A most amazing game
Remembering Mel. Stunning admission by a commissioner
Good morning, all! I hope you had a pleasant Valentine’s Day!
When legendary Pittsburgh Pirates reliever Elroy Face passed away last week at the age of 97, it got me to thinking about one of the most amazing games in World Series history. As we come off a dramatic Game Seven World Series from last season between the Dodgers and the Blue Jays, you would do well to watch Game Seven of the 1960 World Series between the Yankees and the Pirates.
The actual television feed of the game is available on You Tube. For that we can thank entertainer Bing Crosby, who owned 25 percent of the Pirates. Der Bingle was on a trip with his family in Europe, but wanted to watch the game upon his return home. So he had one of his hired help place a movie camera in front of his TV set to tape the game. There were no video cassette recorders back then. (By the way, it was Crosby who financed the invention of audio tape used in reel-to-reel tape recorders.) Years later, long after Crosby’s death in 1977, family members found stacks of tape in Crosby’s wine cellar. It was Game Seven. We have Crosby to thank for preserving a remarkable piece of baseball history.
Elroy Face was among the pitchers in that historic game, won by the Pirates 10-9, when Bill Mazeroski hit his dramatic home run to lead off the last of the ninth inning and hand the Pirates the World Championship.
The game itself, had numerous twists and turns, putting it on par with what we witnessed in Game Seven of the 2025 Series. To me, however, one of the most remarkable statistics about that 1960 Game Seven was that no batter struck out. That’s correct. There were no strike outs. Mickey Mantle, a prolific power hitter who struck out a ton, did not strike out. There was no DH in 1960. Pitchers batted. Not one struck out in that game. Check the box score:
And something else. The winning Pirates scored 10 runs in that game on 11 hits and left only one runner on base. Remarkable.
Remembering Mel Allen
There will always be only one “Voice of the Yankees,” and that was Mel Allen. Yesterday marked the 113th anniversary of the legendary Allen’s birth. He died in 1996. In the 1940s, 50s and early 60s, Allen not only broadcast the Yankees games, but he was on the call for most of the big games, be it World Series and/or All-Star games, the Rose Bowl, MovieTone reels. You name it. Allen’s voice was the one you heard.
Allen also had his critics, especially those who hated the Yankees. They called him a homer, who rooted for the Yankees on the air. Hey, it wasn’t his fault the Yankees seemed to win every year in those days. And he sure didn’t sound dejected when Mazeroski belted that dramatic World Series home run to drive a dagger through the heart of his beloved Bronx Bombers. Here is the television feed with Allen at the mic:
That is one of the great calls right there. In his prime - and there are numerous Yankees broadcasts on You Tube, if you want to listen for yourself - Allen was one of the nation’s top broadcasters. Period! Imagine, then, my excitement, when we brought him to my hometown in 1978 to speak at a sports banquet presented by the radio station at which I worked. Here we are. And I had hair back then too.
By 1978, Allen was the voice of This Week In Baseball, the popular weekly show summarizing the previous week’s baseball action. There will always be only one “Voice of the Yankees,” and his name is Mel Allen.
Here are some other quick thoughts:
Check your local listings. Weather is expected to impact both the PGA Tour’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am (A tournament that was started by Bing Crosby) and the Daytona 500 today. The starting times for both those events have been moved up.
I could be wrong, but if Nick Castellanos can harness his demeanor and keep from drinking beer in the dugout, the San Diego Padres will have made a good pick up.
It will be interesting to see if any disciplinary action is handed down by the Big East, following the brawl between St. John’s and Providence in Rhode Island yesterday. Six players were ejected, as the apparent target of the Friars’ ire was former teammate Bryce Hopkins, who was fouled hard by Duncan Powell. Adding to the intrigue was St. John’s coach Rick Pitino, because he once coached Providence. Police had to be called in to break up the fight:
St. John’s went on to win the game, 79-69.
Even NBA commissioner Adam Silver is admitting teams are tanking to get a high draft choice. That is quite the admission from the person who heads the sport. Commissioner, your league is a joke!
That is going to do it for today’s newsletter. Have a superb Sunday and thank you for subscribing.
DAN
Mel Allen was no homer. He was objective as journalists were expected to be. I listen to college basketball broadcasts that are so unprofessional and so biased that it ruins the entire experience. Mel’s voice was soothing as a cool breeze on a humid day.