I'm going to confess that Bill been covered recently by several others blogs....so this is short and covers stuff already said...
Bill is a Hall of
Famer as deemed by the Veteran’s Committee in 2001…Landmark moment was the walk
off home run that won the WS against the Yankees in 1960…A fair hitter having
some power but above his peers with his glove leading most 2nd
baseman in fielding during the 60’s…for nine consecutive years he was an all
star or gold glover sometimes both…By 1972 he had surrendered more playing time
to Dave Cash...Later became a Pirate coach.
Wow, Maz' career stretched so far back to the time when there was a PCL team in Hollywood, CA!
ReplyDeleteI'm a big old time PCL buff. The history of the league makes a major change after the 1957 season. That was the last year of the Stars who had to move to Salt Lake City because the LA' Dodger's arrival. The the Hollywood team played out a little park called Gilmore field, It was tore down to make "CBS television city in Hollywood".
ReplyDeleteThe PCL team in Hollywood was always the subject of some controversy in Pittsburgh, as some of the management of the Pirates also owned a stake in the Hollywood team - thus creating the appearance of a conflict of interest. This was written about in a book about Branch Rickey. This was also around the time that the PCL wanted to make the jump to becoming a third major league. I am not sure how this would have worked.
ReplyDeleteI remember my brother and I getting this card in a pack. It was very late in the season (as you can imagine from the number). My dad said that we should definitely not trade this one, as there would likely be no more of Mazeroski. I was too young to know about the 1960 series at this point. He was just another Pirate. I think this was the first time I started to appreciate that players can get older and retire. My understanding of professional sports was beginning to take on a new, less childlike quality. The card is still in an album.
ReplyDeleteAnother hard to get high series number back in 1972. I remember thinking maybe Topps had a way of not sticking Pirate cards in packs that were sent to Pittsburgh - it sure seems that way
ReplyDelete