The very nature of the World Series as the culmination of every baseball season almost guarantees unparalleled drama and memorable moments that will live forever in baseball lore.
This is the story of one of those moments when one of the most unlikely heroes of all time would write his name in the history books with a home run that defeated the mighty New York Yankees in the seventh and decisive game of the 1960 World Series.
Today, not too far from PNC Park, the home of the Pittsburgh Pirates, stands a portion of the left field outfield wall that dominated the old Forbes Field. It is a wall that looks pretty much like any old wall. And not too far away from that wall, you can walk to a spot inside a building that sits today on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh to find the original home plate that was used at Forbes Field on the day that Bill Mazeroski hit what is claimed by many to be the most dramatic home run to ever end a World Series. And the distance you walk is a replica of the actual flight of the ball that cleared the wall on that fateful autumn day in October sending the Yankees home.
And when you attend a game at PNC Park today, you will also see see a statue of Mazeroski that was unveiled in 2010 to commemorate “the” home run.
All of that tells us that this one was special in a way that differs from all of the other memorable moments in World Series history. Because there’s no statue at Yankee Stadium to commemorate Don Larsen‘s perfect game. Nor is there one at Dodger Stadium recalling the one-legged trot around the bases by Kirk Gibson in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series.
So, let’s take a walk back now to see how it all unfolded…