Jack Hertz

I was at Forbes Field, home of the Pittsburgh Pirates, on October 13, 1960, but not at 3:36 PM, when Bill Mazeroski  hit his home run off of the NY Yankees’ Ralph Terry in the bottom of the ninth inning to win the 1960 World Series—the only time a walk-off homer has won a Game 7 in baseball history.Thanks to the retrieval of rare tv footage, you can now watch the entire game on You Tube. But until recently, the pictured recording was all I had to relive that grand day in the life of an eleven-year-old boy.

The Yankees, had knotted the game 9 to 9 in the top of the ninth. Mazeroski, who had hit  a mere 11 homers during the regular season, led off the bottom of the inning.

My recording features Hall of Fame broadcaster Chuck Thompson’s historic call:  “Here’s the swing, there’s a high fly ball going deep to left, this may do it, back to the wall goes Berra, it is over the fence—home run, the Pirates win!!!”

Now how could I have been in the stadium, but not have seen the game? My late, beloved father, Joe Hertz, worked for Allegheny Cigarette Service. His job, that day, was to fill the twenty-seven cigarette machines in the stadium before the game.  He took me with him, as he had done many times before. He was such a highly principled man, that he thought it was wrong to remain at the park without a ticket.  So we left before the game started and listened on the radio.

Of course, hearing the call wasn’t the same as being there to see THE GREATEST HOMERUN IN BASEBALL HISTORY.  I think my dad understood. That night he loaded the family into the DeSoto and took us downtown to the rally for the champs.

While I still have the recording (as well as Maz’s rookie card and a signed ball), the Hall of Famer himself has not been as sentimental.  In 2013, he put the jersey he was wearing when he hit the homer up at auction.  It sold for $632,500.