Amidst hope from fans of a World Series appearance this year by the Pittsburgh Pirates, Hall of Famer Bill Mazeroski has decided to auction off some of his most cherished possessions from one of the biggest moments in baseball history.
According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Maz will be auctioning off the jersey, cleats, and bat from the game in which he hit a walkoff home run to win the 1960 World Series. Mazeroski rounding the bases in the Game 7 win over the New York Yankees is one iconic memories in the sport.
Prior to the auction, fans will be able to see the items at PNC Park until November. Hunt Auctions will manage the transactions and president David Hunt expects the jersey to go into the ‘hundreds of thousands.’
It’s easy to say that Mazeroski should keep the items or perhaps even donate them to the Baseball Hall of Fame. What’s not an easy decision, though, is passing up hundreds of thousands of dollars. While an important part of baseball history, with the second baseman nearly 80-years-old, there’s not much more he can probably get out of the items on a personal level having had them for more than 50 years. In addition, for all the talk of athletes being filthy rich, most players from Mazeroski’s generation weren’t and aren’t today. That money will go a long way in helping his family members down the line and on top of that, a portion of the proceeds will go towards Pirates Charities, the organization’s fundraising arm.
The auction will take place on November 9th at the Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory.
