SPORTS WIZ TRIVIA
JUNE '08

The Yanks are coming! The Yanks are coming! After all these years of interleague play (which included two trips by the Pirates to Yankee Stadium), we finally get to see the New York Yankees at PNC Park. There's more buzz about these three games (June 24-26) than all the Bobblehead and Fireworks games combined. The Yankees have only been to Pittsburgh for six games-two in the '27 World Series and four in '60-in more than a century that the teams have co-existed. The quantity ain't much, but the quality is rich and deep. The Pirates fell in four in '27 to a team that's widely considered to be the best of all time, and won in '60 in what's widely considered the greatest Game 7 in Series history. And we're still learning things. Check out these 10 questions and see what you know.

1. Who was the Pirates leadoff hitter for all four games of the '27 World Series? How about the '60 Series?

2. Where in the order did Babe Ruth bat in the '27 Series?

3. This future Hall of Famer had the game winning hit for the Pirates in the '25 World Series against the Senators and was hitting over .300 in '27 before being benched by manager Donie Bush in August for the rest of the season, including the Series, in a move that's still debated. Who are we talking about?

4. Who had more All-Stars in 1960, the Pirates or the Yankees?

5. There were two All-Star Games in 1960. The first, at Yankee Stadium, saw a Buc and a Yank as starting pitchers. Name the two. (Bonus: Which Pirate started the second game?) 6. The Pirates won 95 regular season games in '60 to the Yanks' 97. How many games were in a season then?

7. Only two Pirates pitchers logged wins in the '60 series - one in Games 1 and 4 and the other in Games 5 and 7. Name them.

8. Hal Smith and Bill Mazeroski each famously homered in Game 7 of the '60 Series in the eighth and ninth innings. Which Bucco drove in the first two runs with a homer in the first? 9. Yankee Dale Long went 1-3 as a pinch hitter in the '60 Series. What did he do as a Pirate in 1956 that garnered him considerably more attention?

10. Who was the first Pirate to hit a home run in Yankee Stadium? How about the last?

Click here to see the answers.

Harry Patterson is the author of several sports trivia books, most of which are available on Amazon.com, and at the River City Inn downtown, where he gathers much of his material while tending bar weekday evenings.