperstown … outmanaged him badly in other ways in that Series. He basically conceded those three games where the Yankees pounded them once they got out of hand, just stopped contesting them and left the weaker pitchers on his staff out there to take a beating. Stengel supposedly was running up and down the dugout during those games telling his players to pour it on, because the Yankee owners had told him before the Series that they weren’t going to bring him back and he was hoping a lopsided Yankee victory would change their minds.
But Murtaugh knew those games counted no more or less than a 1-0 game, he knew it was a seven-game Series and he was playing the long game in a very ballsy fashion.
But Danny Murtaugh … who IMO should be in Cooperstown … outmanaged him badly in other ways in that Series. He basically conceded those three games where the Yankees pounded them once they got out of hand, just stopped contesting them and left the weaker pitchers on his staff out there to take a beating. Stengel supposedly was running up and down the dugout during those games telling his players to pour it on, because the Yankee owners had told him before the Series that they weren’t going to bring him back and he was hoping a lopsided Yankee victory would change their minds.
But Murtaugh knew those games counted no more or less than a 1-0 game, he knew it was a seven-game Series and he was playing the long game in a very ballsy fashion.
Posted on 2/21/26 at 10:30 pm to InkStainedWretch
Absolutely agree that Danny Murtaugh belongs in the HOF.
Two memorable WS titles with underdog teams and multiple divisional titles should have done it. In a way, that '71 comeback win against that mighty Orioles team (three 20 game winners!) was as compelling as the win against the Yankees
There was a pretty big push to get Murtaugh in the HOF sometime back, maybe 6-7 years ago. Letters from former players like Dave Cash and Gene Alley were written, but to no avail.
p.s. You may well have a valid point about Ditmar, but I think many of the Yankee players felt that it should have been Ford in game 1, which would have put him in line to pitch in game 7. Not entirely sure, but I believe Mantle felt that way.
Two memorable WS titles with underdog teams and multiple divisional titles should have done it. In a way, that '71 comeback win against that mighty Orioles team (three 20 game winners!) was as compelling as the win against the Yankees
There was a pretty big push to get Murtaugh in the HOF sometime back, maybe 6-7 years ago. Letters from former players like Dave Cash and Gene Alley were written, but to no avail.
p.s. You may well have a valid point about Ditmar, but I think many of the Yankee players felt that it should have been Ford in game 1, which would have put him in line to pitch in game 7. Not entirely sure, but I believe Mantle felt that way.
This post was edited on 2/21/26 at 10:36 pm
Posted on 2/21/26 at 10:42 pm to 308
I just did a little research. With Maz now gone, I believe Bob Skinner and Vernon Law might be the only Pirates still living from that 1960 team. Hopefully there might be others. Elroy Face died at age 97 just a few years ago.
This post was edited on 2/21/26 at 10:46 pm
Posted on 2/21/26 at 10:46 pm to InkStainedWretch
Mickey Mantle won't pay your rent.
Posted on 2/22/26 at 6:16 am to 308
Murtaugh’s problem is that there were a lot of stops and starts to his career, he either had high blood pressure or some type of heart issue that kept manifesting itself and he’d have to step away. He always looked a lot older than he was and he was only 59 when he died of a stroke. But he was a damn good manager.
Re>1960, the Pirates don’t get enough credit, that was a damn good team and if you compare them to the Yankees position by position that matchup looks a lot closer. The view of the Yankees being some kind of juggernaut that year is based solely on the 3 lopsided Series wins, the truth is they pulled the pennant out of their asses by having a hot last two weeks and Baltimore, which seemed to have it locked up, fell apart in the last two weeks. I think it was Stengel’s weakest pennant winner.
Mantle was just always frustrated by that Series because he played so well, hit some monster home runs.
Trivia note; In that Game 7 there were 19 runs scored and four other home runs hit aside from Maz’s, but not one batter on either team struck out. That’s amazing given the way the game is played today.
Re>1960, the Pirates don’t get enough credit, that was a damn good team and if you compare them to the Yankees position by position that matchup looks a lot closer. The view of the Yankees being some kind of juggernaut that year is based solely on the 3 lopsided Series wins, the truth is they pulled the pennant out of their asses by having a hot last two weeks and Baltimore, which seemed to have it locked up, fell apart in the last two weeks. I think it was Stengel’s weakest pennant winner.
Mantle was just always frustrated by that Series because he played so well, hit some monster home runs.
Trivia note; In that Game 7 there were 19 runs scored and four other home runs hit aside from Maz’s, but not one batter on either team struck out. That’s amazing given the way the game is played today.
This post was edited on 2/22/26 at 6:38 am
Posted on 2/22/26 at 6:37 am to SCLibertarian
Fantastic movie
Posted on 2/22/26 at 8:00 am to InkStainedWretch
I posted in the oldest baseball player thread how cool it was for the 60 Pirates to have three living members still around in their 90's, and Maz would make a 4th if he made it to September. Well, Roy Face died a few weeks ago and now Maz. Rip former Bucco greats.
This post was edited on 2/22/26 at 1:50 pm
Posted on 2/22/26 at 8:49 am to Keltic Tiger
quote:
A long time Yankee fan......still.....I had a transistor radio hidden under my books, in my 7th grade chemistry class, Caught the last 3 innings. When Maz hit that walk off, I cursed rather loudly. Teacher just stopped talking & asked me for the score. Anger a lot higher than any embarrassment on the richter scale.
Times changed. Our teacher would set up the TV in the classroom.
Posted on 2/22/26 at 8:56 am to InkStainedWretch
quote:
Murtaugh’s problem is that there were a lot of stops and starts to his career, he either had high blood pressure or some type of heart issue that kept manifesting itself and he’d have to step away. He always looked a lot older than he was and he was only 59 when he died of a stroke. But he was a damn good manager.
Talk about a hard 47 years in this pic form 1964.
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