1960

"Mantle safe at first base, on one of the weirdest plays, but we'll go back and tell you what happened. Berra ripped a line drive down the first base line. Stuart (or, rather, Nelson), the first baseman, fielded the ball on one hop and tagged up. That made Berra the second out of the inning. Then he tried to tag Mantle, going back to the bag, and he missed him. And while so doing, the tying run scored."

"Well, a little while ago, when we mentioned that this one, in typical fashion, was going right to the wire, little did we know… Art Ditmar throws—here's a swing and a high fly ball going deep to left, this may do it!… Back to the wall goes Yogi Berra, it is…over the fence, home run, the Pirates win!… (long pause for crowd noise)… Ladies and gentlemen, Mazeroski has hit a one-nothing pitch over the left field fence at Forbes Field to win the 1960 World Series for the Pittsburgh Pirates by a score of ten-nothing!… Once again, that final score… The Pittsburgh Pirates, the 1960 world champions, defeat the New York Yankees. The Pirates ten, and the Yankees nine!"

"You know I'm a Pirate fan, Win. That's why I'm betting against them." According to the former professional baseball player turned actor, he has never won a bet. "I figure, therefore, the best thing I can possibly do to help the Bucs is to bet against them."

"As we reached the street, conversation suddenly stopped. A crowd spotted Clemente and the deluge began. Before we had gone 10 steps Roberto was surrounded by humanity. They patted him on the back and kept up a steady chant of endearments. Clewmente smiled and kept walking. Finally, after what seemed like hours, we reached the car. By now Clemente was all smiles and he seemed to radiate happiness. In the car he said aloud, "These are the best fans anywhere. They make all of this worthwhile. They are the reason I'm glad we won the World Series. They are the ones who deserve this championship." And, as the auto pulled slowly away from the curb and Clemente sat back and relaxed, it was obvious that here was a player who enjoyed his victory celebration a lot better on the streets of Pittsburgh than in the clubhouse he shares with his teammates."

"I was shooting for some small publications and my goal was to sell a picture to SI. But I knew that to compete I needed camera with a motor drive. So I talked my father into loaning me the money for a Nikon F. It cost $450 and we bought it on time, though my father didn't believe in buying things on time. I took the camera to Pittsburgh. On that day—the first day I used it—I got two good pictures, a shot of Yogi Berra getting picked off second and one of Mickey Mantle waving to the crowd. I sold both to SI, one for $300, the other for $150. I remember because the total was exactly $450—which I used to pay back my father."

"The big guy's been dead a dozen years, but it's funny how his name keeps bobbing up at World Series time. When Mickey hit his home runs it was first "three behind Ruth," then "two behind Ruth." And when Yogi Berra bounced one foul atop the right-field roof the memory was of Ruth smacking one fair in this fashion in his fading days as a National Leaguer."

""There was some action in the bullpen at the time, and I made that mistake," said broadcaster Thompson, 79, recalling how he started to describe Art Ditmar throwing in the Yankees’ bullpen just as Ralph Terry delivered the final pitch."

"I was too busy screaming my head off like everybody else [to complete the scorecard to include Mazeroski's walk-off home run]. That thunderclap ... let out all that pent-up emotion and frustration. This is such a great sports town, and we've had some great triumphs -- the Immaculate Reception, the Steelers dynasty, the Penguins and their three Stanley Cups. But for those of us who were there on Oct. 13, 1960, that can never be topped. You just stood a little bit taller. You could look people in the eye and say, "Yeah, I'm a Pirates fan." It was truly a life-shaping experience. And for me, relief from a very, very difficult time in my personal life."

"A couple of gentlemen who are old hands at crises sat in Yankee Stadium this balmy afternoon and watched the Pirates precipitate a most acute one for themselves. Mr. Nehru and Mr. Herbert Hoover arrived a trifle late, and both left a short time before Gino Cimoli struck out on a pitch that almost untied one of his shoe laces. It closed down a game that was utterly devoid of suspense and deserves mention only because of the heroics performed by certain members of the Casey Stengel troupe. Now the Pirates had better win tomorrow or be ready for the guillotine. The Yanks have them, two to one, and if they make it three there could be no return to Forbes Field before next April."

"That split-second, extraordinarily heads-up base-running play Mickey Mantle performed in the top of the ninth of Game 7 of the 1960 World Series, it turns out, was senseless. And as Manhattan’s Marc Salis and Walter “Wally From The Bronx” Kellermann last week pointed out — separately and in duplicate detail — Mantle’s base-running could have ended the game and the Series in Pittsburgh’s favor, at that moment — before Bill Mazeroski ever got a chance to homer in the bottom of the ninth to give the Pirates’ a 10-9 win. With one out in the ninth, the Bucs led, 9-8, Mantle on first, pinch runner Gil McDougald on third. Yogi Berra hit a grounder to first baseman Rocky Nelson, who stepped on first for the second out. Mantle, realizing he had no chance to make it to second, dived back into first base, avoiding Nelson’s tag, which would have been the third out and likely would have ended the game, because it’s highly unlikely McDougald could have scored before that tag. But because McDougald scored to tie the game, Mantle always has been given credit for a fabulous decision. But had Mantle simply run to second he would have removed all risk of ending the game by being tagged by Nelson before McDougald scored. Nelson, in no position to throw home after stepping on first, had removed the force at second, thus Mantle would have had to have been tagged out at second or after a run down, allowing McDougald to easily score. The “spectacular” and legendary part of the play — Mantle diving back into first and eluding Nelson’s tag — was unnecessary, senseless. Had Nelson made that tag Mantle would have made one of the worst base-running errors in history."

"Drama is where you find it during the World Series. The time: Wednesday afternoon. The locale: First floor, box 71 at Forbes Field. The occupants: Ralph Kiner (with Nancy Chaffee Kiner) and Henry (Hank) Greenberg, two of the greatest sluggers in Pirate history. The one year the two of them played together, in 1947, Kiner, on the way up, hit 51 home runs; Greenberg, on the way down, slammed out 25. They have remained close friends ever since. Having spent all of his lifetime, barring the season of '47, in the American League and presently the vice president of the Chicago White Sox, Greenberg's riding with the Yankees. You don't have to be told where Kiner's sympathies are; the general manager of the San Diego Padres of the Pacific Coast League is still a Pirate through and through."

"Bill Mazeroski, home-run-hitting hero of the Pirates' World Series victory, has started reaping the benefits of his long hit—and at advanced prices, too. The West Virginia second baseman posed a problem last night to the celebrity panel of "I've Got a Secret". And next month, he will be a mystery guest on another guessing show (and he's keeping the name of the program his secret for the time being). Before the second pitch of the ninth inning of the seventh World Series game, Mazeroski could have demanded a couple of hundred dollars for a television appearance. But, according to his agent, Pittsburgher Frank Scott, Mazeroski will receive $1,000 plus expenses for his mystery-guest stint (plus, no doubt, whatever figures come up on the flip cards). "I guess I'd have to say Mazeroski is the most in demand," said Scott, a Pittsburgher who started his sports career as a student at Pitt during the Jock Sutherland era. Scott, based in New York, has at least five other Pirates in his stable, in addition to many Yankees. Among other assignments for the World Series hero is a tobacco chew endorsement for a television commercial."

"I was gonna hit one. Can I help it if Maz got cute?"

"I got my share of homers this year and I can tell you that no one ever gets any cheap ones here. Sure, I know Mantle led the American League in homers, but we got a couple of guys besides myself who can hit home runs, too. Clemente can hit a ball as far as anyone. He leans toward left field and hits to right. And what about Hoak, Skinner and Burgess? The ball jumps off their bats also."

"I heard Clemente yell something like "Got it" but I wasn't sure. I felt as I went back that it was a tough one but that I had a chance. I caught it up here (over his shoulder) and stepped on Roberto's heel as I bumped him into the wall."

"I was really disappointed, especially because I got hurt on a dumb baserunning mistake. I was on second base and a ball was hit to short and I took off for third. You're not supposed to go unless the ball is hit behind you between first and second base. I shouldn't have run; it was a real bonehead play. I was just so excited. The ball was hit to Kubek and he threw to third to get me. I dove into third, a headfirst slide, and my thumb just caught under the bag, and was bent back to my wrist. It really hurt. I told Murtaugh I had to play in the last game, though, if we were gonna win. I told him that. "I'll help this team win," I said. And I did. I had a sacrifice and I did some things that helped us. I only played seven innings in the field because my thumb hurt so much."

"When I walked up to the plate, all I thought about was getting on base. But deep in my mind, I just knew we were going to lose. I thought, "Well, you can't feel too bad taking the Yankees into the seventh game of the World Series and losing in extra innings.""

"They won the laughers. The easy games went to the Yankees. But when it came down to the clutch you know who was there. This was our kind of game. It was the first time in the Series we had a chance to show them our finishing kick. That's the way we won it all year and today we put it on again."

"I don't know about everyone else, but I'd certainly agree [with Tony Kubek]. I'm not sure if we belonged on the same field with those fellas. But something special was happening all year for us, and it happened again in the World Series."

"So I just walked to the plate, tryin' to hit the ball hard somewhere. I was always a high fastball hitter, and the first pitch that went by was probably a little too high. The second pitch he got down a little bit, and I hit it. And I knew when I hit it that Yogi Berra was in left field, that he wasn't gonna catch it. I knew I hit it good enough, hard enough... 'Cause it was 410 feet out there, and you probably had to hit it about 425 to get it over the big fence out there. So I knew he wasn't gonna catch it, and I was runnin' my butt off. And if he had misplayed it off the wall, I wanted to be on third base for a triple; there's a lot of ways to score from third base than there are from second. But by the time I was going into second, the roar of the crowd and the umpire down the left field line, give it his stuff... Then I hit second base, and I don't believe I touched the ground the rest of the way."

"I had the utmost confidence in the Pirates all the way because I knew we were the better team. I thought the Yankees were playing over their heads. I didn't think they were that good."

"Forget about the final score. If that ball had gone through, the score would have been tied, Bob Friend would have stayed in, and it would have been a different ball game. The Yankees wouldn't have scored any sixteen runs off of Bob, you can bet on that. I thought he was pretty sharp, as far as he went."

"Fans will see two opposite types in managing in Danny Murtaugh and Casey Stengel. Murtaugh goes with his regulars as far as possible. He might pinch-hit for them late in a game but very, very seldom. Danny figures if a man is good enough to play regularly, he's good enough to hit. And don't think this doesn't build up the confidence of a player. Murtaugh plays good, sound baseball according to the book. From what I've heard of Stengel, he may pinch-hit as early as the second inning. Casey also shifts players frequently but his methods have worked. Who can argue with success?"

"That homer was one I'll always remember. The only one comparable was one off Taylor Phillips of the Cubs. That broke the home run record for a Pittsburgh second baseman. A small thrill compared to today's."

"We didn't have time to go to church before the game but Mrs. Law and I prayed in our room. We prayed that no one on either side would get hurt and that everyone would would do as well as they possibly could. We didn't pray for victory because that would be a selfish prayer."

"I got to my knees and backhanded it. I came up to throw to second to start a double play. But Groat had come in behind the pitcher's mound in preparation to take a throw from right field; he was on the grass instead of at second. He'd figured the ball had gone by me. So there's no one covering second. I cranked my arm twice, I was told, and then turned and stepped on the bag for a force out on Berra. But Mantle dove back into the bag and beat my tag at him. Yogi said I robbed him of a double. Mantle said he saw me catch the ball, and thought I caught it on the fly. Mantle might have been the goat if Skowron had followed with a single. Because if Mantle had gone to second he would have gotten there safely, and he would have scored on a single. Mantle wasn't more than an arm's length off the bag. Stuart said I should've gotten Mantle at first base. He told me if he'd have been at first base, the ballgame would've been over, and Maz wouldn't even have had to bat. That's the way Stuart was. He could give it and he could take it. But Murtaugh said I was the only one who could have caught the ball. I took one step off the bag with Yogi up; I couldn't take two steps off. The ball went over the bag and was in foul territory when I grabbed it. It was just one of the sequences in that game that stand out. It was probably the greatest game ever played in the seventh game of a World Series. It went back and forth. You couldn't ask for better drama."

"I wasn't too worried at the start when Bob Cerv singled and Tony Kubek doubled. I knew I was in trouble, but felt that if I could get Roger Maris out, we'd walk Mickey Mantle and then try for the double play. And that's exactly how it worked out—Don Hoak took Yogi Berra's grounder and started the double play. Both Cerv and Kubek hit my best pitches, too. Cerv hit a ball in on him and Kubek hit a low, outside pitch into left field. But after the first inning, I made a change on Kubek. He had been batting .500 with seven hits and our "book" on him was to keep the ball outside and low. I decided to pitch him inside and he didn't get a ball out of the infield after that."

"You keep it. The memory's good enough for me."

"Dad would have loved it—I only wish he could have been here today. Dad always wanted to play big league baseball. He was considered a great prospect. Once he was ready to sign with the Cleveland Indians and then he had a foot cut off in a mine accident. From then on, all his hopes and ambitions were wrapped up in me, because I was an only son. Dad had to work hard in the mines, but whenever he could he always would try to catch me in a ball game or two. Then a year and a half ago he died of lung cancer."

"Why did you come in here if you didn't expect to get wet?"

"To name names for the unfortunate horseplay really has no purpose at this time. I suppose many were to blame and not just one person. The person who twisted my foot has had enough disappointments in his own life. All of us were a close-knit bunch of players, and I believe all the players would lose a great deal of respect for me if this person was named. The players involved literally picked me up and tried ripping my shirt off, but because I resisted so, it might have been my fault as well. , our TV and radio announcer, probably was more of an instigator than anyone, as he was in front of me, leading the pack on. There were about five or six of them, and it could have been any of them. Certainly Bob could have stopped the whole thing if he wanted to. There never were any hard feelings toward anyone for putting me through three years of misery. The important thing is, I was able to continue my career. I loved what I was doing and I wanted to go out of the game on my own terms."

"Everybody said the same thing, and Maz would be the first one to admit it. We all said, "Get off the wall! Get off the wall!" Maz was running as hard as he could run to get that extra base."

"There was so much going on after the game, so many people outside. We had a hard time getting to our car. Everybody wanted to buy you a drink. They were patting you on the back. We finally made it to our car, and we were wore out. We got in the car and took off for somewhere quiet. We went up into Squirrel Hill and sat on a Schenley Park bench and there wasn't a soul up there. Nobody. Except for a few squirrels running around. We sat there for about an hour and just relaxed. I wasn't thinking about the home run. It was, "We beat them. We beat the Yankees." The only thing I could think of after I hit second base was, "We beat them, we beat the Yankees, the great Yankees.""

"I've seen every ball that has been hit over the center-field wall in Forbes Field. Mickey's, I'd have to say, was the most convincing."

"We just got beat, Roger—by the damndest baseball team that me or you or anybody else ever played against."

"I was almost at second base when it finally went over. I was running so hard, just trying to make sure I'd get to third. Then it took moment or two to realize what happened. It was gone. You know, all I could think about was, "We beat the Yankeesǃ We beat themǃ We beat the damn Yankeesǃ""

"We didn't win, anyway, did we? I hit a slider, I think it was, and then I worried all the way to first base if it would stay fair."

"I get people coming up to me and talking about that home run all of the time. But you know, for once I'd like someone to say, "You were a damn good defensive second baseman. You were one of the best I ever saw." To tell you the truth, that's what I'm most proud of, that I could turn the double play as well as anyone who ever played the game. But no one remembers that. No one cares. It's kind of funny, isn't it? Thirty years later and people are still talking bout it. Who would have ever figured?"

"I think it was just sheer guts against power, and the guts came through."

"It's a dilly, all right. The ball really spins around that curve, like a pill on a roulette wheel. You can't charge 'em, or they'll get past you for a home run."

"Sure, I expect trouble. Look at that sun. How can I say I don't expect trouble? I'll tell you one thing, though. It might be an experience. I know there's a good chance I'll be lousy, but the funny thing is, I'm looking forward to it."

"Can't beat the Bucs, can you? No sir, can't beat the bad Buccos, I'll tell you that. That's for sure. Yessir! Yessir! We got 'em, we got 'em. They broke all the records, but we won the game. How about that? Can't beat that."

"They've been knocking me down all season in the National League and I've still gotten my share of base hits."

"I heard him yelling too and reached up to catch it when he bumped into me. He cut my foot a little, but I told him you can cut me like that all the time if you catch the ball."

"With lineup they have, they should have won pennant in August."

"He pitches with his head, too. He mixes up his stuff—two speeds of curve ball, a slider and then whoosh, the fast ball. He's tough."

"We no good when first come home off road. All time during regular season we lose first game after come back to Forbes Field. Same thing happen now. But we get hot in second game now we back—just wait and see. We go out with fire."

"These are the best fans anywhere. They make all of this worthwhile. They are the reason I'm glad we won the World Series. They're the ones who deserve this championship."

"Every time a man steps to the plate, I consider him to be potentially dangerous. But I'm convinced I'm going to get him out. As for the Yankees, they don't worry me at all—Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, or any of them—because I know they put their pants on one leg at a time, like the rest of us. We've got some powerful hitting teams in the National League, Milwaukee and San Francisco, for instance, and Cincinnati. I don't think the Yanks are any more dangerous."

"I guess the Western Union telegram boys will be busy carrying me telegrams until game time today. In New York, after we'd been shellacked by the Yanks, I got about 100 telegrams. About 75 of them told me what a lousy club we were and that we had no business playing in a World Series. When we won the next two games, the telegrams stopped pouring in. The only thing I can conclude from this is that people who own stock in Western Union ought to be rooting for the Yanks to pin our ears back again today. But if it comes down to that, my advice to them consists of one word: Sell."