Skip to content
  • About
  • Events
  • Old Crime
  • N'At
  • People
  • Places
  • Sports
  • Yinz
  • About
  • Events
  • Old Crime
  • N'At
  • People
  • Places
  • Sports
  • Yinz
May 26, 2017 / Sports

Bill Virdon, golden glove and unsung hero

Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter
Bill Virdon poses with his bat.
Bill Virdon poses with his bat.
Bill Virdon has a spirited conversation on the diamond while coaching the Houston Astros.
Bill Virdon has a spirited conversation on the diamond while coaching the Houston Astros.
Even though he was not known for his hitting, Virdon still managed to round the bases on occasion.
Even though he was not known for his hitting, Virdon still managed to round the bases on occasion.
First pitch from Yankee pitcher Whitey Ford comes at Pirate center fielder Bill Virdon in the third World Series game at Yankee Stadium.
First pitch from Yankee pitcher Whitey Ford comes at Pirate center fielder Bill Virdon in the third World Series game at Yankee Stadium.
Bill Virdon robs someone of a potential big hit.
Bill Virdon robs someone of a potential big hit.
The Pirates' Bill Virdon slides into home plate after an errant throw took the catcher out of the play.
The Pirates’ Bill Virdon slides into home plate after an errant throw took the catcher out of the play.
The 1960 World Series champion Pittsburgh Pirates pose for a photo.
The 1960 World Series champion Pittsburgh Pirates pose for a photo.
Members of the 1960 World Series teams pose on Nov. 13, 2010, in the Byham Theatre before the showing of the full-length kinescope of Game 7 of the 1960 World Series.
Members of the 1960 World Series teams pose on Nov. 13, 2010, in the Byham Theatre before the showing of the full-length kinescope of Game 7 of the 1960 World Series.
Tony Kubek clutches his throat after being hit by Bill Virdon's grounder.
Tony Kubek clutches his throat after being hit by Bill Virdon’s grounder.

Defense in baseball usually doesn’t result in much glory. It can lead to infamy (just ask Bill Buckner) and some cool highlights, but the most celebrated plays in baseball tend to involve the bat, not the glove.

Maybe that’s why Bill Virdon’s contributions in the Pittsburgh Pirates’ 1960 World Series against the New York Yankees went relatively unheralded. It is hard to pay too much attention to defense, no matter how spectacular, when that series includes a moment as iconic as Bill Mazeroski’s walk-off home run to win it all.

But Maz’s late-game heroics might not have been possible if not for the outstanding defense from Virdon, which kept the Pirates in games throughout the series when it looked like the Yankees might be on the verge of opening an insurmountable lead.

Virdon made a name for himself as a golden glove early in the World Series. In Game 1, he robbed Yankees great Yogi Berra of what would have been a two-run double by catching his hit at Forbes Field’s 407-foot marker and holding onto the ball after colliding with teammate Roberto Clemente.

The score was 3-2 at the time, and the Pirates would go on to win by a score of 6-4.

Virdon’s defensive prowess struck again in Game 4, when he erased another would-be two-run double by robbing Yankee Bob Cerv. The score was 3-2 at the time, and the Pirates eventually won by that margin.

He also played an integral offensive role in Game 7. With the Pirates down 7-4 in the bottom of the eighth inning, Virdon hit a ground ball that took a strange bounce into Yankees shortstop Tony Kubek’s throat, allowing Virdon to reach first base safely.

That hit sparked a Pirates rally in the eighth, and the score was 9-4 Buccos by the time the inning ended. The Yankees tied the game going into the bottom of the ninth, when Maz ripped their hearts out.

The two-inning offensive surge, culminating in the only walk-off run to win a World Series in history, arguably can be traced back to that Virdon single in the eighth.

Virdon played in the majors until 1968 and went on to manage the Pirates, Yankees, Houston Astros and Montreal Expos, coming only one game shy of leading the 1972 Pirates and 1980 Astros to the World Series. He is the all-time winningest manager in Astros history, tallying a 544-222 record from 1975-82.

On May 25, 2017, his catch in Game 1 of the ’60 World Series was immortalized in statue form by the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame (Virdon and his wife live in Springfield, Mo.), which had inducted him as a member in 1983 and a “legend” in 2012.

“When you look at sportsmen from Missouri, and you think about Major League Baseball players, Virdon ranks in the top two or three,” Jerald Andrews, Missouri Sports Hall of Fame president and executive director, gushed in an article about the statue on the institution’s website. “There’s Yogi Berra [from St. Louis] and who else? With Virdon, it all then starts to make more sense.”

Pirates fans would never question why it makes sense. He may not have built a legacy quite like those of Mazeroski, Clemente or Willie Stargell, but Virdon’s golden glove and general clutch play ensured he will be remembered as a Pirates legend.

— Joshua Axelrod

You might also want to see...

Topics related to this:1960s baseball Bill Mazeroski Bill Virdon New York Yankees Pittsburgh Pirates sports World Series

Post-Gazette

Old Pittsburgh photos and stories | The Digs

Browse by topic

  • Events (150)
  • Greatest Sports Photos (5)
  • Old crime (37)
  • People (107)
  • Pittsburgh n'at (138)
  • Places and landmarks (120)
  • Sports (102)
  • World (3)
  • Yinz (18)

Follow The Digs

RSS feed RSS - Posts

Find old photos

Most read this week

  • Isaly's in Oakland and the secret to Skyscraper Ice Cream Cone
  • Pittsburgh’s Chinatown and how it disappeared
  • Park Schenley Restaurant — Pittsburgh’s 21 Club
  • Cy Hungerford: Pittsburgh's cartooning chronicler
  • The George Westinghouse Bridge, Pittsburgh’s engineering marvel

Archives

Tags

"wow" photographs 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s baseball bridges Civic Arena Downtown Pittsburgh football Forbes Field historic moments holidays industry music and musicians North Side Oakland oddities Photographer Darrell Sapp Photographer Harry Coughanour Photographer Morris Berman Pittsburghers you know Pittsburghers you might not know Pittsburgh Pirates Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Pittsburgh skyline Pittsburgh Steelers Pittsburgh traditions Pittsburgh women politicians pollution and smog rivers stage and film street scenes The Pittsburgh Press Things that are gone Three Rivers Stadium tragedies transportation University of Pittsburgh urban development weather and seasons

Tracks WordPress Theme by Compete Themes.

 

Loading Comments...