Pirates legend and Hall of Famer Bill Mazeroski, who hit one of the most iconic home runs in baseball history, died on Friday. He was 89. Although he was one of the greatest defensive second basemen the game has ever seen, Mazeroski is best remembered for his walk-off home run against the Yankees in Game 7 of the 1960 World Series.
“Weird, isn’t it?” Mazeroski stated during his Hall of Fame speech in 2001. “Known for the home run and in the Hall of Fame because of your defense.”
“Everyone across the Pirates organization is deeply saddened by the loss of Bill Mazeroski,” Pirates chairman Bob Nutting stated in a statement. “… His name will always be tied to the biggest home run in baseball history and the 1960 World Series championship, but I will remember him most for the person he was: humble, gracious and proud to be a Pirate.”
Mazeroski’s home run gave the Pirates their first World Series championship since 1925 even though the Yankees outscored the Pirates 55-27 in the seven games. Pittsburgh’s minus-28 run differential is still the largest overcome by a World Series winner. Mazeroski went 8 for 25 (.320) with two home runs and 5 RBI in the series.
In honor of Mazeroski, here are 10 more of the most iconic home runs in baseball history, listed chronologically.
Oct. 3, 1951: “The Giants win the pennant!”
The Brooklyn Dodgers had a 13-game lead over the crosstown rival New York Giants on Aug. 11, but the Giants’ 37-7 finish to the season put the teams in a tie atop the National League. That sent the two rivals into a best-of-three tiebreaker series. The winner would meet the Yankees in the World Series. The Giants won Game 1. The Dodgers won Game 2, forcing a decisive Game 3.
Game 3 was the first baseball game televised nationally. The Dodgers took a 4-1 lead into the ninth inning, but the Giants rallied, and Ralph Branca replaced ace Don Newcombe on the mound. Down 4-2 with two runners on base and one out, Bobby Thomson hit Branca’s second pitch out to left for a walk-off, pennant-clinching, three-run homer.
“The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant!” exclaimed radio broadcaster Russ Hodges.
April 8, 1974: Aaron breaks Ruth’s record
Babe Ruth was baseball’s all-time home run king for more than 50 years, and his 714 career homers seemed like an unbreakable record. Three games into the 1974 season, however, Hammerin’ Hank Aaron passed the Babe and became baseball’s new home run king with his 715th career blast. He took Dodgers lefty Al Downing deep for the historic homer.
“It’s gone! It’s 715!” stated legendary broadcaster Milo Hamilton. “There’s a new home run champion of all-time, and it’s Henry Aaron.”
“What a marvelous moment for baseball,” Vin Scully stated on the Dodgers’ broadcast. “What a marvelous moment for Atlanta and the state of Georgia. What a marvelous moment for the country and the world.”
Game 6 of 1975 World Series: Fisk waves it fair
The 1975 World Series is one of the greatest ever. Three of the first four games were decided by one run, with the Reds mounting a ninth-inning comeback in Game 2 and the Red Sox doing the same to tie Game 3. With Boston facing elimination and down 6-3 in the eighth inning of Game 6, pinch-hitter Bernie Carbo swatted a three-run game-tying homer.
Four innings later, Hall of Famer Carlton Fisk pulled a game-winning walk-off home run down the left field line at Fenway Park to save the Red Sox’s season. He waved it fair as he left the batter’s box.
The broadcast angle of Fisk waving the ball fair was a stroke of luck. The camera operator inside the Green Monster was distracted by a rat, and instead of following the ball’s flight, the camera stayed on Fisk.
Game 6 of 1977 World Series: Mr. October
Technically, this is three home runs. Yankees’ slugger Reggie Jackson, after going deep in his final at-bat of Game 5, hit three home runs in his first three at-bats of Game 6 en route to New York’s first World Series championship since 1962. Jackson hit four homers off four different pitchers in four at-bats spanning Games 5 and 6.
At the time, it was only the third three-homer game in World Series history. Babe Ruth had done it twice previously: Game 4 of the 1926 World Series and Game 4 of the 1928 World Series.
Oct. 2, 1978: Bucky bleepin’ Dent
On July 19, the Yankees were 14 games behind the Red Sox in the AL East. A torrid finish — 52-21 the rest of the way — moved New York into a tie atop the AL East with Boston at the end of the regular season. The bitter rivals played a Game 163 tiebreaker to decide the division winner. The winner would meet the Royals in the ALCS; the loser would go home.
The Red Sox took a 2-0 lead into the seventh inning with starter Mike Torrez seemingly in control. Back-to-back one-out singles put the tying run on base for New York, then light-hitting shortstop Bucky Dent flipped the game with a three-run go-ahead homer. The Yankees took a 3-2 lead and went on to win the game 5-4.
Dent hit four home runs that season prior to Game 163, and he retired with 40 career homers in close to 1,400 games spanning 12 seasons. He and the Yankees completed the AL East comeback in Game 163 and went on to win the World Series.
Game 1 of 1988 World Series: Gibson on one leg
Knee and hamstring injuries kept Kirk Gibson, that year’s NL MVP, on the sidelines for the 1988 World Series. Or so we expected. With the Dodgers down 4-3 with two outs in the ninth inning against Athletics Hall of Fame closer Dennis Eckersley, the clearly hobbled Gibson pinch-hit for Alejandro Pena, and lifted a two-out, two-strike, two-run walk-off home run to right field.
“All year long, they looked to him to light the fire, and all year long, he answered the demands,” Vin Scully stated on the broadcast. “… High flyball into right field! She is gone! In a year that has been so improbable, the impossible has happened.”
The Dodgers went on to win the World Series in five games. The Game 1 walk-off home run was the only time Gibson saw the field in the series.
Game 6 of 1991 World Series: “We will see you tomorrow night!”
The Twins were in real trouble going into Game 6 of the 1991 World Series. Down 3-2 in the series to the Braves and facing Steve Avery, that year’s NLCS MVP, in Game 6, Kirby Puckett put Minnesota on his back. He opened the scoring with an RBI triple in the first inning. In the third, he robbed Ron Gant of a game-tying two-run home run.
With the score tied 3-3 in the 11th, Puckett saved the Twins’ season (again) with a walk-off home run to force Game 7.
“And we will see you tomorrow night!” stated broadcaster Jack Buck after Puckett’s walk-off blast.
Puckett’s Game 6 heroics made possible the classic Game 7 pitchers’ duel between Jack Morris and John Smoltz. Morris threw a 10-inning shutout in a 1-0 win to give the Twins their second World Series title in five years.
Game 6 of 1993 World Series: “Touch ’em all, Joe!”
Mazeroski’s homer in 1960 was the first series-ending walk-off home run in baseball history. It wasn’t the last. With the Blue Jays looking to repeat as champions in 1993, Joe Carter stepped to the plate against Phillies closer Mitch Williams with two runners on base and Toronto down 6-5 in the ninth inning of Game 6. Five pitches later, the Blue Jays had their second straight title.
“Touch ’em all, Joe! You’ll never hit a bigger home run in your life!” exclaimed legendary Blue Jays broadcaster Tom Cheek after Carter’s walk-off three-run homer.
Sept. 7, 1998: Big Mac hits No. 62
After hitting 61 home runs in 1961, Roger Maris was baseball’s single-season home run king for nearly 40 years. The record stood until 1998, when Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa were locked in a home run chase that revitalized a sport that was still reeling from the 1994-95 strike. McGwire broke Maris’ record with his 62nd home run on Sept. 7.
“Down the left field line. Is it enough? Gone! There it is. 62!” stated Hall of Famer Jack Buck on the broadcast. “Touch first Mark, you are the new single-season home run king!”
McGwire finished the season with a then-single-season record 70 home runs. Sosa also eclipsed Maris that year. He hit 66 homers.
Aug. 7, 2007: Bonds breaks Aaron’s record
McGwire’s 70 home runs were short-lived as the single-season record. Barry Bonds slugged 71 home runs three years later in 2001. Bonds hit 45 homers in 2002, 45 homers in 2003, and 45 homers again in 2004. By 2007, Hank Aaron’s then-record 755 career home runs were within reach. On Aug. 7, Bonds took lefty Mike Bacsick deep for his 756th career blast.
Bonds added another six home runs that season and remains baseball’s all-time leader with 766 career homers.
