Pittsburgh Pirates Clubhouse Celebration After Stunning Game 7 Defeat of Yankees

Pirates pitcher Clem Labine pours champagne into coach Frank Oceak’s mouth after the Pirates game seven victory.

One of the most dramatic World Series victories occurred 62 years ago today when Pirates second baseman Bill Mazeroski capped a Pirates comeback victory over the New York Yankees  to win game seven of the 1960 World Series.

The Pirates entered the eighth inning trailing 7-4. Pittsburgh shocked the Yankees by scoring five runs off Yankees pitchers Bobby Shantz and Jim Coates.

Hal Smith had replaced catcher Smoky Burgess who was pulled for pinch runner Joe Christopher in the seventh. Smith put the Pirates on top by stroking a three run home run to make the score 9-7. The Yankees called on Ralph Terry to pitch and he promptly retired Don Hoak to end the eighth.

Then in typical Yankees fashion New York scored two runs in the top of the ninth to knot the game at nine apiece.

In the bottom of the ninth after looking at ball one, Mazeroski hit the next pitch over the left field wall to end the game and send Pirates fans into pandemonium.

The scores of the games were:

Game 1 Pirates 6 Yankees 4
Game 2 Yankees 16 Pirates 3
Game 3 Yankees 10 Pirates 0
Game 4 Pirates 3 Yankees 2
Game 5 Pirates 5 Yankees 2
Game 6 Yankees 12 Pirates 0
Game 7 Pirates 10 Yankees 9

In the series the Yankees outscored the Pirates 55 – 27. After the loss Yankees manager Casey Stengel was “retired” by Yankees management.