An almost unbelievable story from yesterday's Post Gazette-
One afternoon some 30 years ago, Richard Probola was about to wash his car in his South Side driveway. But just before scrubbing away the grime with an outdated flannel baseball jersey, a dear friend drove up.
Recognizing the colors, lettering and number on the sleeveless garment, the visitor told him to stop.
"No, no, no, no, no! Are you crazy? That's part of Pittsburgh history. Give me that," Mitch Antin interrupted.
"What?" the late Mr. Probola shrugged. "It's just a rag I had lying around the house."
After the brief exchange, Dr. Antin -- now an orthopedic surgeon who lives in Squirrel Hill -- took possession. Folding it carefully into a plastic garment bag, he tucked it away for posterity in a safety deposit box kept in a bank.
"I just squirreled it away," he said.
For good reason. Not only was this a game-worn Pirates jersey belonging to a Hall of Fame player, it was the jersey on Bill Mazeroski's back from Game 7 of the 1960 World Series when he smote the home run that doomed the Yankees.
One person's rag is another person's priceless civic treasure, it seems. And now the garment is the central thread of a little-known back story being told to mark the 50th anniversary of arguably the single most electrifying moment in the city's sports history.
Read more:
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10164/1065339-63.stm#ixzz0qpZndibz
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