‘Burgh’s Best to Wear It, No. 9: Bill Mazeroski provided legendary homer, glove for Pirates
The Tribune-Review sports staff is conducting a daily countdown of the best players in Pittsburgh pro and college sports history to wear each jersey number.
No. 9: Bill Mazeroski
With the exception of games played (twice) and intentional walks (mostly a function of batting eighth in the order in 1962), Bill Mazeroski never in his 17 MLB seasons led the National League in any offensive category.
Still, Mazeroski is remembered on a short list of the most legendary Pittsburgh Pirates for two reasons: An unforgettable home run and a generation’s worth of inexplicably good defense.
It is for that one magical moment in 1960 in addition to 18,336⅓ equally magical innings at second base that Mazeroski was selected as the greatest athlete to wear No. 9 in Pittsburgh sports history. The vote was unanimous among the Tribune-Review sports staff.
57 years ago today, Bill Mazeroski walked it off with the greatest home run ever. pic.twitter.com/7eKw4OGwus
— Pirates (@Pirates) October 13, 2017
Mazeroski’s home run in the bottom of the ninth to end Game 7 of the 1960 World Series is one of the most iconic moments in sports. It is commemorated annually at 3:36 p.m. Oct. 13 in Oakland at the site of Forbes Field, where Mazeroski took a 1-0 pitch from Ralph Terry over the wall in left-center that lifted the Pirates to their third of five World Series titles.
The image of a joyous Mazeroski sprinting around the bases, waving his cap, windmill-style, while elated fans ran onto the field to join him, is arguably the most-replayed highlight in Pittsburgh sports history. It is the subject of one of four statues outside PNC Park.
But while “Maz” still stands 10th all-time in career home runs for the Pirates — he also is sixth in RBIs, eighth in hits and doubles and sixth in at-bats and plate appearances — aside from the 1960 home run, it is for his defense that Mazeroski was most revered.
Though difficult to quantify statistically, Mazeroski is the Pirates’ career leader in Defensive Wins Above Replacement (24.0). He holds the major league record for most double plays turned by a second baseman (1,706), including a single-season record 161 in 1966. According to baseball-reference.com, Mazeroski is responsible for two of the top three, three of the top seven and five of the top 25 seasons for most double plays turned by a second baseman.
Mazeroski, who ranks fifth in career games played for the Pirates (2,163), was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2001.
Although Mazeroski was an easy choice as the city’s greatest No. 9, Andy Bathgate will forever be known as the original Pittsburgh Penguin. Bathgate was taken in the 1967 NHL expansion draft at age 35 after he already had scored 236 goals in 908 career games.
Bathgate scored the first goal in franchise history, and he was its first season leader in points (59). Bathgate returned to the Penguins for his final season in the NHL, posting 15 goals and 29 assists in 1970-71.
Two prominent former Steelers kickers, Matt Bahr and Chris Boswell, wore No. 9. After his career at Penn State, Bahr played his first two NFL seasons for the Steelers, accounting for 200 points during the 1979 and ’80 seasons. Bahr made all five kicks (four extra points and a 41-yard field goal) during the Super Bowl XIV win that capped his rookie season.
Boswell has made 87% of his field goals over his 4½ seasons as Steelers kicker. He was named to the Pro Bowl after the 2017 season.
For Pitt, Pappy Thomas was a starting defensive back on the 1980-81 teams that went a combined 22-2.
Check out the entire ’Burgh’s Best to Wear It series here.
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Chris Adamski is a TribLive reporter who has covered primarily the Pittsburgh Steelers since 2014 following two seasons on the Penn State football beat. A Western Pennsylvania native, he joined the Trib in 2012 after spending a decade covering Pittsburgh sports for other outlets. He can be reached at cadamski@triblive.com.
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