Letters

A walk-off homer if there ever was one!
—KAREN ROBINSON, Piano, Texas

All about Maz
My Congrats to William Nack for his article about the 1960 World Series and Bill Mazeroski 's unforgettable home run (Bang for the Bucs, Oct. 23). I was in the sixth grade, and my teacher, knowing I was an avid Pirates fan, allowed me to bring my transistor radio to school so the class could hear the final three innings of the seventh game. When Maz hit the game-winning homer, a yell went up that caused the principal to come down the hall to see what was going on. All my classmates joined me as Pirates fans that day.
JACK HILBORN
Delaware , Ohio

Maz elevated playing second base to an art. I'd have paid to watch him take infield practice.
PHILIP K. CURTIS, Atlanta

Forty years later and I read the article with a lump in my throat and tears of joy running down my face, just as on that glorious day in 1960 when this seventh-grader reached baseball heaven! I never considered that the Bucs would lose the Series, but 40 years of hindsight makes me marvel that they won.
PAT STOCK, Ebensburg, Pa.

Each October for the past 40 years I have seen the media eulogize Mazeroski but never heard a word about Hal Smith 's ninth-inning three-run homer which made it possible for Maz to go down in history. Thanks to your Oct. 23 issue, that oversight has been rectified.
JIM BOURG, Mission, Texas

I hope Cooperstown's Veterans Committee will read Nack 's story and give Maz his due. It would be even better if Brian Giles , Jason Kendall and all the other Pirates would read it and see that the mix of magic and determination is timeless: Small-market teams can beat the damn Yankees ! Why not next year?
BOB THOMPSON, Gilbert, Ariz.

Nack argues that Mazeroski , because of his defensive skills, should be in the Hall of Fame. While Mazeroski was one of the alltime best defensive second basemen, he was essentially a one-dimensional player. His career on-base percentage was .302, six points lower than that of the lowest-ranked position player in the Hall , Joe Tinker . To put it bluntly, Mazeroski would be the easiest out in the Hall .
RICHARD S. DORR, Boston

Ones for the Book
Your list of the toughest sports records to break (SCORECARD, Oct. 23) has one glaring omission: Maple Leaf Darryl Sittler 's 10 points in an NHL game, on Feb. 7, 1976.
DAVE OBERMEYER, North York, Out.

Being a long-suffering Blackhawks fan, I have had little to cheer about, but I can say that Glenn Hall 's record of 502 consecutive complete games in net will never be broken.
LOU DINELLI, Braidwood, Ill.

Wilt Chamberlain 's 55 rebounds in a game. These days most teams don't get 55 rebounds in a game. Mark Spitz 's seven gold medals in one Olympics. Few sports have enough events for one athlete to be able to do that. With today's specialization in swimming, breaking this record is unimaginable.
JOE SCHNUR, Ludlow, Mass.