"CLASSIC BASEBALL" CUSTOM WTHBALLS SET: BILL MAZEROSKI

Good day all!

On the blog today, we add Hall of Famer Bill Mazeroski to my future custom set, "Classic Baseball", celebrating the wonderful sport of baseball and it's lengthy and rich history:

Just a classic era-perfect photo of the Pittsburgh Pirates great, from right about the time he catapulted himself into baseball history with a Game 7 home run in the bottom of the ninth to send the Pirates to a World Championship over the heavily favored New York Yankees.

But it's easy to forget that Mazeroski's homer was in only his fifth full season in the Majors. He went on to star for the Pirates for the next 12 seasons before hanging them up at the end of the 1972 season.
By the time he retired, Mazeroski won two world championships (1960 & 1971), eight Gold Gloves, made seven All-Star teams, topped 2000 hits and made a name for himself as one of the premier fielding second baseman in baseball.
He still hold the all-time record for turning double-plays for second basemen at 1706, and lead the National League in assists nine times between 1958-1968.
While the BBWA failed to vote him into the Hall of Fame withing the 15 years of eligibility, the Veteran's Committee got him in 2001, almost 30 years after retiring, joining such former teammates like Willie Stargell and Roberto Clemente.

REVISITING A POST FROM 2013: 1973 BILL MAZEROSKI CAREER-CAPPER

On the blog today, we revisit a blog post from September of 2013, a 1973 "career-capper" for Pittsburgh Pirates great Bill Mazeroski:

Here's the original write-up for the Hall of Famer:

"When most people think of Pittsburgh Pirates 2nd baseman Bill Mazeroski, they immediately think of the game-winning homer he blasted to beat the Yankees in the 1960 World Series.
But it's easy to forget that Mazeroski's homer was in only his fifth full season in the Majors. He went on to star for the Pirates for the next 12 seasons before hanging them up at the end of the 1972 season.
By the time he retired, Mazeroski won two world championships (1960 & 1971), eight Gold Gloves, made seven All-Star teams, topped 2000 hits and made a name for himself as one of the premier fielding second baseman in baseball.
He still hold the all-time record for turning double-plays for second basemen at 1706, and lead the National League in assists nine times between 1958-1968.
While the BBWA failed to vote him into the Hall of Fame withing the 15 years of eligibility, the Veteran's Committee got him in 2001, almost 30 years after retiring, joining such former teammates like Willie Stargell and Roberto Clemente.
Though his 1972 late-series Topps card is a nice "final" card. I went ahead and designed a 1973 edition, using a nice shot of "Maz" at the plate, showing a little bit o'girth around the waistline on what seems to be a rainy day in Pittsburgh."

BASEBALL'S GREATEST MOMENTS: BILL MAZEROSKI WINS IT ALL IN 1960

On the blog today, we continue adding to my recent “expanded” 1971 “Baseball’s Greatest Moments” set with a card for Pittsburgh Pirates great Bill Mazeroski, celebrating his historic World Series winning home run in 1960:

 

 

In the seventh and final game of the 1960 World Series, the Pirates were tied with the New York Yankees 9-all, with the series also tied at three games apiece in Pittsburgh, thanks in great part to the Pirates exploding for five runs in the bottom of the eighth.

With a lead of 9-7 heading into the ninth, Pittsburgh fans were demoralized when the Yanks scored two in the top of the frame to tie it up, setting up one of the most historic moments in the game’s history.

With Ralph Terry on the mound, up came young Pirate second baseman Bill Mazeroski to lead off the inning, and on a 1-0 pitch, “Maz” hit the ball over the leftfield wall to the disbelief of the Yankees, especially Yogi Berra, who was playing left field and followed the ball to the wall, running out of space and seeing the championship fall away in that instant.

What’s especially incredible is that over the six games, the Yankees outscored the Pirates 55-27, which included a 16-3 drubbing in Game 2, a 10-0 route in game # and a 12-0 romp in Game 6.

But it all means nothing as the Pirates managed to win games by scores of 6-4 in Game 1, 3-2 in Game 4, 5-2 in Game 5 and that final 10-9 score in Game 7, shocking the baseball world with their win over the perennial champion Yankees of the era.

For Mazeroski, even though he still had a full career ahead of him, retiring after the 1972 season, that home run would remain the pinnacle of his eventual Hall of Fame career, amusing since what he was especially known for was his glove work rather than his bat.

I’ll always remember the great Mickey Mantle stating, “…losing the 1960 series was the only loss, amateur or professional, I cried actual tears over.”

Just one more chapter in the rich history of Major League Baseball.

STARS RETIRE: 1973 BILL MAZEROSKI & MAURY WILLS

On the blog today, we have a 1973 "Stars Retire" card featuring Pittsburgh Pirates great Bill Mazeroski and Los Angeles Dodgers speedster Maury Wills:

 

Mazeroski just wrapped up what would turn out to be a 17-year Hall of Fame career, all with the Pirates, that saw him bring home two world championships, one of which he literally won himself on a dramatic series-ending home run against the heavily favored New York Yankees in 1960, and that had him be declared one of the best defensive second basemen the game ever saw.
He topped 2000 hits, took home eight Gold Gloves, and became an instant hero in Pittsburgh after his 1960 heroics in the World Series, all leading to his place in Cooperstown.
Mazeroski turned to coaching right after his career as a player ended, and eventually would become a “special infield instructor” for the Pirates every Spring training to this very day.

Wills closed out an excellent 14-year career, appearing in 71 games for the Los Angeles Dodgers, batting .129 with 17 hits over 132 at-bats with 16 runs scored.
It was a sharp drop-off for the shortstop since he had a very productive season the year before, batting .281 with 73 runs scored and 15 stolen bases along with 169 hits as a 38-year-old.
Of course the pinnacle of his career is the 1962 season where he took home the National league MVP Award after setting the new single-season stolen base record with 104 while collecting 208 hits and 130 runs scored for the Dodgers.
This was right in the middle of a six-year run of leading the league in stolen bases, while also appearing in five all-star games and taking home a couple of Gold Glove Awards.
Overall he retired with a .281 batting average based on 2134 hits in 7588 at-bats with 586 stolen bases and 1067 runs scored in 1942 games.

Two great stars that closed out wonderful Big League careers in 1972!

FANTASY COACH CARD- 1979 BILL MAZEROSKI

Here’s the next “fantasy coach card” in my series of former star players returning to the dugout, a 1979 card for former Pittsburgh Pirates great Bill Mazeroski, now as a coach for the Seattle Mariners at the end of the decade:

After his Hall of Fame career, Mazeroski went on to coach for the Pirates before moving on to the Mariners for a couple of years in 1979 and 1980 before making himself a true baseball “lifer” when he returned to the Pirates as a special instructor for years.
One of the all-time best fielding second baseman, it was his glove that really got him into Cooperstown, though his offensive numbers are not that bad considering he played during what many consider the “second dead-ball era”.
Eight Gold Gloves, seven all-star game nods, 2000+ career hits, and one of the biggest home runs in baseball history, all while wearing the Pirates uniform over 17-years including two World Championships, and a strong case can be made that he is truly worthy of the Hall.

FANTASY COACH CARD: 1974 BILL MAZEROSKI

The next “Fantasy Coach Card” to hit the blog is former Pittsburgh Pirates great Bill Mazeroski and a 1974 card celebrating him in his new duties post-playing-career:

Mazeroski just wrapped up what would turn out to be a 17-year Hall of Fame career, all with the Pirates, that saw him bring home two world championships, one of which he literally won himself on a dramatic series-ending home run against the heavily favored New York Yankees in 1960, and that had him be declared one of the best defensive second basemen the game ever saw.
He topped 2000 hits, took home eight Gold Gloves, and became an instant hero in Pittsburgh after his 1960 heroics in the World Series, all leading to his place in Cooperstown.
Mazeroski turned to coaching right after his career as a player ended, and eventually would become a “special infield instructor” for the Pirates every Spring training to this very day.

TURN BACK THE CLOCK: 10TH ANNIVERSARY: BILL MAZEROSKI KILLS THE YANKEES IN THE WORLD SERIES

Today we start a new thread regarding baseball anniversaries in the 1970’s, 10th anniversaries throughout the “wild ‘70’s”, and we start with one of the biggies, Bill Mazeroski and his World Series winning home run in Game 7:

I can’t even imagine a series where the Yankees outscored the Pirates 55-27, with blow-outs in all three of their wins, only to find themselves going home empty-handed after the Pirates stun the baseball world and take home the top prize in dramatic fashion.
In the three Yankee wins, they outscored Pittsburgh 38-3!!
But that didn’t matter as the Pirates won games 1, 4, 5 and 7 by the scores of 6-4, 3-2, 5-2 and 10-9, proving that it doesn’t matter how you win, taking home the championship is just as sweet!
After the Yanks tied what was a see-saw game in the top of the ninth on a wild play where Mickey Mantle avoided a tag by first baseman Rocky Nelson, allowing pinch-runner Gil McDougald to scoot home, the game was set up going into the bottom of the inning.
Yankee pitcher Ralph Terry was working his second inning after coming in to get the last out in the 8th, and was facing the Pirates lead-off hitter, second baseman Bill Mazeroski, who homered in the first game.
After a first pitch ball, Terry delivered the next, and Mazeroski followed with a home run that instantly made the baseball history books, sending a drive over the left field wall and giving the Pirates their championship, the last until they’d win it all again in 1971.

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...

"CAREER CAPPER" # 12: 1973 BILL MAZEROSKI

When most people think of Pittsburgh Pirates 2nd baseman Bill Mazeroski, they immediately think of the game-winning homer he blasted to beat the Yankees in the 1960 World Series.
But it's easy to forget that Mazeroski's homer was in only his fifth full season in the Majors. He went on to star for the Pirates for the next 12 seasons before hanging them up at the end of the 1972 season.
By the time he retired, Mazeroski won two world championships (1960 & 1971), eight Gold Gloves, made seven All-Star teams, topped 2000 hits and made a name for himself as one of the premier fielding second baseman in baseball.
He still hold the all-time record for turning double-plays for second basemen at 1706, and lead the National League in assists nine times between 1958-1968.
While the BBWA failed to vote him into the Hall of Fame withing the 15 years of eligibility, the Veteran's Committee got him in 2001, almost 30 years after retiring, joining such former teammates like Willie Stargell and Roberto Clemente.
Though his 1972 late-series Topps card is a nice "final" card. I went ahead and designed a 1973 edition, using a nice shot of "Maz" at the plate, showing a little bit o'girth around the waistline on what seems to be a rainy day in Pittsburgh.

Mazeroski up at bat during his final season in 1972.