Editor’s note: This story was originally published on Oct. 13, 2024.
A look back at local, national and world events through Deseret News archives.
Even as some Americans were watching the plane carrying the volatile Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev exit out of U.S. airspace — see yesterday’s Deseret News archives — their attention was focused on a World Series Game 7.
The vaunted New York Yankees prepared to take on the Pittsburgh Pirates in Game 7 on Oct. 13, 1960.
On that mid-October night in 1960, the Pirates won the World Series, defeating the New York Yankees in Game 7, 10-9, on a home run hit by Bill Mazeroski.
In one of the wildest postseason games in history, the Pittsburgh Pirates trailed the New York Yankees 7-4 heading into the bottom of the eighth inning, when the Pirates scored five runs to take a 9-7 lead into the final inning.
However, the Yankees scored two in the top of the ninth to tie the game at 9.
Mazeroski then led off the bottom of the ninth with his walk-off shot to win the World Series for the Pirates. In doing so, he became the first player in baseball history to end a World Series with a walk-off home run.
One of the key players that season for the Pirates, Vernon Law capped by one of the best seasons ever recorded by a pitcher, in 1960 when he went 20-9 in the regular season, won two games in the World Series against the New York Yankees of Mantle-Berra-Maris, and might have won a third when he left Game 7 in the sixth inning with a 4-1 lead.
The Yankees went on to tie the score, setting the stage for the Pirates’ Bill Mazeroski to hit the only Game 7 walk-off homer in World Series history. Some baseball purists call it the greatest game ever played.
The 1960 Cy Young Award, recognizing the best pitcher in baseball, went to Law. Law, born in 1930 in Meridian, Idaho, is revered as one of the greatest Latter-day Saint athletes. After his long playing career, Law served as an assistant coach at BYU, and in the Japanese League.
Here are some stories from Deseret News archives about the game, Mazeroski and Law, as well as great moments in World Series history:
“Author celebrates Pirates and Mormon ace of 1960″
“Mazeroski teary-eyed at PNC Park statue unveiling”
“Fame induction a crying game”
“Baseball book teaches lesson about forgiveness”
“Place in history: Famous HR was key, but Vern Law played a role, too”
“About Utah: He met the Deacon and got an A”
“Top 10 iconic moments in baseball history”