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The 1960 World Series was played between the Pittsburgh Pirates of the National League (NL) and the New York Yankees of the American League (AL) from October 5 to 13, 1960. It is most notable for the Game 7, ninth-inning home run hit by Bill Mazeroski, the only time a winner-take-all World Series game has ended with a walk-off home run.

Despite losing the series, the Yankees scored 55 runs, the most runs scored by any one team in World Series history, a unique record, and more than twice as many as the Pirates, who scored 27 runs. The Yankees won three blowout games (16–3, 10–0, and 12–0), while the Pirates won four close games (6–4, 3–2, 5–2, and 10–9) to win the series. The Series MVP was Bobby Richardson of the Yankees, the only time in history that that award has been given to a member of the losing team.

This World Series featured seven past, present, or future league Most Valuable Players. The Pirates had two – Dick Groat (1960) and Roberto Clemente (1966) – while the Yankees had five: Yogi Berra (1951, 1954, 1955), Bobby Shantz (1952), Mickey Mantle (1956, 1957, 1962), Roger Maris (1960, 1961), and Elston Howard (1963).

As noted in the superstition called the "Ex-Cub Factor", this was the only Series after 1945 and until 2001 in which a team with three or more former members of the Chicago Cubs (Don Hoak, Smoky Burgess, and Gene Baker) was able to win a World Series.

The World Championship for the Pirates was their third overall and first since 1925.

Summary

The Yankees, winners of their 10th pennant in 12 years, outscored the Pirates 55–27 in this Series, outhit them 91–60, outbatted them .338 to .256, hit 10 home runs to Pittsburgh's four (three of which came in Game 7), got two complete-game shutouts from Whitey Ford—and lost. The Pirates' inconsistent pitching and Stengel's controversial decision not to start Ford in Games 1 and 4 resulted in the peculiar combination of close games and routs. Ford (Games 3 and 6) and Vern Law (Games 1 and 4) were both excellent, while Pirates relief pitcher Roy Face was a major factor in three games.

NL Pittsburgh Pirates (4) vs. AL New York Yankees (3)

Matchups

Game 1

The Yankees threw Art Ditmar against the Pirates' Vern Law in Game 1. In the top of the first inning, New York right fielder Roger Maris, the eventual 1960 AL MVP, drilled a home run off Law to give the Yankees a 1–0 lead. In the bottom half, however, the Pirates evened the score when Bill Virdon walked, stole second, advanced to third on an error by shortstop Tony Kubek, and scored on a double by Dick Groat (the eventual 1960 NL MVP). Bob Skinner then singled to drive in Groat and stole second, coming home on a single by Roberto Clemente. Pittsburgh now led 3–1. This was enough to compel Casey Stengel, the Yankee manager, to pull Ditmar in favor of Jim Coates, who finished the inning.

In the fourth, New York cut the lead to one run when Maris singled, moved to second on a Mickey Mantle walk, took third on a fly out by Yogi Berra, and scored on a single by Bill Skowron. But the Pirates extended their lead to 5–2 in the fifth when Don Hoak walked and Bill Mazeroski homered. Pittsburgh added an insurance run in the sixth when Mazeroski doubled with one out and scored on Virdon's double off Duke Maas, and although the Yankees sliced the lead to two on a ninth-inning 2-run home run by Elston Howard, reliever Roy Face successfully closed out the game to give the Pirates a 6–4 victory and a 1–0 lead in the Series.

Game 2

Game 2, matching New York's Bob Turley against the Pirates' Bob Friend, saw the Yankees pummel the Pirates 16–3.

The game was scoreless until the top of the third, when the Yankees jumped out to a 2–0 lead. Second baseman Bobby Richardson walked, was sacrificed over to second by Turley, and scored on a single by Tony Kubek. Gil McDougald then doubled, plating Kubek all the way from first base. Turley aided his own cause with an RBI single in the fourth, driving home Richardson, who had singled and moved to second on a passed ball. Although Hoak doubled home Gino Cimoli in the bottom of the fourth to break the shutout, the Yankees extended their lead to 5–1 courtesy of a two-run home run by Mantle off Fred Green.

In the sixth, the solid Yankee lead turned into a rout. Elston Howard hit a leadoff triple and scored on Bobby Richardson's double to chase Green from the game. Clem Labine replaced Green. A passed ball by Smoky Burgess and error by shortstop Dick Groat on Tony Kubek's ground ball put runners on first and third with one out before McDougald's RBI single made it 7–1 Yankees. After a walk and strikeout, Yogi Berra's two-run single and Bill Skowron's RBI single made it 10–1 Yankees. Red Witt relieved Labine and allowed back-to-back RBI singles to Howard and Richardson that made it 12–1 Yankees. Mantle continued the onslaught by blasting a three-run home run in the seventh off Joe Gibbon and scoring on a wild pitch by Tom Cheney in the ninth after walking and moving to third on a double, making it 16-1 Yankees. Although the Pirates tacked on two runs in the bottom half of the frame on back-to-back RBI singles by Gino Cimoli and Smoky Burgess, Bobby Shantz relieved Turley and got Don Hoak to hit into the game-ending double play. This decisive Yankee victory tied the series at a game apiece.

1960's game 2 shares one peculiar record with 2002's game 5. The two games share the World Series record for most runs scored by a game-winning team, 16, who ultimately went on to lose the series.

Game 3

For Game 3, the Series shifted to Yankee Stadium as Stengel sent Whitey Ford to the mound against Pittsburgh's Vinegar Bend Mizell. Ford had somewhat of an off year (12–9, 3.08 ERA and 192.2 IP), but was brilliant against the Pirates.

The Yankees continued the same kind of offensive onslaught they displayed in Game 2, grabbing a 6–0 lead by the end of the first inning. After two singles, Bill Skowron drove in the first run with an RBI single. After a walk loaded the bases, Elston Howard added another run with an RBI single off Clem Labine before Bobby Richardson capped the scoring with a grand slam (during the regular season, Richardson had hit only one home run, off Baltimore's Arnie Portocarrero on April 30). In the fourth, the Bombers added on four more runs, courtesy of a two-run home run by Mickey Mantle off Fred Green and, after three singles loaded the bases, a two-run single by Richardson off Red Witt. The Pirates, meanwhile, simply could not get anything going against Ford, who tossed a masterful four-hitter. The Yankees now led the series, 2–1.

Game 4

The Pirates had seen their pitching fail them in the previous two games, as the team fell victim to the powerful Yankee bats. This was not the case in Game 4, however, as Pittsburgh sent Vern Law to the hill against Ralph Terry.

The game was scoreless until the bottom of the fourth, when Bill Skowron launched a home run off Law to give New York a 1–0 advantage. The very next half-inning, though, Pittsburgh stormed back, when with two on and two outs, Law doubled in Gino Cimoli to tie the game and Bill Virdon's two-run single put the Pirates up 3–1. Law kept the potent pinstripers at bay, though the Yankees did scratch and claw for a single run in the bottom of the seventh when Skowron doubled, moved to third on a single by McDougald, and scored on a fielder's choice on a ball hit by Richardson. However, after the Yankees scored that run, Pirate manager Danny Murtaugh brought in reliever Roy Face, who held the fort for the final two innings as Pittsburgh tied the series at two games apiece.

Game 5

With the series now tied at two, Yankee manager Casey Stengel started pitcher Art Ditmar, his Game 1 starter, against the Pirates' Harvey Haddix, who had become famous for taking a perfect game into the thirteenth inning in a loss to the Milwaukee Braves the previous year.

As it turned out, on this day Ditmar could not get out of the second inning. Dick Stuart singled and was forced out at second by Gino Cimoli, who then moved to third on a double by Smoky Burgess. Don Hoak then slapped a ground ball toward Yankee shortstop Tony Kubek, who flipped it to third baseman Gil McDougald in an attempt to retire Burgess. However, McDougald missed the catch for an error, allowing Cimoli to score, Burgess safe at third, and Hoak ending up at second. Bill Mazeroski then lashed a double to left, scoring both Burgess and Hoak. After this offensive outburst, Stengel yanked Ditmar and replaced him with Luis Arroyo, who finally got out of the inning.

The next half-inning, New York picked up a run when Elston Howard doubled, moved to third on a groundout by Bobby Richardson, and scored on another grounder by Kubek. However, the Pirates extended their lead back to three runs in the third, when Roberto Clemente singled home Groat, who had led off with a double.

In the bottom of the third, Roger Maris touched Haddix for a home run to deep right field. Otherwise, however, the Pittsburgh hurler was in fine form, holding the Yankees at bay until the seventh, when he was replaced by Face. In the ninth, the Pirates added an insurance run off Ryne Duren when Hoak singled in Joe Christopher (pinch runner for Smoky Burgess, who had singled and taken second on an error), who had moved to third on a wild pitch. Face shut down the pinstripers in the bottom half of the frame to give the Pirates a 5–2 victory and a 3–2 edge in the Series.

Game 6

For the sixth contest in Pittsburgh, the Yankees started Whitey Ford against the Pirates' Bob Friend. And as was the case the last time Ford had toed the rubber for the Yanks in Game 3, his teammates relentlessly mashed the ball, en route to a resounding 12–0 victory.

In the top of the second, the Yankees went to work. After a Yogi Berra walk and a Bill Skowron single, Elston Howard was hit by a pitch to load the bases (Eli Grba ran for him). Ford himself then notched the first RBI of the game, with a ground ball single to his counterpart Friend that scored Berra. The next inning, after a leadoff hit-by-pitch and double, Mantle cracked a two-run single that scored Tony Kubek and Roger Maris. After a Yogi Berra single moved Mantle to third, Pirates skipper Danny Murtaugh removed the clearly ineffective Friend in favour of Tom Cheney. Cheney, however, fared no better, as a Bill Skowron sacrifice fly scored Mantle and after a single, a triple to deep left field by Richardson scored Berra and Johnny Blanchard, making the score 6–0.

The Yankees then ran away with the game, scoring two runs in each of the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings. In the sixth, Clete Boyer hit a leadoff triple off Fred Green and scored on Kubek's single. After another single, Berra's RBI single off Clem Labine made it 8–0 Yankees. Next inning, after a leadoff double by Blanchard, Richardson ripped his second RBI triple of the contest, and Ford added his second RBI courtesy of a fielder's choice on a sacrifice bunt. In the eighth, Berra hit an RBI single with a runner on second, and later scored on Blanchard's double. As in Game 3, Ford was his masterful self, not letting the Pirates mount anything resembling a rally for the full nine innings. His second shutout of the series was a critical one, as it tied the series at three games each.

Game 7

For the deciding seventh game, Bob Turley, the winning pitcher in Game 2, got the nod for the Yankees against the Pirates' Vern Law, the winning pitcher in Games 1 and 4.

Turley lasted only one inning plus one batter. After retiring the first two batters, Turley walked Bob Skinner, then Rocky Nelson homered, Pittsburgh's first home run since Bill Mazeroski's in Game One, to give the Pirates a 2–0 lead. Turley was then pulled after giving up a single to Smoky Burgess leading off the second. Don Hoak then drew a base on balls against Bill Stafford, and a bunt single by Mazeroski loaded the bases. Stafford appeared to get the Yankees out of trouble after inducing Law to hit into a double play, pitcher to catcher to first. But Bill Virdon's single to right scored both Hoak and Mazeroski and increased the Pirates' lead to 4–0.

The Yankees got on the board in the fifth on Bill Skowron's lead-off home run, his second of the Series. In the sixth, Bobby Richardson led off with a single and Tony Kubek drew a walk. Elroy Face relieved Law and got Roger Maris to pop out to Hoak in foul territory, but Mickey Mantle singled to score Richardson. Yogi Berra followed with a home run that gave the Yankees their first lead, 5–4.

The Yankees extended their lead to 7–4 with two more runs in the eighth. With two out, Berra walked, and Skowron singled when the Pirates couldn't get a forceout. Johnny Blanchard then singled to score Berra, and Clete Boyer doubled to score Skowron.

But the Pirates retook the lead with a 5-run eighth inning. Gino Cimoli (pinch-hitting for Face) led off with a single, and Virdon hit a ground ball to short for what could have been a double play. But the ball instead took a bad hop and struck Kubek in the throat, leaving Virdon safe at first and causing Kubek to leave the game. Dick Groat then chased Bobby Shantz (who had entered the game in the third and had pitched five innings, having not pitched more than four in any game during the regular season) with a single to score Cimoli and send Virdon to 2nd. Jim Coates relieved Shantz and got Skinner out on a sacrifice bunt, which moved the runners up. Nelson followed with a fly ball to right, and Virdon declined to challenge Maris' throwing arm. Coates then got two quick strikes on Roberto Clemente and was one strike away from getting the Yankees out of their most serious trouble of the afternoon, when Clemente hit a Baltimore Chop towards first; first baseman Skowron and Coates both tried to get to the ball at the same time, and Clemente's speed forced Skowron to just hold onto the ball as Coates could not make it to first base in time to cover. The high chopper allowed Virdon to score, cutting the Yankee lead to 7–6. Hal Smith followed with a three-run home run to give the Pirates a 9–7 lead. Ralph Terry relieved Coates and got the last out.

Bob Friend, an 18-game winner for the Pirates and their starter (and loser) in Games 2 and 6, came on in the ninth to try to protect the lead. Bobby Richardson and pinch-hitter Dale Long both greeted him with singles, and Pirates manager Danny Murtaugh was forced to remove the veteran pitcher in favor of Harvey Haddix. Although he got Roger Maris to foul out, Haddix gave up a key single to Mickey Mantle that scored Richardson and moved Long to third. Yogi Berra followed, hitting a short grounder to first, with Rocky Nelson easily getting the second out. In what, at the moment, stood as a monumental play, Mantle, seeing he had no chance to beat a play at second (and thinking the ball was caught in the air), scurried back to first and avoided Nelson's tag (which would have been the third out) as Gil McDougald (pinch-running for Long) raced home to tie the score at 9.^[8] Had Mantle been out on the play, the run would still have counted if it had scored before the tag (but the play happened quickly). With Mantle safe, the top of the ninth continued, but ended when Bill Skowron hit into a force play.

Ralph Terry returned to the mound in the bottom of the ninth. The first batter to face him was Bill Mazeroski. With a count of one ball and no strikes, the Pirates' second baseman smashed a historic long drive over the left field wall, winning the game 10-9 and crowning the Pirates as World Series champions. As the Pirates erupted, the Yankees stood across the field in stunned disbelief. The improbable champions were outscored, outhit, and outplayed, but somehow had managed to pull out a Game 7 victory. Years later, Mickey Mantle was quoted in Ken Burns' documentary Baseball as saying that losing the 1960 series was the only loss, amateur or professional, he cried actual tears over. For Bill Mazeroski, by contrast, his Series-clinching home run was the highlight of a Hall of Fame career otherwise notable mostly for excellent defense.

Mazeroski became the first player to hit a game-ending home run in the seventh game, to win a World Series. Thirty-three years later, Joe Carter would become the only other player to end the World Series with a home run, doing so for the Toronto Blue Jays in the 1993 World Series against the Pirates' in-state rivals, the Philadelphia Phillies, albeit in Game 6. Although most noted for the series-ending homer, Game 7 is also the only game in all of postseason history with no strikeouts recorded by either side.

Bobby Richardson of the Yankees was named MVP of the Series, the only time that someone from the defeated team has been so honored.

Game 7 telecast

Prior to the mid-1970s, television networks and stations generally did not preserve their telecasts of sporting events, choosing instead to tape over them. As a result, the broadcasts of the first six games are no longer known to exist. The lone exception is a black-and-white kinescope of the entire telecast of Game 7, which was discovered in a wine cellar in Bing Crosby's former home in Hillsborough, California in December 2009.^[9]

A part-owner of the Pirates who was too superstitious to watch the Series live, Crosby listened to the decisive contest with his wife Kathryn and two friends on a shortwave radio in Paris, France. Wanting to watch the game at a later date only if the Pirates won, he arranged for the telecast to be recorded by Ampex, in which he also held a financial investment. After viewing the kinescope, he placed it in his wine cellar, where it went untouched for 49 years. It was finally found by Robert Bader, vice-president of marketing and production for Bing Crosby Enterprises, while looking through videotapes of Crosby's television specials which were to be transferred to DVD. The five-reel set is the only known complete copy of the historic game, which was originally broadcast in color.^[9][10]

The NBC television announcers for the Series were Bob Prince and Mel Allen, the primary play-by-play voices for the Pirates and Yankees respectively. Prince called the first half of Game 7 and conducted postgame interviews in the Pittsburgh clubhouse, while Allen did the latter portion of the game.^[9]

50th Anniversary celebrations

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette October 13, 2010, a 50th anniversary reprint of the Pirates' Game 7 victory

On October 13, 2010, for the 50th anniversary of the series winning home run, a gala was hosted by the Byham Theater in downtown Pittsburgh, where the historic telecast of Game 7 was re-aired in its entirety. Bill Virdon, 1960 MVP Dick Groat and Yankee Bobby Richardson were guest speakers, with actor and Pittsburgh native Jeff Goldblum hosting the event. The MLB Network would air the game and gala on December 15, 2010.^[11] The telecast was also released on DVD by A&E Home Video.

Composite box

1960 World Series (4–3): Pittsburgh Pirates (N.L.) over New York Yankees (A.L.)

Aftermath

This would prove to be Casey Stengel's last World Series, as the Yankee club soon sent him into retirement. This led to his famous remark, "I'll never make the mistake of turning 70 again." Mazeroski and Clemente were the last two remaining Pirate players from the 1960 World Series winners along with manager Danny Murtaugh, when the Pirates won the World Series in 1971.

To date, this is the last championship in any of the four major sports to be won in Pittsburgh by the home team, as the Pirates' two subsequent World Series championships were clinched in Baltimore, while the Pittsburgh Penguins have won all five of their Stanley Cup championships on the road and the Pittsburgh Steelers have won all of their Super Bowl championships at neutral sites.^[13]

Series quotes

We made too many wrong mistakes.

— Yogi Berra's assessment of what happened to his club.

Dick Groat on third base. Bob Clemente on first base. Two runs in, 7–6 New York. Two balls, two strikes...And Hal Smith hits a drive to deep left field...That ball is way back out there, going, going, gone!

— Mel Allen on NBC television, calling Hal Smith's home run off Jim Coates that gave the Pirates a 9–7 lead in the eighth inning of Game 7. The Yankees would tie the game in the top of the ninth, setting up Bill Mazeroski's final at-bat in the bottom of the inning.

There's a drive into deep left field, look out now... that ball is going... going, gone! And the World Series is over! Mazeroski... hits it over the left field fence, and the Pirates win it 10–9 and win the World Series!

— Mel Allen on NBC television, calling Bill Mazeroski's series-winning home run in the ninth inning of Game 7.

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 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 to 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!... and Forbes Field... is an insane asylum!

— Chuck Thompson's NBC radio call of the final play (mentioning who was warming up in the bullpen when he was interrupted), and initially flubbing the final score.

Can't beat the bad Buccos, I'll tell you that!... Yessir, yessir! We got 'em, we got 'em! They broke all the records & we won the game, how 'bout that!

— Pirates outfielder Gino Cimoli, Bob Prince's postgame interviews on NBC television

It was definitely a day for hitters. Almost like slo-pitch softball - everybody hits!

— Losing Yankees pitcher Ralph Terry on Game 7

Notes

See also

• 1960 Japan Series

References

• Moody, John. (2010). Kiss It Good-Bye: The Mystery, the Mormon, and the Moral of the 1960 Pittsburgh Pirates. Salt Lake City: Shadow Mountain Publishing.
  ISBN 1-60641-149-7.


• Neft, David S., and Richard M. Cohen. (1990). The World Series. 1st ed. New York: St Martins.
  ISBN 0-312-03959-X. (Neft and Cohen 281–286)


• Reichler, Joseph, ed. (1982). The Baseball Encyclopedia (5th ed.), p. 2168. New York: Macmillan Publishing.
  ISBN 0-02-579010-2.


• Reisler, Jim. (2007). The Best Game Ever: Pirates vs. Yankees, October 13, 1960. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press.
  ISBN 0-7867-1943-5.

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to: 1960 World Series

• 
  1960 World Series at WorldSeries.com (MLB.com)
  


• 
  1960 World Series at Baseball Almanac
  


• 
  1960 World Series at Baseball-Reference.com
  


• 
  The 1960 Post-Season Games (box scores and play-by-play) at Retrosheet
  


• 
  History of the World Series - 1960 at The SportingNews. Archived from the original on 2008.


• Kodak Presents – Baseball's 25 Greatest Moments: Bill Mazeroski's Home Run


• Audio: Bill Mazeroski's game- and Series-winning home run in Game 7


• 
  "It Went All The Way!", Roy Terrell, Sports Illustrated, October 24, 1960