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Letters
A walk-off homer if there ever was one!
--KAREN ROBINSON, Plano, Texas
All about Maz
My congrats to William Nack for his article about the 1960 World
Series and Bill Mazeroski's unforgettable home run (Bang for the
Bucs, Oct. 23). I was in the sixth grade, and my teacher, knowing
I was an avid Pirates fan, allowed me to bring my transistor
radio to school so the class could hear the final three innings
of the seventh game. When Maz hit the game-winning homer, a yell
went up that caused the principal to come down the hall to see
what was going on. All my classmates joined me as Pirates fans
that day.
JACK HILBORN
Delaware, Ohio
Maz elevated playing second base to an art. I'd have paid to
watch him take infield practice.
PHILIP K. CURTIS, Atlanta
Forty years later and I read the article with a lump in my throat
and tears of joy running down my face, just as on that glorious
day in 1960 when this seventh-grader reached baseball heaven! I
never considered that the Bucs would lose the Series, but 40
years of hindsight makes me marvel that they won.
PAT STOCK, Ebensburg, Pa.
Each October for the past 40 years I have seen the media eulogize
Mazeroski but never heard a word about Hal Smith's ninth-inning
three-run homer which made it possible for Maz to go down in
history. Thanks to your Oct. 23 issue, that oversight has been
rectified.
JIM BOURG, Mission, Texas
I hope Cooperstown's Veterans Committee will read Nack's story
and give Maz his due. It would be even better if Brian Giles,
Jason Kendall and all the other Pirates would read it and see
that the mix of magic and determination is timeless: Small-market
teams can beat the damn Yankees! Why not next year?
BOB THOMPSON, Gilbert, Ariz.
Nack argues that Mazeroski, because of his defensive skills,
should be in the Hall of Fame. While Mazeroski was one of the
alltime best defensive second basemen, he was essentially a
one-dimensional player. His career on-base percentage was .302,
six points lower than that of the lowest-ranked position player
in the Hall, Joe Tinker. To put it bluntly, Mazeroski would be
the easiest out in the Hall.
RICHARD S. DORR, Boston
Ones for the Book
Your list of the toughest sports records to break (SCORECARD,
Oct. 23) has one glaring omission: Maple Leaf Darryl Sittler's 10
points in an NHL game, on Feb. 7, 1976.
DAVE OBERMEYER, North York, Ont.
Being a long-suffering Blackhawks fan, I have had little to cheer
about, but I can say that Glenn Hall's record of 502 consecutive
complete games in net will never be broken.
LOU DINELLI, Braidwood, Ill.
Wilt Chamberlain's 55 rebounds in a game. These days most teams
don't get 55 rebounds in a game. Mark Spitz's seven gold medals
in one Olympics. Few sports have enough events for one athlete to
be able to do that. With today's specialization in swimming,
breaking this record is unimaginable.
JOE SCHNUR, Ludlow, Mass.
Jim Brown has one that will never be broken. He averaged 5.22
yards per carry in the 118 NFL games he played.
JIM MIELZINER, St. Charles, Mo.
Johnny Unitas threw a touchdown pass in 47 straight
regular-season NFL games, plus two championship games. The
second longest such streak was 30 by Dan Marino. Pete Rose came
closer to Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak than Marino came
to Unitas's TD string.
MICHAEL MURPHY, Lynn, Mass.
You were the first people I thought of when Corey Dillon rushed
for 278 yards on Oct. 22. Your ranking of Walter Payton's 275
rushing yards as the first of five records "that are more fragile
than you think" was eerie!
P. SCOTT MCCALL, Fletcher, N.C.
Seau Supporter
I'm a longtime fan of Junior Seau of the Chargers, but I'm even
more of a fan after reading Peter King's article about him
(INSIDE THE NFL, Oct. 23). Here's a man who plays injured for an
0-11 team and never complains or points fingers at teammates.
MICHAEL BIONDO, Amherst, N.Y.
COLOR PHOTO: ANNIE O'NEILL (TOP)
B/W PHOTO: JAMES DRAKE
Boy of Autumn
Were you too lazy to take a current picture of Bill Mazeroski so
we could see what he looks like today?
DOUG CARTER, Sacramento
Mazeroski (top) finally posed for us during a visit he made to
Pittsburgh after our story appeared. --ED.
