About three weeks ago, there was a very special anniversary.  No, it wasn’t my wedding anniversary – ALL of those are special to me.  (Yeah, I do expect my wife to read this blog post!)  The anniversary that I’m talking about is one that whisked me back to my baseball-loving youth, to a time when baseball was still America’s game.  Indeed, it took me back to the time when big league baseball was still just a game and not the over-hyped, big business that it is today.  October 13th of this year was the 50th anniversary of Bill Mazeroski’s home run in the bottom of the ninth inning in Game 7 of the 1960 World Series at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh which gave the upstart Pittsburgh Pirates a stunning victory over the mighty New York Yankees.  There had never been a Game 7 walk-off homer in the Series prior to that day.  And there hasn’t been one since.

So where was I when this epic homer was hit?  Well I was a 7 year-old sitting in a second grade classroom in a small town in Western Pennsylvania, focusing little on class work but wondering a lot about how my beloved Bucs were doing in this crucial game.  I think what made me even more antsy was the fact that earlier in the afternoon our teacher took the class to the “all-purpose room” and let us watch the first few innings of the game on the school’s one TV set.  When she announced that we had to return to the classroom to resume our schoolwork,  I thought that she had to be kidding.  Didn’t she know how important this was to me?  After all, she was aware that my parents allowed me to skip school just a week earlier so that they could take me to Game 1 of the Series.  Did she really think that I would be able to concentrate on the three “R’s” while the rest of Game 7 went on without me?  But, since apparently it wasn’t all about me, back to the classroom we went.  And then shortly before our 4:00 dismissal, it happened.  While our teacher was over in a corner of the classroom working with a small group of kids on a reading lesson, and the rest of us were at our desks doing busy work (though I’m sure I wasn’t), Duffy, our lovable lady janitor burst into the room and yelled that Bill Mazeroski hit a home run and the Pirates won!  Me and my classmates started jumping up and down screaming, including those girls that didn’t know a baseball from a bowling ball.  Maz, my favorite Pirate player, was the hero.  It was an exciting end to the school day, even though I wasn’t able to witness it first-hand.

Our class reaction to the victory of course paled in comparison to the reaction of Bucs fans in Pittsburgh and the surrounding areas.  The celebration went on well into the night.  I read some accounts suggesting that the celebrating even exceeded the level of the V-E Day and V-J Day celebrations!  There were reports that the amount of confetti that rained down from buildings throughout the city buried the trolley tracks to the extent that the trolley system was brought to a standstill.  People began pouring into the city from the outlying areas to join in the celebration.  Traffic got so bogged down that police were forced to close off some of the roads leading to the city.

Here it is fifty years after the fact and I still have a strong emotional reaction every time I think about Maz’s homer.  But I am far from alone in that regard.  The exuberant response immediately after the Pirates won that 1960 World Series is understandable.  But why is Mazeroski’s home run still considered one of the most, if not the most revered moment in Pittsburgh sports history, even by many who were born years after he hit it?  To answer that, you have to understand and appreciate what led up to that moment.

First the historical significance.  Prior to 1960, the last time the Pirates were in the World Series was 1927.  They were swept in that series by the Yankees.  That Yankees team fielded a devastating line-up that was commonly referred to as “Murderer’s Row” which featured eventual Hall-of -Famers Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Earle Combs and Tony Lazzeri.  The last time the Pirates had won a World Series was 1925  when they bested the Washington Senators led by Walter Johnson.  Early on in that 33-year World Series drought, the Bucs came close to winning the pennant, finishing in second place several times.  But after World War II, things got ugly.  In the 14 seasons from 1946 through 1959, the Pirates finished in last or next to last place ten times.  For much of that time, the fans did have a bonafide star to cheer for.  There were seven straight seasons, from 1946 through 1952, where outfielder/first Baseman Ralph Kiner either led the league or tied for the league lead in home runs.  That essentially was the only excitement for Pirate fans in those days.  And it’s not like sports fans in Pittsburgh at that time had an enticing alternative.  Their pro football team, the Steelers, (there was no hockey team in town then)  was just as awful as the Pirates, hardly ever even making a serious run at getting to the Championship Game.  The City of Pittsburgh and the surrounding area, well known for it’s steel and coal production, was a leader in regard to the nation’s industrial might.  When it came to sports however, Pittsburgh  became a synonym for the term perennial losers.

But then came the magical 1960 baseball season.  Going into the season, folks just didn’t know what to expect.  The Pirates had a disappointing 4th place finish in 1959.  The 1960 roster included some good talent but no real superstars.  Roberto Clemente was the rightfielder on that team and he ended up hitting .314 for season, but he was just starting to emerge as a star.  As it turned out, in that 1960 season,  shortstop Dick Groat led the league in hitting and won the National League MVP Award and pitcher Vern Law went 20-9 and won the Cy Young Award.  But for the most part, the team was a bunch of solid players who played the game the right way under fiery Manager Danny Murtaugh.  The Pirates started out the season strong and began to believe in themselves.  It seemed like they thrived on come-from-behind rallies to win games late.  Most importantly, the fans started to believe.  ”Beat ‘em Bucs” signs and bumper stickers were everywhere.  This was the year!  And indeed it was as the Pirates ended up winning the National League pennant by 7 games, earning the right to take on the dreaded Yankees in the World Series.

The Pirates weren’t given much of a chance to win it all.  The Yankees were a dynasty.  From 1949 through 1953, the Yankees won five straight World Series titles.  They appeared in four more Fall Classics in the 50′s, winning two of those.  Going into the decade of the 60′s, the expectation was that the Yankees reign of excellence would continue.  The 1960 Yankees had a formidable line-up, led by Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, Yogi Berra, “Moose” Skowron and pitcher Whitey Ford.

Actually, the Series turned out to be a weird one in a number of ways.  If you just looked at the statistics,  you’d have to be puzzled as to how the series even went to a seventh game and you’d have to wonder how the Yankees could have lost.  They set several World Series individual and team batting records.  For the Series, the Yankees out-hit the Pirates 91-60, they out-scored them 55-27, and they outpitched them with a combined ERA of 3.54 to the Pirates 7.11.   Two of the Yankees three wins were complete game shutouts by Whitey Ford and in those three wins, the Yankees scored a total of 38 runs while the Pirates were only able to get three runs in their Game 2 loss.  The Yankees combined for 10 home runs.  I had the good fortune of seeing Mazeroski hit a home run in Game 1 but the Bucs didn’t hit another one until Game 7, when they hit three.  Clearly, the Yankees were the dominant team, but like they had done all season, the Pirates found a way to prevail.

But all of this is just backdrop for the final act – Game 7.  That game itself had some weird, critical plays and late game heroics that provided all the tension and excitement necessary to set the stage for the dramatic climax.  The Pirates started off the scoring with a two run homer by first baseman Rocky Nelson in the first inning and then they got two more runs in the second.  Law took that 4-0 lead into the 5th inning but Skowron led off that inning with a solo homer to right.  In the top of the 6th, Mantle singled in a run and then the next batter, Berra, who was playing left field that day, gave the Yankees a 5-4 lead with a three run homer down the line in right.  The Yankees tacked on two more runs in the top of the 8th and carried a seemingly insurmountable 7-4 lead into the bottom of the 8th.  I would guess that most people probably thought that at this point the Series was over.  But arguably, the most exciting inning and a half of World Series play was about to begin.  Yankees reliever Bobby Shantz, who entered the game at the start of the 3rd inning, had completely silenced the Pirates bats for five innings.  The Pirates came to the plate in the 8th wondering if they ever would be able to get to Shantz.  They didn’t have to wait long for the answer.  Pinch hitter Gino Cimoli led off the bottom of the eighth with a single.  Centerfielder Billy Virdon came up and hit a ground ball to Yankees shortstop Tony Kubek that looked to be an easy double-play ball.  But it took a bad hop and hit Kubek in the throat.  Instead of two outs and nobody on, the Pirates had runners at first and second with nobody out.  Dick Groat followed with a single to left that scored Cimoli, cutting the Yankees lead to 7-5.  Jim Coates came in to replace Shantz and got two outs.  But with runners on second and third, Roberto Clemente hit a roller to the right of first base that was fielded cleanly by Skowron.  But inexplicably, Coates failed to cover first base and a hustling Clemente legged out an infield single that plated another run.  So with the Yankees now clinging to a 7-6 lead, catcher Hal Smith came up to bat.  Smith entered the game in the top of the 8th after starting catcher Smokey Burgess was removed for a pinch runner in the 7th inning.  Smith made his only plate appearance that day a memorable one by smacking a 3-run homer to left.  And just like that, the Pirates had a 9-7 lead.  Ralph Terry came in to replace Coates and he got the next batter to fly out to end the inning.

The Pirates took the field in the top of the 9th thinking that they were about to become World Champs.  But not so fast.  The Yankees led off the top of the 9th with back-to-back singles.  After Maris fouled out to the catcher, Mantle knocked in another run with a single.  So with the Yankees down by a run with runners at first and third and one out,  another pivotal play was about to unfold.  Left-handed batter Berra stepped to the plate to face southpaw Harvey Haddix.  Berra hit a fairly sharp ground ball to Nelsen who fielded it  near the first base bag.  But instead of throwing to second to start a Series-ending double-play, he decided to step on first to get the putout of Berra but it took the force play off.  Nelsen’s momentum carried him to the home plate side of the first base bag.  At this point he froze for just a split-second.  He could have thrown home and likely would have nailed the runner streaking in from third base.  For some reason, he chose to try and record the third out by attempting to tag out Mantle who was diving back to first base since he was no longer forced to run.  Nelsen was unable to reach him in time and the Yankees had evened the score at 9-9.  Haddix retired the next batter, so it was off to the bottom of the ninth.

I’ve read numerous accounts of Mazeroski describing what happened next.  He said that he came off the field after they had gotten that third out and went into the dugout thinking about what just happened and how they left the Yankees off the hook.  He said that he was sitting on the bench as Terry began to take his warm-up tosses and someone finally yelled to him, “Hey Maz, you’re up!”.  He had forgotten that he was to lead-off the bottom of the 9th.  He said that he stepped into the batter’s box thinking that he just want to hit the ball hard somewhere and get on base to hopefully start a rally.  Terry’s first pitch was high and he laid off of it for ball one.  He recalls that after that first pitch, Yankees catcher Johnny Blanchard stepped toward the mound as he threw the ball back to Terry and he yelled to him, “He’s a high fastball hitter – get the ball down”.  Well, he did get the next pitch down some – but not enough.  It was right where Maz liked it.  But I’ll let legendary broadcaster Chuck Thompson describe for you what happened.  He did the radio play-by-play of the game that day and despite the fact that he misidentifies the Yankees pitcher, it is a call that I never get tired of hearing.  Here’s Chuck:  “Art Ditmar throws – here’s a swing and a high fly ball going deep left, this may do it.  Back to the wall goes Berra, it is … over the fence, home run and the Pirates win.” After a long pause where you get to experience the crowd noise and then a brief summation of what just happened, I recall Thompson making the comment something to the effect that Forbes Field has turned into an “outdoor insane asylum”.  And the bedlam was just beginning!

In addition to enjoying Thompson’s call, I love watching the video footage of the home run where you see Berra racing back to the ivy-covered brick wall, hoping to make a play if it hits off the wall and then watching the ball sneak over the 406 FT.  mark just to the right of the big green scoreboard that had the huge Longines clock on top of it.  There is also a great still photo that I’ve seen of Maz just after making contact with the ball.  It’s a ground level shot taken from the first base side that takes you right through the batter’s box, down the left field line and out to the left field scoreboard.  You see Berra standing in left field, and the big clock on top of the scoreboard showing the time as 3:36.  What a way to preserve a memory!

You know, when the Pirates moved to Three Rivers Stadium in 1970, the University of Pittsburgh purchased Forbes Field with plans to demolish it to make way for an expansion of their campus.  But they preserved that portion of the wall over which the homer disappeared.  Every year on October 13th, a small crowd gathers at the wall and at 3:36 in the afternoon they play Thompson’s call.  They all cheer as if they just witnessed it happening.  So, we come back to the main question.  What is it about this home run that evokes that kind of response?

It’s probably a lot of things.  The drama associated with that one swing.  The suddenness with which it resulted in an improbable victory.  How it took us from the frustration over blowing a 9th inning lead to the euphoria of becoming World Champs in a blink.  The what-ifs that set the stage:  what if Kubek doesn’t get the bad hop?; what if Coates would have covered first?; what if Nelsen had executed a game ending double-play?; what if Terry had gotten that pitch down like Blanchard wanted?; and what if it wasn’t Maz who was leading off the bottom of the ninth?  While I think all of those things play a part, I believe the main reason why the homer is so special to so many people is because it changed the way we thought of ourselves.  We were no longer the perennial losers, the laughing-stocks – we were the Champs!  To some back then, they hadn’t had that feeling in a very long time.  For some of us, we never experienced that feeling.  It’s something that never can be taken away from you  - something upon which memories are built – something that fathers pass on to their kids.  And that’s why I still get goosebumps whenever I hear, “Back to the wall goes Berra …”