Kiss it Goodbye! Pirates Win 1960 World Series

Like many Pirate fans I was excited when it was announced that the previously thought lost footage of game seven of the 1960 World Series would be aired this winter. As I always do for any major Pittsburgh related sports event I got together with my dad to watch the rebroadcast. Dad was 13 at the time of the game and had listened to most of it on a transistor radio while at school that day. It was a treat that we could both watch this for the first time.

Some highlights:

Early in the game
Dad (trying to be a wiseguy): “Hey look, no DH.”
Me (trying to out-wiseguy him): “Of course. Its in a National League Park.”

Dad : “There sure is a lot of bunting.”

As Joe Christopher pinch runs for Smokey Burgess in the bottom of the 7th
Dad : “He’s from the Virgin Islands. Really fast.”
Mel Allen half a second later repeats this almost verbatim.
Dad : “I wrote Mel Allen’s script.”

Also great was hearing him call out the nicknames of the old players: “There’s Quail!” “They call him Moose.”

Knowing what to expect didn’t make it any less exciting. We cheered when Maz won it.

Even for a winner-takes-all, last-game-for-the-championship the amount of over managing was absurd. This morning as I read through my twitter feed from last night it was like watching it all over again with a group of friends. Plus, thanks to Paul Lukas at UniWatch, I was linked to some great photos and illustrations of the 1960 Pirates.

I’m sure you all enjoyed the show as much as my dad and I did. Now let’s hope the current crew can make this happen again as soon as possible.