Top 10 Pirates Postseason Moments: #1 - Mazeroski walks it off

With October winding down and postseason baseball heating up, we figured that it would be fun to craft a list of the Pittsburgh Pirates’ top 10 postseason moments of all-time.

This is an opportunity to bring back some nostalgia and spread some positivity as we tune into the World Series.

Coming in at No. 1 on our list, was it really any surprise?

It’s Bill Mazeroski’s walk-off home run to win the 1960 World Series!

The full game can be found on the Pittsbugh Pirates’ YouTube channel as part of a re-air during the early days of quarantine.

But in case you’re cut short for time and only have the opportunity to scroll for a few minutes, here’s a look at the home run itself.

Mazeroski’s homer lives in baseball immortality as the first walk-off to end a World Series. Only Joe Carter of the Toronto Blue Jays repeated this feat 33 years later to win the 1993 World Series.

The Pirates were considered huge underdogs in the series against the mighty New York Yankees, getting blown out in Games 2, 3 and 6 by a combined score of 38-3. Yet in the three Pirates’ wins, the Buccos won nailbiters: 6-4 in Game 1, 3-2 in Game 4 and 5-2 in Game 5.

During Game 7, the Yankees piled on the runs, but the Pirates kept up with them. After trailing 7-4 heading into the eighth inning, the Pirates tacked on five runs to take a 9-7 lead. The Yankees would tie it in the top of the ninth at 9-9 before setting up Mazeroski for the greatest postseason moment in Pittsburgh Pirates history.