Bill Mazeroski made the first and last putouts in 1960. He also had some home run heroics, as you well know.
Maz’s Pittsburgh Pirates were up against the New York Yankees in the World Series that year, but had the home-field advantage. The Yankees had some sluggers named Mantle, Berra, Maris, Howard and Skowron. They’d also get a grand slam from Bobby Richardson. These guys were dangerous.
The Pirates didn’t get off to such a good start, even though they were at home. The very first batter of the Fall Classic was Tony Kubek of the Yankees. And, as if to send a message to the Bucs, he singled.
But Maz was about to turn a potentially dangerous situation into nothing.
Hector Lopez came to the dish, and hit towards second. A grounder that second basemen Bill Mazeroski stopped, stepped on second, and first to first. Double play!
The Pirates took the lead early, and held on. But the Yankees had a tendency to score a lot. No, this was not 1961, but this New York team was dangerous.
So it was only 3-2 for Pittsburgh as they batted in the bottom of the fourth. One man was on, and it was our boy at the dish. And he had a favourable count. Two balls, no strikes.
The next pitch from Jim Coates was sent way out to a spot out of reach of the three outfielders, Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris and Lopez. It was Hector in left, who saw it go over the fence. 5-2.
The Yankees actually scored two more runs, but that of course, was not enough.
But in game seven, two runs by New York in the top of the ninth tied the game 9-9. So that was enough to send it to the last of the ninth. Mazeroski made the last putout on a force play at second.
Two pitches later, he send Ralph Terry’s offering over Yogi Berra’s head in left for a dramatic walk-off! The home team had won!
Probably no one had realized that Pittsburgh’s second basemen had a home run in the first game, of course. Maz was more known for his fielding (He won eight gold gloves), and amazingly, was still around in 1971, when the Pirates won again. That home run by Bill turned out to be one of only two times a Fall Classic concluded via that. Joe Carter did that in 1993.
But that one swing by Maz, the brilliant second basemen, that ended a great World Series, will stand the test of time.
References
Neft, David S., Richard M. Cohen, and Michael L. Neft. The Sports Encyclopedia: Baseball. 12th ed. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1992. Print.
Neft, David S., and Richard M. Cohen. The World Series: Complete Play-by-play of Every Game, 1903-1989. 4th ed. New York: St. Martin's, 1990. Print. pp. 281-286
Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 22 Dec. 2016
Maz’s Pittsburgh Pirates were up against the New York Yankees in the World Series that year, but had the home-field advantage. The Yankees had some sluggers named Mantle, Berra, Maris, Howard and Skowron. They’d also get a grand slam from Bobby Richardson. These guys were dangerous.
The Pirates didn’t get off to such a good start, even though they were at home. The very first batter of the Fall Classic was Tony Kubek of the Yankees. And, as if to send a message to the Bucs, he singled.
But Maz was about to turn a potentially dangerous situation into nothing.
Hector Lopez came to the dish, and hit towards second. A grounder that second basemen Bill Mazeroski stopped, stepped on second, and first to first. Double play!
The Pirates took the lead early, and held on. But the Yankees had a tendency to score a lot. No, this was not 1961, but this New York team was dangerous.
So it was only 3-2 for Pittsburgh as they batted in the bottom of the fourth. One man was on, and it was our boy at the dish. And he had a favourable count. Two balls, no strikes.
The next pitch from Jim Coates was sent way out to a spot out of reach of the three outfielders, Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris and Lopez. It was Hector in left, who saw it go over the fence. 5-2.
The Yankees actually scored two more runs, but that of course, was not enough.
But in game seven, two runs by New York in the top of the ninth tied the game 9-9. So that was enough to send it to the last of the ninth. Mazeroski made the last putout on a force play at second.
Two pitches later, he send Ralph Terry’s offering over Yogi Berra’s head in left for a dramatic walk-off! The home team had won!
Probably no one had realized that Pittsburgh’s second basemen had a home run in the first game, of course. Maz was more known for his fielding (He won eight gold gloves), and amazingly, was still around in 1971, when the Pirates won again. That home run by Bill turned out to be one of only two times a Fall Classic concluded via that. Joe Carter did that in 1993.
But that one swing by Maz, the brilliant second basemen, that ended a great World Series, will stand the test of time.
References
Neft, David S., Richard M. Cohen, and Michael L. Neft. The Sports Encyclopedia: Baseball. 12th ed. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1992. Print.
Neft, David S., and Richard M. Cohen. The World Series: Complete Play-by-play of Every Game, 1903-1989. 4th ed. New York: St. Martin's, 1990. Print. pp. 281-286
Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 22 Dec. 2016
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