[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 124 (Friday, October 6, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1704-E1705]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       CELEBRATION IN PITTSBURGH

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. WILLIAM J. COYNE

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, October 5, 2000

  Mr. COYNE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call my colleagues' attention 
to an upcoming ceremony that will be held in Pittsburgh on October 13, 
2000, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the 
Homestead Grays and the 40th anniversary of Bill Mazeroski's World 
Series-winning home run. The joint ceremony serves to highlight 
Pittsburgh's long history of outstanding professional baseball.
  The Homestead Grays was a Negro League baseball team that was 
originally formed by local African American steelworkers. The Homestead 
Grays played baseball from 1900 until Major League baseball teams were 
integrated 50 years ago, and the club won a number of pennants. The 
Grays, incidentally, played the first night game in Pittsburgh baseball 
history--against the Kansas City Monarchs at Forbes Field on July 25, 
1930.
  The Homestead Grays were known for several outstanding players who 
could compete with the best baseball players of the time, white or 
black. A number of these players were eventually inducted into the 
Baseball Hall of Fame. Oscar Charleston, first baseman and manager for 
the Grays--with a lifetime batting average of .357, the ranking of 
fourth on the all-time home run list for the Negro Leagues, and 
fielding that was deemed superior to that of his white contemporary Ty 
Cobb--was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1976. Smoky Joe 
Williams, who pitched for the Grays, was voted the greatest pitcher in 
Negro League history in 1952, beating out Leroy

[[Page E1705]]

``Satchel'' Paige. The Grays claim Buck Leonard, another first baseman 
and home run hitter, as well as Ray Brown, who in 1940 had the greatest 
season of any Negro league pitcher ever with 24 wins and only 4 losses. 
Catcher and power-hitter Josh Gibson was another of the stars of the 
Homestead Grays. Gibson has the distinction of having hit a 505-foot 
home run in Yankee Stadium--a feat matched or exceeded by no one, not 
even Babe Ruth (and in fact, only Dave Winfield and Doug DeCinces have 
even come close). I am pleased to note that Josh Gibson, Jr., who also 
played professional baseball, will receive a plaque at this ceremony in 
honor of his father.
  I'd like to note in passing that the Pennsylvania Historical and 
Museum Commission put up a State historic marker to honor the Homestead 
Grays on the 100th anniversary of their founding. That marker, which 
was dedicated last week, can be found at the intersection of Amity 
Street and Fifth Avenue in Homestead, PA.
  The October 13th ceremony will also honor Bill Mazeroski, long-time 
second baseman for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Mazeroski, who played for 
the Pirates from 1956 until 1972, was a great infielder and defensive 
player. Maz won eight Gold Gloves and was picked as an All-Star seven 
times. He holds the record as the second-baseman with the most double 
plays in Major League history--1,706--and the most double plays in one 
season--161 in 1966. He holds the Major League record for the most 
seasons leading the league in assists, and in five of those nine 
seasons, he was credited with 500 or more assists. For these 
accomplishments, if for nothing else, he deserves admission to the 
National Baseball Hall of Fame, an honor which to this date he has been 
unfairly denied.
  Despite a long career of excellence in fielding, however, Maz is 
probably best remembered for his winning home run in the 1960 World 
Series against one of the greatest Yankees teams ever--a team that 
included baseball greats Mickey Mantle, Whitey Ford, and Yogi Berra. In 
the seventh game of the 1960 World Series, the Yankees and the Pirates 
were tied at three games apiece. In the bottom of the ninth inning, 
with the score tied at nine runs for each team, Bill Mazeroski knocked 
a home run over the left center field wall of Forbes Field, and the 
Pirates won the World Series four games to three with a score of 10 to 
9. That one magnificent achievement has tended to obscure the remainder 
of William Stanley Mazeroski's outstanding career in Major League 
baseball. Mr. Mazeroski will also receive a plaque at the October 13th 
ceremony in acknowledgment of his many accomplishments on the 40th 
anniversary of his famous home run.
  The ceremony will also highlight plans for the painting of two new 
wall murals on the wall that runs along the Boulevard of the Allies in 
Pittsburgh. One of these murals will commemorate the 100th anniversary 
of the founding of the Homestead Grays. The other will honor Mr. 
Mazeroski. The brass plaques that Mr. Mazeroski and Mr. Gibson will 
receive during the ceremony will be mounted alongside these murals. I 
believe that this is a fitting tribute to two of Pittsburgh's 
outstanding sports teams and two of Pittsburgh's greatest sports 
heroes.

                          ____________________