1960 World Series

The 1960 World Series was played between the Pittsburgh Pirates of the National League (NL) and the New York Yankees of the American League (AL) from October 5 to October 13, 1960. It is most notable for the Game 7, ninth-inning home run hit by Bill Mazeroski, winning the game for the Pirates 10–9, and also winning them their third World Championship overall and first since 1925.

This World Series featured seven past, present, or future league Most Valuable Players. The Pirates had two – Dick Groat (1960) and Roberto Clemente (1966) – while the Yankees had five: Yogi Berra (1951, 1954, 1955), Bobby Shantz (1952), Mickey Mantle (1956, 1957, 1962), Roger Maris (1960, 1961), and Elston Howard (1963).

As noted in the superstition called the "Ex-Cub Factor", this was the only Series after 1945 and until 2001 in which a team with three or more former members of the Chicago Cubs (Don Hoak, Smoky Burgess and Gene Baker) was able to win a World Series.

Summary
The Yankees had won their 10th pennant in 12 years and the Bronx Bombers outscored the Pirates 55–27 in this Series, outhit them 91–60, outbatted them .338 to .256, hit 10 home runs to Pittsburgh's four (three of the latter's coming in Game 7), got two complete-game shutouts from Whitey Ford—and lost. The Pirates' inconsistent pitching resulted in the peculiar combination of close games and routs. Ford and Vern Law were both excellent for their teams, while Pirates relief pitcher Elroy Face was a major factor in three games.

Game 1
Wednesday, October 5, 1960, at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

The Yankees threw Art Ditmar against the Pirates' Vern Law in Game 1. In the top of the first inning, New York right fielder Roger Maris, the eventual 1960 AL MVP, drilled a solo home run off Law to give the Yankees a 1–0 lead. In the bottom half, however, the Pirates evened the score when Bill Virdon walked, stole second, advanced to third on an error by Yankee shortstop Tony Kubek, and scored on a double by Dick Groat (the eventual 1960 NL MVP). Bob Skinner then singled to drive in Groat and stole second, coming home on a single by Roberto Clemente. Pittsburgh now led 3–1. This was enough to compel Casey Stengel, the Yankee manager, to pull Ditmar in favor of Jim Coates, who ended the inning.

In the fourth, New York cut the lead to one run when Maris singled, moved to second on a Mickey Mantle walk, took third on a fly out by Yogi Berra, and scored on a single by Bill Skowron. But the Pirates extended their lead to 5–2 when Don Hoak walked and Bill Mazeroski homered. Pittsburgh added an insurance run in the sixth, and although the Yankees sliced the lead to two on a ninth-inning home run by Elston Howard, Pirate reliever Elroy Face successfully closed out the inning to give the Pirates a 6–4 victory and a 1–0 lead in the Series.

Game 2
Thursday, October 6, 1960, at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Game 2, matching New York's Bob Turley against the Pirates' Bob Friend, saw the Yankees pummel the Pirates 16–3.

The game was scoreless until the top of the third, when the Yankees jumped out to a 2–0 lead. New York second baseman Bobby Richardson walked, was sacrificed over to second by Turley, and scored on a single by Tony Kubek. Gil McDougald then doubled, plating Kubek all the way from first base, and Turley aided his own cause in the fourth, driving home Richardson with a single. Although Hoak doubled home Gino Cimoli in the bottom of the fourth to break the shutout, the Yankees extended their lead to 5–1 courtesy of a two-run home run by Mantle that also scored Maris.

In the sixth, the solid Yankee lead turned into a rout, as the Bronx Bombers erupted for seven runs and chased Pirates reliever Fred Green from the game. Richardson and Berra led the way with two RBI each, while McDougald, Skowron, and Howard accounted for the other runs. Mantle continued the onslaught by popping a three-run homer in the seventh and scoring on a wild pitch by Tom Cheney in the ninth. Although the Pirates tacked on two runs in the bottom half of the frame, the game was well out of reach for them by this time. The decisive Yankee victory tied the series at a game apiece.

Game 3
Saturday, October 8, 1960, at Yankee Stadium in Bronx, New York

For Game 3, the Series shifted to Yankee Stadium as Stengel sent Whitey Ford to the mound against Pittsburgh's Vinegar Bend Mizell. Ford had somewhat of an off year (12–9, 3.08 ERA and 192.2 IP), but was brilliant against the Pirates.

The Yankees continued the same kind of offensive onslaught they displayed in Game 2. They grabbed a 6–0 lead by the end of the first inning, as Skowron and Howard ripped RBI base hits while Richardson clubbed a grand slam (during the regular season, Richardson had hit only one home run, off Baltimore's Arnie Portocarrero on April 30). In the fourth, the Bombers added on four more runs, courtesy a two-run home run by Mantle and a two-run single by Richardson. The Pirates, meanwhile, simply could not get anything going against Ford, who tossed a masterful two-hitter. The Yankees now led the series, 2–1.

Game 4
Sunday, October 9, 1960, at Yankee Stadium in Bronx, New York

The Pirates had seen their pitching fail them in the previous two games, as the team fell victim to the powerful Yankee bats. This was not the case in Game 4, however, as Pittsburgh sent Vern Law to the hill against Ralph Terry of the Yankees.

The game was scoreless until the bottom of the fourth, when Skowron launched a solo home run off Law to give New York a 1–0 advantage. The very next half-inning, though, Pittsburgh stormed back, as Law doubled in Cimoli and Virdon added a two-run single. Law kept the potent pinstripers at bay, though the Yankees did scratch and claw for a single run in the bottom of the seventh when Skowron doubled, moved to third on a single by McDougald, and scored on a fielder's choice by Richardson. However, after the Yankees scored that run, Pirate manager Danny Murtaugh brought in reliever Elroy Face, who held the fort for the final two innings as Pittsburgh tied the series at two games each.

Game 5
Monday, October 10, 1960, at Yankee Stadium in Bronx, New York

With the series now tied at two apiece, Yankee manager Casey Stengel started pitcher Art Ditmar, his Game 1 starter, against the Pirates' Harvey Haddix, who had become famous for losing a perfect game in the thirteenth inning of a game against the Milwaukee Braves the previous year.

As it turned out, on this day Ditmar could not get out of the second inning. Dick Stuart singled and was forced out at second by Gino Cimoli, who then moved to third on a double by Smoky Burgess. Don Hoak then slapped a ground ball toward Yankee shortstop Kubek, who flipped it to third baseman McDougald in an attempt to retire Burgess. However, McDougald missed the catch for a fielding error, allowing Cimoli to score, Burgess to be safe at third, and Hoak to end up at second. Mazeroski then lashed a double to left, scoring both Burgess and Hoak. After this small offensive outburst, Stengel yanked Ditmar and replaced him with Luis Arroyo, who finally got out of the inning.

The next half-inning, New York picked up a run when Elston Howard doubled, moved to third on a ground out by Richardson, and scored on another grounder by Kubek. However, the Pirates extended their lead to three runs in the third, when Roberto Clemente singled home Groat, who had led off with a double.

In the bottom of the third, Roger Maris touched Haddix for a home run to deep right field. Otherwise, however, the Pittsburgh hurler was in fine form, holding the Yankees at bay until the seventh, when he was replaced by Face. In the ninth, the Pirates added an insurance run when Hoak singled in Joe Christopher, and Face shut down the pinstripers in the bottom half of the frame to give the Pirates a 5–2 victory and a 3–2 edge in the Series.

Game 6
Wednesday, October 12, 1960, at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

For the sixth contest in Pittsburgh, the Yankees threw Whitey Ford against the Pirates' Bob Friend. And as was the case the last time Ford had toed the rubber for the Yanks in Game 3, his teammates relentlessly mashed the ball en route to a resounding 12–0 victory.

In the top of the second, the Yankees went to work. After a Yogi Berra walk and a Bill Skowron single, Elston Howard was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Ford himself then notched the first RBI of the game, with a ground ball single to his counterpart Friend that scored Berra. The next inning, Mantle cracked a two-run single that scored Kubek and Maris. After a Berra single moved Maris to third, Pirates skipper Danny Murtaugh removed the clearly ineffective Friend in favour of Tom Cheney. Cheney, however, fared no better, as a Skowron sacrifice fly scored Mantle and a triple to deep left field by Richardson scored Berra and Johnny Blanchard, making the score 6–0 New York.

The Yankees then began to run away with the game, scoring two runs in each of the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings. Richardson ripped his second RBI triple of the contest, and Ford added his second RBI courtesy a fielder's choice on a sacrifice bunt. On the mound, as in Game 3, Ford was his masterful self, not letting the Pirates mount anything resembling a rally for the full nine innings. His second shutout of the series was a critical one, as it tied the series at three games each.

Game 7
Thursday, October 13, 1960, at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

For the deciding seventh game, Bob Turley, the winning pitcher in Game 2, got the nod for the Yankees against the Pirates' Vern Law, the winning pitcher in Games 1 and 4.

Turley lasted only one inning. After dismissing the first two Pittsburgh batters, Turley walked Bob Skinner, then Rocky Nelson homered to give the Pirates a 2–0 lead. Turley was then pulled after giving up a single to Smoky Burgess leading off the second. Don Hoak then drew a base on balls against new pitcher Bill Stafford, and Bill Mazeroski's bunt single loaded the bases. Stafford appeared to get the Yankees out of trouble after inducing Law to hit into a double play, pitcher to catcher to first. But Bill Virdon's single to right scored both Hoak and Mazeroski and increased the Pirates' lead to 4–0.

The Yankees got on the scoreboard in the fifth on Bill Skowron's leadoff home run, his second homer of the Series. In the sixth, Bobby Richardson led off with a single and Tony Kubek drew a base on balls. Elroy Face relieved Law and got Roger Maris to pop out to Hoak in foul territory, but Mickey Mantle singled to score Richardson. Yogi Berra followed with a home run that gave the Yankees their first lead, 5–4.

The Yankees scored two more runs in the eighth. With two out, Berra walked and Skowron singled. Johnny Blanchard then singled to score Berra, then Clete Boyer doubled to score Skowron.

The Pirates opened the bottom of the eighth inning with singles by Gino Cimoli (pinch-hitting for Face) and Virdon (on a ground ball to short for what could have been a double play; the ball instead took a bad hop and struck Kubek in the throat). Dick Groat then chased Bobby Shantz (who had entered the game in the third and had pitched five innings, after not pitching more than four during the regular season) with a single to score Cimoli. Jim Coates replaced Shantz and got Skinner out on a sacrifice bunt, which moved the runners up. Nelson followed with a fly ball to right, and Virdon declined to challenge Maris' throwing arm. Coates then got two quick strikes on Roberto Clemente and was one strike away from getting the Yankees out of their most serious trouble of the afternoon.

Clemente eventually hit a Baltimore Chop towards first with first baseman Skowron and Coates trying to get to the ball at the same time at the cut of the infield grass. Clemente's speed forced Skowron to just hold onto the ball as Coates, after trying to get the ground ball, could not make it to first base in time to cover. The high chopper allowed Virdon to score, cutting the Yankee lead to 7–6. Hal Smith followed with a three-run home run to give the Pirates a 9–7 lead. Ralph Terry relieved Coates and got the last out.

Bob Friend, an 18-game winner for the Pirates and their starter in Games 2 and 6, came on in the ninth to try to protect the lead. The Yankees' Bobby Richardson and pinch-hitter Dale Long both greeted him with singles, and Pirates manager Danny Murtaugh was forced to bench the veteran pitcher in favor of Harvey Haddix. Although he got Roger Maris to foul out, Haddix gave up a key single to Mickey Mantle that scored Richardson and moved Long to third. Yogi Berra followed, hitting a short grounder to first, with Rocky Nelson easily getting the second out. In what, at the moment, stood as a monumental play, Mantle, seeing he had no chance to beat a play at second, scurried back to first and avoided Nelson's tag (which would have been the third out) as Gil McDougald (pinch-running for Long) raced home to tie the score, 9–9. Had Mantle been out on the play, the run would still have counted if it had scored before the tag. With Mantle safe, the top of the ninth continued, but ended when the next batter hit into a force play.

Ralph Terry returned to the mound in the bottom of the ninth. The first batter to face him was Bill Mazeroski. With a count of one ball and no strikes, the Pirates' second baseman smashed a historic long drive over the left field wall, ending the contest and crowning the Pirates as World Series champions. As the Pirates erupted, the Yankees stood across the field in stunned disbelief. The improbable champions were outscored, outhit, and outplayed, but had managed to pull out a victory anyhow. Years later, Mickey Mantle was quoted as saying that losing the 1960 series was the biggest disappointment of his career, the only loss, amateur or professional, he cried actual tears over. For Bill Mazeroski, by contrast, it was the highlight.

Mazeroski became the first player to hit a game-ending home run in the seventh game, to win a World Series. Thirty-three years later, Joe Carter would become the only other player to end the World Series with a home run, doing so for the Toronto Blue Jays in the 1993 World Series against the Pirates' in-state rivals, the Philadelphia Phillies, albeit in Game 6. Although most noted for the series-ending homer, Game 7 is also the only game in all of postseason history with no strikeouts recorded by either side.

Bobby Richardson of the Yankees was named MVP of the Series, the only time that someone from the defeated team has been so honored.

Game 7 telecast
Prior to the 1970s, television networks and stations generally did not preserve their telecasts of sporting events, choosing instead to tape over them. As a result, the broadcasts of the first six games are no longer known to exist. The lone exception is a black-and-white kinescope of the entire telecast of Game 7, which was discovered in a wine cellar in Bing Crosby's home in Hillsborough, California in December 2009.

A part-owner of the Pirates who was too superstitious to watch the Series live, Crosby listened to the decisive contest with his wife Kathryn and two friends on a shortwave radio in Paris, France. Wanting to watch the game at a later date only if the Pirates won, he arranged for a company to record it. After viewing the kinescope, he placed it in his wine cellar, where it went untouched for 49 years. It was finally found by Robert Bader, vice-president of marketing and production for Bing Crosby Enterprises, while looking through videotapes of Crosby's television specials which were to be transferred to DVD. The five-reel set is the only known complete copy of the historic game, which was originally broadcast in color.

The NBC television announcers for the Series were Bob Prince and Mel Allen, the primary play-by-play voices for the Pirates and Yankees respectively. Prince called the first half of Game 7 and conducted postgame interviews in the Pittsburgh clubhouse, while Allen did the latter portion.

On October 13, 2010, for the 50th anniversary of the series winning home run, a gala narrated by Bob Costas was hosted by the Byham Theater in downtown Pittsburgh. Bill Virdon, 1960 MVP Dick Groat and Yankee Bobby Richardson were guest speakers. The MLB Network would air the game and gala on December 15, 2010. The telecast was also released on DVD by A&E Home Video.

Composite box
1960 World Series (4–3): Pittsburgh Pirates (N.L.) over New York Yankees (A.L.)

Aftermath
This would prove to be Casey Stengel's last World Series, as the Yankee club soon sent him into retirement. This led to his famous remark, "I'll never make the mistake of turning 70 again." Mazeroski and Clemente were the last two remaining Pirate players from the 1960 World Series winners, when the Pirates won the World Series in 1971.

Series quotes
"We made too many wrong mistakes."

- Yogi Berra's assessment of what happened to his club.

"Dick Groat on third base. Bob Clemente on first base. Two runs in, 7–6 New York. Two balls, two strikes...And Hal Smith hits a drive to deep left field...That ball is way back out there, going, going, gone!"

- Mel Allen on NBC television, calling Hal Smith's home run off Jim Coates that gave the Pirates a 9–7 lead in the eighth inning of Game 7. The Yankees would tie the game in the top of the ninth, setting up Bill Mazeroski's final at-bat in the bottom of the inning.

"There's a drive into deep left field, look out now… that ball is going, going gone! And the World Series is over! Mazeroski… hits it over the left field fence, and the Pirates win it 10–9 and win the World Series!"

- Mel Allen on NBC television, calling Bill Mazeroski's series-winning home run in the ninth inning of Game 7.

"Well, a little while ago, when we mentioned that this one, in typical fashion, was going right to the wire, little did we know… Art Ditmar throws—here's a swing and a high fly ball going deep to left, this may do it!… Back to the wall goes Berra, it is…over the fence, home run, the Pirates win!… (long pause for crowd noise)… Ladies and gentlemen, Mazeroski has hit a one-nothing pitch over the left field fence at Forbes Field to win the 1960 World Series for the Pittsburgh Pirates by a score of ten to nothing!… Once again, that final score… The Pittsburgh Pirates, the 1960 world champions, defeat the New York Yankees. The Pirates ten, and the Yankees nine!"

- Chuck Thompson's radio call of the final play, including a mistake on who the pitcher was (actually mentioning who was warming up in the bullpen when he was interrupted), and initially flubbing the final score.