Bill Mazeroski, American baseball player and coach
William Stanley Mazeroski (born September 5, 1936) is an American former baseball second baseman who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1956 to 1972. He is most remembered for hitting one of the most iconic home runs in major league history, a dramatic ninth-inning blast in Game 7 that beat the heavily favored New York Yankees in the 1960 World Series. It was the first walk-off home run to win a World Series, and remains the only walk-off home run in a seventh game. ESPN ranked the World Series winner at the top of its list of 100 Greatest Home Runs of All Time, while Sports Illustrated had it eighth on its compilation of 100 Greatest Moments in Sports History. He received the Babe Ruth Award for his World Series performance.
Also known as "Maz" and "The Glove," the latter for his brilliance in the field, Mazeroski turned the most double plays (1,706) at second base in MLB history and was a Gold Glove Award winner eight times. In the 1960s decade, his 27.6 Wins Above Replacement (WAR) were the most of any major leaguer at his position. He ranks among the franchise career leaders in games played (fifth), RBI (sixth), hits (eighth), runs scored (eighth), total bases (eighth) and home runs (10th). He took part in 10 All-Star Games and was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2001. The Pirates organization retired his jersey No. 9 on August 7, 1987.
While his stellar defense regularly overshadowed contributions at the plate, Mazeroski was a key component in one of the most potent offenses in the majors. In an 11-year period (1957–1967), his 121 home runs and 714 RBI were the most of any second baseman in either league. This was achieved despite the fact that he played home games at cavernous Forbes Field, whose distant reaches in left and center field were the bane of right-handed fly ball hitters. Mazeroski hit more than twice as many homers on the road (93) than at home (45) in his career.
Mazeroski was a member of two Pirates World Series championship teams. He and Roberto Clemente were the last remaining team members from the 1960 World Series winners in 1971, when they beat the favored Baltimore Orioles in seven games. Mazeroski spent his entire playing career with the Pirates before he joined the staff of manager and ex-teammate Bill Virdon as their third base coach in the 1973 season. He served in the same capacity with the Seattle Mariners in the 1979 and 1980 campaigns.