Tuesday, September 23, 2014

THEN AND NOW #16: BILL MAZEROSKI 1972

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...

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