Bill Mazeroski was Pittsburgh Pirates' Humble Hall of Famer
· Yahoo Sports
Bill Mazeroski hit the most famous home run in baseball history. You wouldn’t have known if you met the Hall of Famer.
The former Pittsburgh Pirates second baseman walked off the heavily favored New York Yankees with a home run in Game 7 of the World Series. It remains one of the most iconic moments in sports.
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Mazeroski, who died Friday at 89, was always willing to talk about the home run when asked. He once told me that not a day went by without someone bringing up that moment.
However, Mazeroski never gloated about the home run. If anything, he never understood why it happened.
“I guess I was in the right place at the right time,” Mazeroski said. “I often think about why I happened to be put in that situation. Why was it me who hit the home run?”
That was typical Mazeroski. He was a humble man who treated everyone with kindness, and that made Mazeroski nearly as popular with fans as hitting the home run.
The oddest part about Mazeroski being best known for a hitting feat is that defense was his strength during his 18-year career spent exclusively with Pittsburgh from 1955-72. Mazeroski won eight Gold Gloves and is considered by some analysts as the best defender ever at second base.
The Gold Gloves and 10 All-Star Game appearances helped him be inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2001. Mazeroski was also part of the Pirates Hall of Fame’s inaugural class in 2022, and a statue depicting him stands outside PNC Park.
Induction day in Cooperstown was memorable for Mazeroski, who broke down in tears when he stepped to the podium and was unable to deliver his speech. It was the human side of Mazeroski that made him so relatable. He will be remembered as a Hall of Fame player — and person.
“What an icon,” Pirates manager Don Kelly said. “What a guy for the Pirates, the City of Pittsburgh, for Major League Baseball, and what he meant overall and what he meant to a lot of people. When you talk about the accolades, you would never know meeting and talking to him. He was the most humble. He was all about the team and really embodied what we’re trying to do this year.”
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