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William Stanley Mazeroski
Pittsburgh Pirates
Second Base
Born: September 5, 1936, Wheeling, WV
Signed: Signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates as an amateur free agent before 1954 season
Major League Teams: Pittsburgh Pirates 1956-72
World Series Appearances: Pittsburgh Pirates 1960, 1971
Hall of Fame Induction: 2001
Bill Mazeroski was an excellent defensive second baseman, a 10-time All-Star with the Pirates throughout the 1960s and the hero of the club's 1960 World Series Championship season. Known mostly for his glove, Mazeroski won eight Gold Gloves and he's the all-time leader for double plays turned by a second baseman with 1,706. His career putouts (4,974) at the position currently rank him 7th, while his career assists (6,685) are 5th on the all-time list. Mazeroski and Roberto Clemente (#50) are the only two Pirates players to be members of both the 1960 and 1971 World Championship teams. He hit one of the most iconic home runs in baseball history in Game 7 of the 1960 World Series. With the score tied at 9-9, Mazeroski led off the bottom of the ninth inning, and homered off Yankees' pitcher Ralph Terry to give the Pirates an improbable walk-off win and the World Series title.
Hall of Fame Induction: 2001
Bill Mazeroski was an excellent defensive second baseman, a 10-time All-Star with the Pirates throughout the 1960s and the hero of the club's 1960 World Series Championship season. Known mostly for his glove, Mazeroski won eight Gold Gloves and he's the all-time leader for double plays turned by a second baseman with 1,706. His career putouts (4,974) at the position currently rank him 7th, while his career assists (6,685) are 5th on the all-time list. Mazeroski and Roberto Clemente (#50) are the only two Pirates players to be members of both the 1960 and 1971 World Championship teams. He hit one of the most iconic home runs in baseball history in Game 7 of the 1960 World Series. With the score tied at 9-9, Mazeroski led off the bottom of the ninth inning, and homered off Yankees' pitcher Ralph Terry to give the Pirates an improbable walk-off win and the World Series title.
Mazeroski spent his entire playing career with the Pirates, batting .260 with 138 home runs and 853 RBIs. After retiring as a player, he served as a Pirates coach for one season in 1973, and was the third base coach for the Mariners in 1979 and 1980. His #9 was retired by the Pirates in 1987, and the Veteran's Committee voted him into the Hall of Fame in 2001 on the strength of his glove work at second base.
Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1965 Topps blog.
Building the Set / Card #628
The Card / Pirates Team Set / Accuracy Index +5
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1957 Topps #24
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (19): 1957-74, 2001
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2025 Topps Allen & Ginter #326
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 850 in the Beckett online database as of 2/4/26.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
September 21, 2025 from The Philly Show (Niagara Sports Cards)
On Sunday morning, September 21st, I made the hour-long drive to the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania for the latest installment of the Philadelphia Sports Card & Memorabilia Show, known to its friends as The Philly Show. The show has a legitimate official sponsor (eBay) and the advertisement for the event notes the show is in its 50th year. I hadn't attended a baseball card show since the last Philly Show in December, and I was flying solo to this one as our oldest son is in his first month of college at Villanova. I posted a full summary of the show over at The Phillies Room.
I made stops at six tables at the show, all yielding needed cards for our 1969 Topps set, and I left the show with just 16 more cards to go for my version of a complete set. My third stop was a smaller table with the impossible to pass up offer of 1969 Topps commons that were only $1, unless marked. The binder was right at the end of the table, making it an even easier sell. The prices on some of the cards were stunningly low, so I was even more surprised when the dealer, Niagara Sports Cards, gave me an even deeper discount upon tallying up my total.
I found 12 cards needed from Niagara Sports Cards, and this was the sixth of those 12, and the 69th of 91 cards for the set added overall on the day. The card was marked at $3, but I paid a little over $2 for it after the bulk dealer discount was applied.
The Card / Pirates Team Set / Accuracy Index +5
There are a lot of lines of statistics on the back of Mazeroski's card, and he'd add four more lines before calling it a career. The write-up highlights his eight Gold Glove wins and acknowledges Mazeroski as the best fielding second baseman active in the majors. The cartoon focuses on 1960, and Topps could have gone with a celebratory Mazeroski crossing home plate instead of playing defense.
Accuracy Index: A great-looking card, earning a +5.
1969 Season
Mazeroski was once again the Pirates' opening day second baseman, but he'd start just 64 games at the position, losing playing time as the season progressed to Gene Alley (#436), Jose Martinez, and over the last month of the season, rookie Dave Cash. In 67 games overall, he batted .229. From his SABR biography, written by Bob Hurte:
Mazeroski was once again the Pirates' opening day second baseman, but he'd start just 64 games at the position, losing playing time as the season progressed to Gene Alley (#436), Jose Martinez, and over the last month of the season, rookie Dave Cash. In 67 games overall, he batted .229. From his SABR biography, written by Bob Hurte:
Indications that he was winding down became noticeable. He was still a valuable commodity but in a different way. He quietly assumed a new position on the team. He became a mentor, the elder statesman to a new crop of young players. The 1969 alignment featured Richie Hebner (#82) (21 years old) at third, Freddie Patek (#219) (24) played short, and Bob Robertson (#468) (22) was at first. There was no communication gap among them; their willing ears devoured Mazeroski's wisdom and information on how to play hitters. Mazeroski passed Frankie Frisch's career total for assists with his 6,027th at Wrigley Field in Chicago on April 14, 1969. Statistically, however, 1969 was a subpar season for him both defensively and offensively.
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First Mainstream Card: 1957 Topps #24
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (19): 1957-74, 2001
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2025 Topps Allen & Ginter #326
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 850 in the Beckett online database as of 2/4/26.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
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