A bad hop, a five-run surge, and a comeback that nearly stole history from Pittsburgh.
How's Tony? They tell me his windpipe is broken.
Years from now, when people will look at the record books, all they'll know is that we lost.
When Bill Mazeroski his that ball in the ninth I doubted just for a moment that it would go over the wall. When Yogi Berra stopped I knew we had the World Series and my one thought was - I'd like to kiss my wife.
Most fans know Bill Mazeroski’s Game 7 walk-off that gave Pittsburgh its first World Series title in 1960. But fewer remember the wild twists that set the stage. In the bottom of the 8th, a routine grounder took a wicked hop off Tony Kubek’s throat—sending him to the hospital and opening the door for a five-run Pirates rally that flipped the game. The Yankees answered with two runs in the 9th to tie it, setting up a finish for the ages. Leading off the bottom of the 9th, Mazeroski’s swing sent the ball — and Pittsburgh — into baseball immortality.
From the archives:
Pirates take the lead in the 8th — photo of the Pirate’s Hal Smith congratulated by coach Frank Oceak while rounding the bases on his 3-run home run
Raucous celebration in Pittsburgh — even the mayor was nearly arrested
Kubek hospitalized — article with an update on Kubek’s condition; Mantle’s tearful reaction
Profile of 43-year old Pirate’s manager Danny Murtaugh