World Series History: Bill Mazeroski's Home Run to Win 1960 World Series

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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…

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Throughout the 1950s, the New York Yankees were the unquestioned goliaths of baseball. They won six world championships plus two other pennants in which they fell short in the Series, losing to the Dodgers in 1955 and the Milwaukee Braves in seven games in 1957. Naturally, the Yankees appeared invincible as the 1960 Fall Classic began. They were coming off a season in which Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle combined to hit 79 home runs, and Maris would go on to win the American League MVP award. Crafty left-hander Whitey Ford was also primed to add to his stellar World Series body of work.

The Pittsburgh Pirates won the National League pennant with a record of 95-59. They were led by manager Danny Murtaugh and their lineup featured names like Smokey Burgess, who hit .294 that year, and Dick Groat who won the National League batting title with a .325 average.

The Pirates also had a 25-year-old right fielder who was just beginning his journey to Cooperstown. Roberto Clemente came into the series having hit for a .314 average while driving in 94 runs.

Their pitching staff was credible, but again they were seen as no match for the Yankees, who in those days really were the Bronx Bombers. Nevertheless, the games still had to be played on the field and nobody knew that better than the Pirates.

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The first six games of the Series proved to be (perhaps) the strangest of any World Series ever played. Eventually ending with a 3-3 split forcing a Game 7, the Yankees blew the Pirates out with three of the most lopsided scores in the history of the Series. Following a Game 1 victory by Pittsburgh by a 6-4 score, the Yankees stormed back to win the second game 16-3. The game featured two massive home runs by Mickey Mantle. But it did not go unnoticed that the Pirates managed to get 13 hits off Yankees pitching.

70,001 fans attended the third game at the old Yankee Stadium. Behind the shutout pitching of Whitey Ford and another home run by Mantle, the Yankees cruised to another 10-0 lopsided victory over the Pirates to take a 2-1 lead in the series.

But in a squeaker played on a Sunday afternoon, Vern Law followed his victory in Game 1 with another win by a score of 3-2. Mantle did not hit another home run, nor did any other Yankee as the Series continued its all-or-nothing box score line for the Bombers.

The teams split the next two games with the Pirates winning Game 5, earning a chance to put the Yankees away when the Series returned to Pittsburgh, only to have the Yankees blow them away again in the sixth game by a 12-0 margin. Whitey Ford tossed yet another shutout.

This would set the stage for a decisive seventh game…

As play began on that Thursday afternoon, and the parlor game of “pick a hero” was taking place, it would be a safe bet that the name of Bill Mazeroski would come up only as an afterthought.

His regular season stats included a rather pedestrian .273 batting average with 147 hits in 151 games at second base.

The Yankees called on Bob Turley, a burly right-hander who had gone 9-3 for them during the season. The Pirates countered with Vern Law again, who would pitch effectively into the sixth inning allowing three runs, while Turley got the quick hook from Casey Stengel after just one inning after giving up a two-run homer to first baseman Rocky Nelson.

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Mazeroski came to bat in the second inning and bunted toward short, reaching safely but then getting erased on a double play. He would bat again in the fourth inning with the Pirates leading 4-0 and pop out to shortstop. In the seventh inning with the Pirates trailing this time, he grounded into an inning-ending double play.

In typical Yankees fashion, they stormed back to tie the game at 9-9 in the top of the ninth, setting the stage for what would be the final half inning of baseball for the 1960 season.

Scheduled to bat first in the ninth, Mazeroski stepped in to face right-hand reliever Ralph Terry. After taking the first pitch for ball one, Bill Mazeroski launched a fly ball that seemed to some to take forever to come down over the left field wall, and the rest as they say is history.

Mazeroski would go on to win a controversial election to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2001 that many argued was a reward for just one swing of the bat. Or, maybe it just proves that this home run – his home run – was indeed the most dramatic one ever hit in a World Series game.

Next: Bobby Thomson Hits Shot Heard 'Round World

Here’s the video that recalls the moment at 3:36 PM that stunned the baseball world…

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