The 1960 World Series was played between the Pittsburgh Pirates of the National League (NL) and the New York Yankees of the American League (AL) from October 5 to October 13, 1960. It is most notable for the Game 7, ninth-inning home run hit by Bill Mazeroski, winning the game for the Pirates 10–9, and also winning them their third World Championship overall and first since 1925.

This World Series featured seven past, present, or future league Most Valuable Players. The Pirates had two – Dick Groat (1960) and Roberto Clemente (1966) – while the Yankees had five: Yogi Berra (1951, 1954, 1955), Bobby Shantz (1952), Mickey Mantle (1956, 1957, 1962), Roger Maris (1960, 1961), and Elston Howard (1963).

As noted in the superstition called the "Ex-Cub Factor", this was the only Series after 1945 and until 2001 in which a team with three or more former members of the Chicago Cubs (Don Hoak, Smoky Burgess and Gene Baker) was able to win a World Series.

The Pirates were grossly overmatched against the Yankees, who had won their 10th pennant in 12 years. Indeed, the Bronx Bombers outscored the Pirates 55–27 in this Series, outhit them 91–60, outbatted them .338 to .256, hit 10 home runs to Pittsburgh's four (three of the latter's coming in Game 7), got two complete-game shutouts from Whitey Ford—and lost. The Pirates' inconsistent pitching resulted in the peculiar combination of close games and routs. Ford and Vern Law were both excellent for their teams, while Pirates relief pitcher Elroy Face was a major factor in several games.

The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB), played between the American League and National League champions since 1903. The winner of the World Series championship is determined through a best-of-seven playoff and awarded the Commissioner's Trophy. As the series is played in October, Major League Baseball also refers to it as the "Fall Classic". The most recent World Series was won by the St. Louis Cardinals, who defeated the Texas Rangers in 7 games in 2011.

The New York Yankees of the American League have played in 40 World Series and won 27, and the Oakland/Philadelphia Athletics have played in 14 and won 9. In the National League, the St. Louis Cardinals have played in 18 and won 11, while the San Francisco/New York Giants and Los Angeles/Brooklyn Dodgers have both appeared in 18 and won 6.

Until the formation of the American Association in 1882 as a second major league, the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players (1871–75) and then the National League (founded 1876) represented the top level of organized baseball in the United States. All championships went to whoever had the best record at the end of the season, without a postseason series being played. Starting in 1884 and going through 1890, the National League and the American Association faced each other in a series of games at the end of the season to determine an overall champion. These matchups were disorganized in comparison to the modern Series: games played ranged from as few as three in 1884 (Providence defeated New York 3 games to zero), to a high of 15 in 1887 (Detroit beat St. Louis 10 games to 5), and both the 1885 and 1890 Series ended in ties, each team having won three games with one tie game.

William Stanley Mazeroski (born September 5, 1936 in Wheeling, West Virginia), nicknamed "Maz", is a former Major League Baseball player who spent his entire career (1956–72) with the Pittsburgh Pirates. A key member of the Pirates' World Series-winning teams in 1960 and 1971, he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2001.

While one of the greatest defensive second basemen of all time, he is perhaps best known for winning the 1960 World Series with a dramatic game-ending home run. The only other time that a World Series ended with a home run was Toronto's Joe Carter in 1993. Mazeroski's however, remains the only home run to win a World Series Game 7.

Mazeroski attended Warren Consolidated High School in Tiltonsville, Ohio, excelling in both baseball and basketball. He started on the varsity baseball team as a freshman.

As a 17-year-old in 1954, Mazeroski signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Originally a shortstop, he was quickly moved to second base and made his Major League debut on July 7, 1956. He would remain with the Pirates his entire career.

The voice of Len Martin (17 April 1919 – 21 August 1995) was famous in the UK for reading out the football results, associated football pools statistics and horse-racing results on the BBC's Saturday afternoon sports programme, Grandstand.

Martin was born in Australia where he began his broadcasting career. He came to England on holiday in 1953 for the Coronation and got a call from the BBC the day before he was due to sail for Australia. He never used his return ticket home, and only once went back to Australia, on holiday. He performed his Grandstand role from the programme's very first edition in 1958 until his death in 1995. Martin was well-known for his intonation when reading the scores. It was totally clear from the way in which he presented the home team name followed by number of goals precisely whether the opponents had won, lost or drawn. He often said that his nightmare result was: Forfar 4, East Fife 5. He was succeeded by Tim Gudgin who also used the distinct BBC intonation.

Mickey Charles Mantle (October 20, 1931 – August 13, 1995) was an American baseball center fielder who played 18 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees from 1951 to 1968. Mantle is regarded by many to be the greatest switch hitter of all time, and one of the greatest players in baseball history. Mantle was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974 and was elected to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team in 1999.

Mantle was noted for his hitting ability, both for average and for power.^{[citation needed]} He won the Triple Crown in 1956, leading MLB in batting average, home runs, and runs batted in (RBI). He received three American League (AL) Most Valuable Player (MVP) Awards and played in twenty All-Star games. Mantle appeared in 12 World Series, winning 7 of them. He holds the records for most World Series home runs (18), RBIs (40), runs (42), walks (43), extra-base hits (26), and total bases (123). He is also the career leader in walk-off home runs, with a combined thirteen, twelve in the regular season and one in the postseason.