Major League Baseball

The Maz metaphor

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

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Bill Mazeroski's bottom-of-the-ninth-inning home run 50 years ago this afternoon at Forbes Field, which made the Pittsburgh Pirates 1960 World Series champions over the mighty New York Yankees, is Pittsburgh's quintessential timeless moment.

A statue outside PNC Park immortalizes not just Maz's joyous trip around the bases but underdog Pittsburgh's ability to beat the odds, shed the impediments of its past and maximize its best attributes.

Thrilling a city emerging clean, modern and vibrant from its long-standing smoky pall, Maz's shot lessened Pittsburgh's lingering inferiority complex fueled by outsiders' perceptions.

Another moment like that for Pirates fans seems far off indeed after 18 losing seasons in a row. Yet Maz paved the way for similarly improbable and triumphant transformations -- of the Steelers in the 1970s and the Penguins in the 1990s.

For a city now beset by financial and other woes, the 50th anniversary of Maz's moment is especially welcome. It reminds that his humble can-do spirit remains strong among Pittsburghers, who never should be counted out -- on the field or anywhere else.

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