Bill Mazeroski

Bill Mazeroski was born September 5, 1936 in Wheeling, West Virginia, but grew up in Rush Run, Ohio.  At seventeen years-of-age, he signed a professional baseball contract.  After two years playing in the minor leagues, Mazeroski was promoted to the majors and played sixteen years with the Pittsburgh Pirates before retiring in 1972.

However, let's go back to the afternoon of Thursday, October 13, 1960.  I was a sophomore at Oswego High School (OHS).  In the middle of the afternoon, I was scheduled to have a study hall.  At the same time, the seventh and deciding game of the World Series was being played at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh.  

The OHS administration placed a black-and-white TV set on the stage in the school auditorium tuned to the World Series.  Any student with study hall was permitted to watch the game instead.  What a break!  

When I arrived in the auditorium, the game was in the fifth inning with the Pirates leading 4-1.  However, the Yankees quickly went in front (5-4) with the help of a Yogi Berra three-run homer (which TV announcer Mel Allen originally called a foul ball).  They added two more runs in the top of the eighth inning to give New York a 7-4 advantage needing only six outs to win their nineteenth World Series Championship.

Then in the bottom of the eighth, magic happened.  First, pinch hitter Gino Cimoli singled to center.  Next up, Bill Verdon hit a sure double play ground ball to shortstop Tony Kubek.  But, just before the ball arrived in his glove, it hit a pebble and ricocheted off his throat, causing (1) blood to fill his mouth and (2) difficulty for him to breathe.  The bottom line was two men on instead of two men out.

Dick Groat singled, scoring Cimoli, making the score 7-5.  Bob Skinner made a sacrifice bunt advancing Verdon to third base and Groat to second base with one out.  After Rocky Nelson made the second out, Roberto Clemente beat out an infield single, scoring Verdon from third.  The score was now 7-6, with two runners on base and two outs.  

Up came catcher Hal Smith who hit a dramatic three run home run to give the Pirates a 9-7 lead.  Pittsburgh was now three outs away from their first World Series championship since 1925.

Bobby Richardson led off the top of the ninth with a single.  Ex-Pirate Dale Long singled as well.  After Roger Maris made the first out, the great Mickey Mantle singled scoring Richardson, cutting the Pirate lead to 9-8.  Long went to third base and was replaced by Gil McDougald.  

Then Yogi Berra hit a sharp ground ball to first baseman Rocky Nelson who stepped on the bag to retire Berra for the second out and then attempted to eliminate Mantle to end the game and the World Series.  However, Mantle, in an amazing athletic move, avoided Nelson and returned to the safety of first base, allowing McDougald to score and tie the game at 9.  

In the bottom of the ninth, up came the previously mentioned Bill Mazeroski.  On the second pitch from Yankee pitcher Ralph Terry, he hit a home run over the left field wall giving the Pirates the championship.  

It was the first time a World Series ended on a home run.  It has happened only one other time since, Joe Carter for the Toronto Blue Jays in 1993.

It was also the only time in my life I cut a class.  I stayed past the end of my study hall.  I was not about to miss watching the end of the greatest baseball game ever played.