By 1972 Bill Mazeroski was closing out a stellar 17 year career
that saw him suit up for one team, and one team only, the Pittsburgh
Pirates.
Today I have him as the next player in my "Then and Now-Super Veteran" series, designed as part of that awesome 1972 set.
Take a look at my card:
When he retired after the '72 season, "Maz" was a two-time World
Champion (in 1960 & 1971), hit one of the most famous homers in
baseball history to win the World Series for the Pirates against the heavily
favored Yankees in 1960, had over 2000 hits, and was
considered one of the top fielding second basemen of all-time.
An eight-time Gold Glove winner, Mazeroski led his league in
assists nine times, double-plays turned eight times, putouts five times
and fielding percentage three times.
He still holds the Major League career record for double-plays
tuned with 1706, and for those of you into these "new stats", he's #1 in
"Total Zone Runs as 2B" with 148.
Though he never made it into Cooperstown on the BBWA vote, he was
finally elected to the Hall of Fame in 2001 by the Veteran's Committee,
joining former teammate Roberto Clemente and Willie Stargell.
Not too shabby a career...
