Pirates fans relive 1960 World Series

It all started with one man and a cassette player.

In 1985, Saul Finkelstein packed his lunch… It all started with one man and a cassette player.

In 1985, Saul Finkelstein packed his lunch and made his way to the remainder of the Forbes Field wall to listen to Game 7 of the 1960 World Series on the 25th anniversary of the Pirates’ historic victory. The crowd has grown steadily since that day with the journey to Oakland becoming a pilgrimage of sorts for Pirates enthusiasts.

On Thursday, the tradition continued, and as the game recording played, the crowd applauded each Pirate run and booed when the Yankees made a play. When the seventh-inning stretch came around, fans joined in singing “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.”

The Game 7 Gang, a group of avid baseball fans, gather beside the remaining portion of the Forbes Field wall below Posvar Hall in Oakland every Oct. 13 to listen to the broadcast. George Skornickel, a member of the Game 7 Gang, said the experience is “like a religious holiday” for the group.“We formed this group to make sure that people can continue to celebrate one of the greatest moments in Pittsburgh sports history and relive some of their best memories,” he said.

Fifty-one years after Bill Mazeroski’s historic homerun, Skornickel still remembers the events of October 13, 1960, down to the minute.“I lived across the street from my high school, which let out at 3:30,” Skornickel said. “I knew if I ran, I could get home in time to catch the end of the game.”

After eight and a half innings, the Pittsburgh Pirates and New York Yankees were tied 9-9, and just after 3:30 in the afternoon, Pirates second baseman Bill Mazeroski came to the plate.“I made it into the living room at 3:33,” Skornickel said with a smile. “Three minutes later, history was made.”

At 3:36, Mazeroski caught hold of a 1-0 pitch from Yankee Ralph Terry and watched it just barely clear the left-field wall for the only Game 7 walk-off homerun in World Series history.

Whereas Skornickel fondly remembers the final moments of the 1960 World Series that saw his beloved Pirates defeat the mighty Yankees, Ed Mattes has no such memories. In fact, it was only after reading about the 1960s Pirates team that the Indiana native discovered an interest in baseball.

“In 1964, I read about the Game 7 homerun and the story was just so incredible that it made me want to be a baseball fan, in particular a Pirates fan,” Mattes said. “I have followed the team for years since I learned the 1960 story.”

This year was Mattes’ first visit to Pittsburgh from Indiana to hear the game recording and meet fellow Pirates fans.

“I read about the celebration that takes place on the game’s anniversary, and I decided that I should make the trip,” Mattes said. “I requested the day off from work early this year, and I drove up today and will leave tomorrow. It is a short stay, but I plan on enjoying the chance to experience a great moment in sports. I hope to make it back here for a game or two next season as well.”

Mattes had no trouble fitting in with the Pittsburgh crowd and struck up a conversation with Rich Horn, a self-proclaimed Pirates fan “for life.”

“This is my sixth year coming to the old Forbes Field, and each time I find myself replaying childhood memories when I hear the radio announcers,” Horn said. “Even more enjoyable than the game, though, is the chance to interact with like-minded sports fans and hear their stories.”

Unlike Skornickel, the then-8-year-old Horn couldn’t make it home from school in time for Mazeroski’s at bat. Fortunately, his fellow classmates on the bus were equipped with a handheld radio.

“When we heard the homerun call, we all just exploded with excitement,” Horn said.

He added that his mother might have been the most excited of all.

“She was a bigger Pirate fan than anyone I knew,” Horn said. “When I ran off the school bus, I heard my mother screaming from the kitchen, ‘We won! We won!’ It is one of the fondest memories I have of my mother, and I know she would be proud to see me here today to relive the magic.”

That magic has become an integral part Pirates baseball history, and even younger fans who were not alive in 1960 make their way to Oakland to experience the celebration.

Pitt senior James Lomuscio is a lifelong baseball fan but grew up without rooting for a specific team.

“I was raised right in the middle of the Yankee, Mets, Red Sox area and never had a team allegiance until I came to Pitt,” he said. “Now I consider myself a Pirates fan.”

For Lomuscio, the Oct. 13 anniversary gathering is a testament to Pittsburgh’s dedication to its baseball team and desire to preserve history.

“Just coming here and seeing the people who actually lived through the 1960 World Series shows that baseball meant something to them and that it still does,” Lomuscio said. “That pride rubs off on the younger fans and makes it hard not to want to cheer for the Pirates.”

Bill Balsinger snuck away to listen to the broadcast during an lunch break. A Pirates season-ticket holder for 25 years, he knows the trials of the current Pittsburgh team as well as anyone.

After a 72-90 2011 campaign, the Pirates have completed 19 consecutive losing seasons — the longest streak in all of professional sports.

“It truly breaks my heart to see them lose,” Balsinger said of the struggling Pirates.

Still, he remains a faithful fan and has commemorated the 1960 World Series Game 7 for the past 40 years.

“I listened to the actual game in seventh grade with a little radio in my ear during class,” Balsinger said. “I even have a record of the broadcast at home, so I don’t come to listen to the game so much as to mingle with fans and be a part of something special and unique to Pittsburgh.”

Last year, the event drew a crowd of around 2,000 people in commemoration of the 50th anniversary. Roads were blocked off, vendors sold ballpark fare and surviving members of the 1960 team, including Mazeroski, were honored in a pre-broadcast ceremony.

“The 50th anniversary was a major celebration,” Skornickel said of the 2010 gathering. “What makes our group special, though, is that we carry on this tradition every year, not just during the major milestones.“

Thursday’s gathering might not have had thousands of participants or the fanfare of celebrities, but Skornickel knows that such things are not necessary for the Game 7 Gang to achieve its ultimate purpose.

“The most important thing is that we continue this tradition so that new generations will grow in their appreciation of baseball and so that the older generations can enjoy a bit of the past,” he said.