Description
The 1960 World Series was played between the Pittsburgh Pirates of the National League (NL) and the New York Yankees of the American League (AL) from October 5 to 13, 1960. It is most notable for the Game 7, ninth-inning home run hit by Bill Mazeroski, the only time a winner-take-all World Series game has ended with a walk-off home run.
Another unusual aspect of this World Series is that the losing team scored more than twice as many runs as the winning team, as the Yankees won three blowout games (16–3, 10–0, and 12–0), while the Pirates won four close games (6–4, 3–2, 5–2, and 10–9). The Series MVP was Bobby Richardson of the Yankees, the only time in history that that award has been given to a member of the losing team.
This World Series featured seven past, present, or future league Most Valuable Players. The Pirates had two – Dick Groat (1960) and Roberto Clemente (1966) – while the Yankees had five: Yogi Berra (1951, 1954, 1955), Bobby Shantz(1952), Mickey Mantle (1956, 1957, 1962), Roger Maris (1960, 1961), and Elston Howard (1963).
As noted in the superstition called the “Ex-Cub Factor”, this was the only Series after 1945 and until 2001 in which a team with three or more former members of the Chicago Cubs (Don Hoak, Smoky Burgess and Gene Baker) was able to win a World Series.
The World Championship for the Pirates was their third overall and first since 1925.
