Bill Mazeroski, the Pittsburgh Pirates second baseman who hit the only Game 7 walk-off home run in World Series history, died Feb. 20, 2026. He was 89.
Mazeroski played 17 seasons for the Pirates, earning his first of eight Gold Glove Awards in 1958. On Oct. 13, 1960, he hit a ninth-inning home run against the New York Yankees to win the World Series, a play that remains a central event in professional baseball history. He continued as a defensive anchor for the franchise until his retirement in 1972.
The National Baseball Hall of Fame inducted Mazeroski in 2001. During his induction, he stated that defensive skill earned its place in the Hall alongside hitting and pitching. In 2022, the Pirates organization inducted him as an inaugural member of the Pirates Hall of Fame.
Pirates Chairman Bob Nutting described Mazeroski as one of the finest defensive second basemen in the history of the sport. His ninth-inning blast in 1960 stands as the only walk-off home run to ever decide a World Series Game 7.