http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/pirates/
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Johno Prascak's painting "3:36" depicts Bill Mazeroski's walkoff home run in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 7 of the 1960 World Series. In the painting, home plate umpire Bill Jackowski, New York Yankees catcher Johnny Blanchard and Mazeroski are watching the ball as it leaves the bat.
Three pairs of eyes looked skyward, watching the baseball rise off Bill Mazeroski's bat toward the Oakland sky, over the wall and into history.
The latest and possibly most colorful recollection of Game 7 of the 1960 World Series was unveiled Tuesday night at the Roberto Clemente Museum in Lawrenceville. It was the eve of Mazeroski's home run and several of his teammates — even batboy Bobby Recker — were there to relive the moment.
The painting is a product of the canvas of Pittsburgh artist Johno Prascak, who spent six weeks working on it. The inspiration for the painting arose from a photograph snapped by Sports Illustrated's Neil Leifer from the first-base dugout at Forbes Field. Curator Duane Rieder procured the photograph and hung it in the museum — a former firehouse on Penn Avenue — along with several other pieces of Clemente and Pirates memorabilia.
Prascak's painting captures home plate umpire Bill Jackowski, New York Yankees catcher Johnny Blanchard and Mazeroski watching the ball as it leaves the bat. The packed stands behind third base are in the background.
Prascak labeled the 4-foot-by-5-foot painting "3:36" for the recorded time of Mazeroski's home run off Yankees pitcher Ralph Terry. He said it is "truly Pittsburgh" because part of the surface is made from "sand from the bottom of the Monongahela River."
Several members of the '60 Pirates attended the unveiling, including Mazeroski, pitchers Joe Gibbon, George Witt, Bob Friend and Vernon Law, catchers Hal Smith and Bob Oldis and outfielders Joe Christopher and Bill Virdon. Clemente's wife Vera, with their son Luis, represented the former Pirates right fielder.
Also in attendance was Detroit Tigers manager Jim Leyland, a former Pirates manager.
"We still consider ourselves part of the Pirates family," Leyland said.
It was the second trip back to Pittsburgh for many of the '60 Pirates who had attended a special night at PNC Park in June.
Friend said the monumental upset of the Yankees has kept the memory of the Pirates victory alive during the past five decades.
"No one gave us a chance," Friend said. "The Pirates hadn't won anything in 33 years. The Yankees had a lot of big names. We didn't have a lot of big-name guys, but we really played ball. Everything clicked. Everyone had their best years."
Law, a former baseball coach at Brigham Young and in the Pirates and Chicago White Sox organizations, said the surviving members of the team remain friends to this day.
"I would say, this group that we had, that was one of the reasons why we won, because we are close," Law said. "We root for each other, pull for each other, pat each other on the back. As a result, we had a very close-knit ballclub. I think that really makes a difference. When people like each other and get along with each other, that makes for one big happy family."
The group will attend a ceremony today in Oakland at the site where Mazeroski's home run landed. A radio broadcast of the entire game will run from 1 to 3:36 p.m.
There will be no shortage of old stories and cheers.
Said Law: "We celebrate, no matter what the occasion."
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