Major League Baseball

Pirates flub facts on Maz's homer

Published Oct. 14, 2010 10:14 a.m. ET

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Can't anyone on this team proofread?

A half-century after it occurred, Bill Mazeroski's home run that won the 1960 World Series remains one of the most celebrated moments in the history of professional sports.

The Pirates commemorated that feat last month by debuting a statue that forever will remind fans of that moment. But the team did so in a manner that could well reinforce the reputation for haplessness it meticulously refined over a record-setting 18 consecutive losing seasons.

Fifty years ago today, Mazeroski threw Western Pennsylvania into a frenzy by launching a baseball over the left-field wall at Forbes Field. His solo homer in the bottom of the ninth inning defeated the New York Yankees in the Series' seventh and deciding game.

You may have heard something about that over the years.

Fast-forward to Sept. 5. The Pirates unveiled a Mazeroski statue outside PNC Park's right-field gate, immortalizing him in the famous hat-held-high-above-his-head pose as he rounded second base after the ball cleared the wall.

The Pirates made a grand, generous gesture for their Hall of Fame player. Unfortunately, the plaque embedded in the rubber mulch a few feet from the statue describes that magic moment thusly: "On an 0-1 pitch at 3:36 p.m., Maz hit the only walk-off home run in Game 7 to win a World Series."

That's not exactly how it happened.

The time on the plaque is correct. The pitch count is not.

The pitch preceding Mazeroski's blast from the Yankees' Ralph Terry was a ball, not a strike. Maz hit a 1-0 pitch to win the Series.

Is the mistake a huge one? No.

But having endured national ridicule this past season for disciplining an outspoken costumed pierogi in their employ (don't ask), the Pirates don't need the discomfiture of flubbing the facts on a play with which anyone working for the franchise should be intimately familiar.

Pirates president Frank Coonelly said Tuesday the team became aware of the problematic pitch count reference the day after the statue dedication. He promised the plaque will be replaced soon.

"As to how the error happened, all I can tell you is that it was our fault," he said. "It was our text. We had many, many people review the text, but somehow everyone missed the error."

They weren't the only ones. So did Herb Soltman, 75, of Scott, who heads the Game 7 Gang.

The group assembles on the anniversary of the home run at a remaining section of the Forbes Field outfield wall in Schenley Park to listen to a tape of the Series' seventh game -- a tape that leaves no doubt as to the proper pitch count when Mazeroski homered.

"I was at the (statue) dedication, and I didn't notice it," said Soltman. "Four or five days later, I went back and took a picture of the plaque, and I didn't notice it then, either."

The pitch count might be easy for any casual observer to overlook. But if the Pirates believed it was worth noting on the plaque, someone should have been responsible for ensuring it was noted correctly -- if only to save the much-maligned franchise further embarrassment.

Forget that search for a manager. Somebody get this team a competent proofreader.

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