MORGANTOWN —As “ginormous” as the home run he hit at exactly 3:36 p.m. on October 13 in the bottom of the ninth inning to beat the New York Yankees, 10-9, in the seventh game of the 1960 World Series, sending the Pittsburgh Pirates home from Forbes Field as World Champions and, eventually, sending him to the Baseball Hall of Fame, even Bill Mazeroski didn’t realize the significance of the moment.
As he trotted around the bases after the baseball had soared over the head of left fielder Yogi Berra and disappeared into history over the ivy covered left field wall, his helmet in his hand, a huge smile on his face, fans streaming from the stands and trying to just touch him, the man they called simply Maz was caught up too much in the moment to understand what this all was really about in the big picture.
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