Dave Sedor felt chills Saturday as he paced along a patch of grass at the remains of the Forbes Field outfield wall thinking of the late Pittsburgh Pirates legend Bill Mazeroski.
Sedor, of Madison, Wis., was in Charleroi celebrating his aunt’s 101st birthday when he heard Mazeroski had died.
“I contacted my cousin, who is a huge Pirates fan, and he told me, ‘You have to go to Forbes Field,’ ” Sedor, 61, said while standing in front of what remains of the baseball park’s outfield wall in Pittsburgh’s Oakland neighborhood. “It’s amazing. It’s Pittsburgh history, and I just felt like I had to be here.”
He wasn’t the only one.
At the Forbes Field outfield wall memorial and in front of a statue of Mazeroski at PNC Park on the North Shore, a steady stream of fans of all ages stopped by to pay respects. They brought bouquets of flowers, signs, even a 12-pack of beer and a radio broadcasting Saturday’s spring training game between the Pirates and Baltimore Orioles.
With two pieces of silver duct tape, someone hung a handwritten sign on the outfield wall that read, “Rest in Peace Maz.” Next to a hand-drawn heart, the sign listed Mazeroski’s baseball accomplishments.
Of course, the fans all chatted about Oct. 13, 1960, when Mazeroski, known affectionately as Maz, blasted the game-winning World Series home run against the New York Yankees.
Every Oct. 13 since 1985, fans and nostalgia buffs have gathered at the old Forbes Field site to listen to a broadcast of the World Series game.
“This is where it happened, man,” said Jon Homer of Carnegie. “You can kind of feel the vibes in this spot.”
At PNC Park, Patty Petrusch arrived in front of the Mazeroski statue with a black-and-gold-themed bouquet of flowers.
“He is a true Pittsburgher because he has such good heart — he does a lot more than just baseball,” said Petrusch, 67, of Brighton Heights. “He’s just a true blue Pittsburgher.”
Though she was just 2 years old when Mazeroski hit his famous home run, she’s seen it on film, and a friend of hers had listened to it live on transistor radio and then went home to bang pots and pans in celebration.
Petrusch always wanted his autograph but never got the chance to meet him.
“He’s up in heaven with (Willie) Stargell and (Roberto) Clemente, and we’re going to have good spirit, hopefully, this year to win,” Petrusch said.
Shane Lundy, who has gone to church with Petrusch since he was little, is a younger Pirates fan and wasn’t alive to see Mazeroski play at all.
“I never got to experience this guy, but my grandfather was a huge Maz fan,” said Lundy, 24, of Brighton Heights, recalling stories his grandfather would tell him. “This one it hits close to the heart for sure.”
Mary Ryan, 74, met Mazeroski when she and her high school girlfriends baked and presented him with a birthday cake between games of a doubleheader. She said she and her friends tracked him down after the first game and handed him the cake.
“He had a couple of home runs that day, and the next day in the paper they showed him eating our cake,” she said. “I cut it out. We had him sign the newspaper. I still have it.”
From the North Side, Ryan said she would take two buses to go to Oakland to watch Mazeroski play at Forbes Field. Ryan, who lives in Perry North, said she and her friends used to know where Mazeroski parked outside Forbes Field.
“We found out where he parked, and we’d hide and wait for him to come after the game, and then we’d jump out: ‘Can we have your autograph?’ ”
Ryan said Mazeroski always obliged.
She teared up in front of Mazeroski’s statue as she recalled the memories.
“I can still remember him turning those double plays like it was nothing, and he was so amazing,” she said. “Every Sunday home game, we were up in the bleachers, packed a lunch, sat up at the top — a lot of good memories in high school.”
Back at the Forbes Field outfield wall, Adam Shorr, 32, of the Strip District said all Pirates fans feel a connection to Mazeroski, no matter their age. He runs a Pirates podcast called “Bucco Banter.”
“You could look back at the history of this team and really see how important it was to people and what the Pirates mean to the city,” he said. “That’s really the start of all of it, that Maz home run. You could watch the video 100 times.”
Brian McKenzie, a Dormont native who lives in Alexandria, Va., wrote to Mazeroski last year seeking a signed baseball card. The signed card arrived in the mail two weeks later.
Saturday morning, McKenzie, 40, watched the World Series home run three times before heading out to the Forbes Field outfield wall.
“It makes me think about what that must have felt like and the excitement in the community and the city back in those days,” he said. “I would like to see the Pirates get back there someday.”