Bill Mazeroski
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| Bill Mazeroski | ||
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| Second baseman | ||
| Born: September 5, 1936 Wheeling, West Virginia |
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| Batted: Right | Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | ||
| July 7, 1956 for the Pittsburgh Pirates |
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| Final game | ||
| October 4, 1972 for the Pittsburgh Pirates |
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| Career statistics | ||
| Batting average | .260 | |
| Hits | 2,016 | |
| Home runs | 138 | |
| Teams | ||
| Career highlights and awards | ||
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| Member of the National | ||
 Baseball Hall of Fame |
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| Elected | 2001 | |
| Election Method | Veterans Committee | |
William Stanley Mazeroski (born September 5, 1936 in Wheeling, West Virginia), nicknamed "Maz", and also called simply "The Glove" by radio broadcaster Bob Prince, is a former Major League Baseball player who spent his entire career (1956-72) with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He helped the Pirates to two World Series titles, in 1960 and 1971. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2001.
Although considered one of the greatest defensive second basemen of his day, and overall an average hitter (lifetime batting average of .260), he is best known for winning the 1960 World Series with a game-ending home run in the seventh game. It remains the only Game 7 "walk-off" home run in World Series history.
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[edit] Early Years
Bill Mazeroski attended Warren Consolidated High School in Tiltonsville, Ohio and excelled in both baseball and basketball. He started on the varsity baseball team as a freshman.
As a 17-year-old in 1954, Mazeroski signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates, a team for which he would play his entire career. Originally signed as a shortstop, he was quickly moved to second base and made his Major League debut on July 7 1956.
[edit] Baseball career
Mazeroski was noted for his defensive prowess and earned his first of eight Gold Glove Awards in 1958. He had a career .983 fielding percentage and led the National League in assists nine times, and holds the major league career record for double plays by a second baseman. Pirates broadcaster Bob Prince used to call him "The Glove".
Despite his defensive play often overshadowing his offensive contributions, Mazeroski had several fine offensive seasons. In 1958, he hit .275, hit 19 home runs (a career best) and had 68 RBIs and was considered for the MVP Award. In 1966 he knocked in 82, a career best. During his peak seasons (1957-68), he drove in more runs than any other middle infielder of the period.
In the 1960 World Series, Mazeroski hit a game-winning home run off New York Yankees pitcher Ralph Terry which won the series for Pittsburgh. It was the first time a World Series had ever been ended by a home run,[1] and has remained the defining event of Mazeroski's career. Ted Szafranski, 13 at the time, caught the famous Mazeroski home run ball. He gave it to Mazeroski in exchange for two cases of beer. The ball has since been placed in the Hall of Fame.
Although not known as a slugger, Mazeroski also hit a home run that decided the outcome of Game 1 of the 1960 Series. In the fourth inning, with Don Hoak on base, his shot off Jim Coates, over the left field scoreboard, provided the deciding runs in a 6-4 victory. The Pirates had four home runs in the entire Series, and two were hit by Mazeroski.
[edit] Hall of Fame selection
Mazeroski was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2001. Reading his prepared speech, he only got as far as thanking the Veterans Committee voters for choosing a player based largely on defensive skills (a rarity in the Hall), before becoming so emotional and teary-eyed that he had to stop, apologizing to those who "had to come all the way up here to hear this crap!" He then sat down, while the audience and his fellow Hall-of-Famers stood and gave Maz a loud and long ovation.
[edit] Other Honors
Today, a portion of the brick left field wall from Forbes Field remains standing, along with a marker where the sudden-victory homer cleared the wall, as a historic monument on the University of Pittsburgh campus in Pittsburgh's Oakland District. Also, there is a softball diamond behind the wall, called Bill Mazeroski Field.
Mazeroski also tried his hand at politics in the early 1980s, running as a Democrat for commissioner of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania in 1983. He was unable to secure the nomination in the May primary.
Warren Consolidated High School has since joined other schools to form Buckeye Local High School in Rayland, Ohio. Buckeye Local honored him in 2003 naming their new baseball field after him and placing a monument behind home plate, near the road.
In 2004, the Ohio Valley Athletic Conference honored Mazeroski by selecting him to the first class of honorees in the Ohio Valley Athletic Conference Hall of Fame. Mazeroski was introduced by veteran sports writer Rick DeLuca, a 1970 graduate of Maz's Warren Consolidated High School. Maz was inducted with a group that included former Boston Celtics great John Havilcek and former Olympic wrestler Bobby Douglas.
Mazeroski received a standing ovation on July 10, 2006 as he threw out the first pitch of the Home Run Derby that preceded the MLB All-Star game at PNC Park in Pittsburgh.
[edit] Film Cameo
In a staged cameo appearance in the movie version of The Odd Couple, Mazeroski hit into a game-ending triple play at Shea Stadium, which sportswriter Oscar Madison was unable to watch, being distracted by an annoying phone call from Felix Ungar (right after sarcastically predicting to Heywood Hale Broun that the Mets still had a chance to win, that Maz might hit into a triple play). In reality, according to the Society for American Baseball Research, Mazeroski never hit into a triple play in his career, but was part of two triple plays as a fielder (in 1966 and 1968).
The IMDB site for Mazeroski features this anecdote. The scene was actually filmed just prior to the start of a regular game at Shea on June 27, 1967 (as per another IMDB reference[1]), and Maz reported that he was given only 10 minutes to get it done:
- They had a guy out there pitching and he was throwing fastballs. I knew I had to hit a line drive to the third baseman. It only took two takes. The first pitch, I hit a line drive that went just foul. The second one, I hit a one-hopper right to third. He caught it, stepped on third, threw to second, threw to first, a triple play. Now that took talent!
[edit] Present Day
Mazeeroski serves as special infield instructor for the Pirates in spring training and is retired in Panama City, FL. He was also in a commercial for FSN Pittsburgh featuring former Pirates first baseman Sean Casey.
His son Darren is a retired junior college baseball coach.
[edit] See also
- List of Gold Glove middle infield duos
- Top 500 home run hitters of all time
- List of major league players with 2,000 hits
[edit] External links
- Baseball Hall of Fame
- Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference
- BaseballLibrary - career highlights
- The Baseball Page
- IMDb biography
- The Sporting News' Baseball's 25 Greatest Moments: Maz
- Audio: Mazeroski's home run to win Game 7 of the 1960 World Series
[edit] References
- ^ The World Series has ended on a home run only once since, by Joe Carter in the 1993 World Series, although Carter's home run was hit in Game 6, not a decisive Game 7. The only other playoff Game 7 to end on a home run was in the 2003 American League Championship Series, with Aaron Boone's 11th-inning homer.
| Preceded by Larry Sherry |
Babe Ruth Award 1960 |
Succeeded by Whitey Ford |
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