Bill Mazeroski

William Stanley Mazeroski, the Baseball Hall of Fame second baseman who hit one of the most famous home runs in the history of the sport, passed away on February 20, 2026, in Lansdale, Pennsylvania. He was 89 years old. Born on September 5, 1936, in Wheeling, West Virginia, Mazeroski grew up in nearby Witch Hazel, Ohio, in a small one-room house without electricity or indoor plumbing. His father, Louis, a Polish American coal miner whose own baseball dreams were cut short by a mining accident, nurtured his sons love of the game through daily games of catch. Mazeroski joined the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1956 and spent his entire 17-year career with the franchise. Known by the nicknames Maz and the Glove, he was regarded as one of the greatest defensive second basemen in baseball history. He won eight Gold Glove Awards and was selected to ten All-Star teams. His career-defining moment came on October 13, 1960, when he hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 7 of the World Series against the New York Yankees. It remains the only walk-off home run to clinch a World Series championship in a Game 7, and ESPN ranked it as the greatest home run in baseball history. Sports Illustrated placed it eighth on its list of the 100 Greatest Moments in Sports History. Mazeroskis defensive records are equally remarkable. His 1,706 career double plays remain a major league record for second basemen. He led the National League in double plays for eight consecutive years and set the single-season record of 161 double plays in 1966. He led the majors in assists a record nine times. Beyond his 1960 heroics, Mazeroski helped the Pirates win another World Series in 1971, making him and Roberto Clemente the only members of the 1960 champions still on the team for that second title. After retiring as a player, he served as a coach for the Pirates and the Seattle Mariners. The Pirates retired his number 9 in 1987, and he was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2001. Mazeroskis legacy as one of baseballs greatest defensive players and the author of its most dramatic moment endures for generations of fans.