www abdopublishing com Published by Abdo Publishing a division of ABDO PO Box 398166 Minneapolis Minnesota 55439 Copyright 2015 by Abdo Consulting Group Inc International copyrights reserved in all countries No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher SportsZone is a trademark and logo of Abdo Publishing Printed in the United States of America North Mankato Minnesota 052014 092014 Editor Matt Tustison Copy Editor Nicholas Cafarelli Interior Design and Production Kazuko Collins Cover Design Kazuko Collins Photo Credits Gene J Puskar AP Images cover 38 47 AP Images title 4 7 8 13 15 16 19 20 23 25 26 28 31 42 top middle bottom 43 top middle 44 Mark Rucker Transcendental Graphics Getty Images 10 Leon Algee AP Images 32 John Swart AP Images 35 Doug Mills AP Images 37 43 bottom Chris Lee St Louis Post-Dispatch AP Images 41 Library of Congress Control Number 2014933059 Cataloging-in-Publication Data Frager Ray Pittsburgh Pirates by Ray Frager p cm Inside MLB Includes bibliographical references and index ISBN 978-1-62403-481-7 1 Pittsburgh Pirates Baseball team History Juvenile literature I Title GV975 P5F73 2015 796 357’640974886 dc23 2014933059
TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1 World Series Drama 4 Chapter 2 Deep Roots 10 Chapter 3 Roaring Through the 20s 16 Chapter 4 Long Seasons 20 Chapter 5 Sleepy 60s Sensational 70s 26 Chapter 6 From Shame to Resurgence 32 Chapter 7 Building For the Future 38 Timeline 42 Quick Stats 44 Quotes and Anecdotes 45 Glossary 46 For More Information 47 Index 48 About the Author 48
CHAPTER 1 WORLD SERIES DRAMA
T here have been many famous home runs in baseball history Bobby Thomson’s Shot Heard Round the World Babe Ruth’s Called Shot Kirk Gibson’s I Don’t Believe What I Just Saw But many baseball fol lowers believe that it was a Pittsburgh Pirate who hit the most important homer ever Bill Mazeroski ended the 1960 World Series with a home run The only other time a player homered on the final play of a Series occurred in 1993 That year Joe Carter accom plished the feat for the Toronto Blue Jays But unlike Carter whose shot came in Game 6 Mazeroski hit his home run in the final possible game of the Series Game 7 How did the Pirates even get to that point They had gone decades without even a National League NL pennant Their previous World Series appearance had been in 1927 However the 1960 team came together in a magical Pittsburgh fans rush onto the field to greet Bill Mazeroski after he hit a Pittsburgh fans rush onto the field to greet Bill Mazeroski after he hit a game-winning homer in Game 7 of the World Series on October 13 1960 game-winning homer in Game 7 of the World Series on October 13 1960 WORLD SERIES DRAMA 5
