By Bobster

Monday, September 26, 1960---The Pirates were off and could rest up after celebrating their pennant. The Pirates had hit well all season. And their pitching was now looking sharp as the World Series was only 8 days away. The starting rotation of Law (20-8, 2.84 ERA), Friend (17-12, 2.98), Mizell (12-5, 2.99) and Haddix (11-10, 4.01) was very effective. Face (10-8, 23 Saves, 2.96) had been outstanding all year and Green (7-4, 3 saves, 3.25) had been a good left-handed compliment. Labine (3-0, 3 saves, 0.95) had been practically unhittable since joining the Bucs in mid-August.

By Bobster

Sunday, September 25, 1960---Despite the Pirates’ third straight loss to Milwaukee, a loss by the Cardinals (to the Cubs) handed the Pirates (92-58) their first National League pennant in 33 years. Bill Mazeroski hit his 11th HR in the fifth against Warren Spahn to give Harvey Haddix a 1-0 lead. In the seventh, Hal Smith doubled home Clemente, who had singled, to make it 2-0. But Joe Torre batted for Spahn and singled to ignite a 2-run rally in the eighth that tied it 2-2 as Elroy Face came on to end the rally. Ron Piche (3-5) replaced Spahn and shut down the Pirates in the ninth and tenth innings.

By Bobster

Saturday, September 24, 1960---With the second-place Cardinals (85-62) losing to the Cubs, the Pirates clinched a tie for first place despite a loss to the Braves (85-63). The magic number for clinching sole possession of first place, i.e., the N.L. pennant, was now 1. Lew Burdette (18-12) scattered 11 hits, yielding only 2 runs as the Braves beat the Pirates (92-57), 4-2. The Braves got all 4 of their runs after there were two outs in the first inning off Bob Friend (17-12) when Hank Aaron doubled to score Ed Mathews (who had reached on a force and stole second).

By Bobster

Friday, September 23, 1960---The Pirates (92-56) lost to the third-place Braves (84-63) while the second-place Cardinals (85-61) swept a doubleheader from the Cubs. The Cardinals were 6 games out, and the magic number remained at 2. George Witt (1-2) pitched a strong game for the Pirates, going 7 innings, with 8 hits, 1 walk and 5 Ks. But the Braves Bob Buhl (15-9) was better. Buhl went the distance, giving up just 5 hits, a walk and 5 Ks. Bill Bruton homered off Witt in the third for a 1-0 lead.

By Bobster

Thursday, September 22, 1960---This had been scheduled to be one of 8 off days in September. In fact, the schedule had the Pirates off on consecutive days on September 21 and 22 (after also being off on September 19) and again on September 28 and 29. But on this day, the Pirates met the Cubs in a doubleheader at Forbes Field to make up the doubleheader that had been rained out on September 11. This required the Cubs to fly from Chicago to Pittsburgh for a make up doubleheader and then immediately fly back to Chicago for another make up doubleheader with St. Louis the very next day.

By Bobster

Wednesday, September 21, 1960---The Pirates (90-55) were off as they traveled home to meet the Cubs in a doubleheader. However, the Cardinals (83-61) lost to the Dodgers to slip 6½ games behind. The Pirates’ magic number was now 4. In the A.L., the Yankees won their 6th straight, 10-3 over the Washington Senators.

By Bobster

Tuesday, September 20, 1960---Despite a win by the second-place Cardinals (83-60), the Pirates (90-55) reduced their magic number to 5 with a sweep of a doubleheader against the Phillies. The Pirates led St. Louis by 6 games. The Bucs had 9 games remaining on the schedule. The Cardinals had 11 games remaining. In game 1, Bob Friend (17-11) pitched his 16th complete game, a 7-hitter with no walks and 6 Ks as he defeated Robin Roberts (10-16) by a score of 7-1.

By Bobster

Monday, September 19, 1960---The Pirates were off. They led the Cardinals, who won, by 5½ games. The Pirates’ magic number for clinching the pennant remained at 7. In the A.L., the Yankees (86-57) had a 4-game lead over Baltimore (83-62). Groat led the Pirates with a .325 average. Stuart led the team with 21 HRs. Clemente led with 91 RBIs.

By Bobster

Sunday, September 18, 1960---The Pirates (88-55) received a pair of well-pitched games as they swept a doubleheader from the Reds. In the first game, Vern Law got his 20th win (20-8), a complete game 9-hitter over the Reds, 5-3. Dick Stuart’s 21st HR leading off the fourth gave the Bucs a 1-0 lead. The Pirates added another run in the inning when Burgess reached on an error, took third on a double by Mazeroski and scored on Law’s sac fly.

By Bobster

Saturday, September 17, 1960---Rain postponed the Pirates (86-55) and Reds in Cincinnati. The teams would make it up as a doubleheader the next day. With the rainout, the magic number remained at 9 as the Cardinals (80-60) beat the Giants 4-1 to go back into second place, 5½ games behind. The Phillies recovered from being no-hit by the Braves for the second time in about a month by beating Milwaukee 5-2, dropping the Braves (81-62) into third place, 6½ games back. In the A.L. the Yankees (84-57) led the Orioles (83-60) by 2 games.