The Pirates took it all in 1960. Their World Series Championship ended with the greatest home run in Major League history. Bill Mazeroski swung at a 1-0 pitch from Ralph Terry. He lifted the ball over Yogi Berra and the left field wall. The Pirates walked off with a 10-9 win in Game 7 to beat the powerful New York Yankees. In 1960, the season was 154 games long. The Pirates wound up playing 155 games because one of their games ended in a 7-7 tie. It was stopped at 12:50 AM because of curfew. The team was famous for making comebacks. They played solid baseball and had a great pitching staff. The pitching staff was led by Bob Friend and Vernon Law. Together they threw 546 innings and won 38 games while losing 21. They had a combined ERA of 3.03. Roy Face, the Baron of the Bullpen, appeared in 68 games, tossing 114 innings. He had a 10-8 record with 24 saves while recording an ERA of 2.90. This team has always been underrated. They were 27-9 in blowout games. Blowout games are games that are decided by 5 or more runs. They were 12-5 in extra-inning games. They knew how to play winning baseball. Nobody knew how to do that better than their third baseman, Don Hoak.
Don Hoak was a fiery hard nosed player who played 11 years in the major leagues. He played 4 years for the Pirates from 1959 through the 1962 season. For the first 3 years he had OPS+ of 108, 120, and 123. Oh what would the Pirates give to have a third basemen who could do that today. Dick Groat that year was named the National League MVP. Roberto Clemente thought he should have been named the MVP. Groat was the WAR leader on the Pirates and the National League batting champion with a .325 average. The argument was that Groat had missed most of September with a broken wrist. How could he be the MVP when he hardly played doing this crucial month. Dick Schofield his replacement a .227 lifetime hitter had the greatest stretch of his career. In 19 games he hit .400 and had many big hits. Clemente and the baseball writers were both wrong. The true MVP on that team was Don Hoak. Vernon Law the Cy Young award winner that year summed it up best. “I’d say Don Hoak was the difference. He was the backbone of the team. He had the fighting spirit that rub off on everyone. He wouldn’t let us lose”. Hoak nicknamed “The Tiger” by Bob Prince did more than just be a clubhouse presence. He had one hell of an offensive year. He played in all 155 games. He led the Pirates in runs scored, walks, triples, and in runs created. He got the most significant hits. He was 2nd on the team in WAR, home runs, on base percentage, OPS and OPS+. He was third on the team in hits, doubles, RBI’s, and batting average. He did all of this batting 7th most of the season. He batted 6th in September when Groat was out. His season may have been even better, but he cut his foot on August 13th. A wound that required stitches, but Hoak swore the doctor to secrecy and played a double header the next day. He was in pain with that foot for the rest of the season. He did not have a great World Series being even more hampered by a groin injury. He did drive in 2 runs going 2 for 4 in the pivotal 5th game. This helped the Pirates to a crucial 5-2 win in Yankee stadium to take a 3-2 lead in the Series. Hoak’s life ended tragically when he died of a heart attack at age 41. He died the same day that Danny Murtaugh was named manager of the Pirates in 1969. Hoak was crushed that day when he was not the named the manager. His brother in laws car was stolen and Hoak went after the car thief. He had the fatal heart attack during the chase. He never really got the credit he deserved for his contributions to that 1960 championship team. There was no question that on that team, that year, he was The Man. Thank you Don Hoak. I am glad I got to see it.
The Goofy Game of Golf/Life Searching for the Answer 