Forbes Field: The Ballpark That Made Pittsburgh Baseball History

On October 13, 1960, Bill Mazeroski stepped to the plate in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 7 of the World Series. What happened next — a walk-off home run over the left field wall at Forbes Field — is still considered one of the greatest moments in baseball history. The crowd that erupted that afternoon had been coming to that ballpark for 51 years.

The Park

Forbes Field opened in 1909 in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, named after British General John Forbes who captured Fort Duquesne in 1758. It was one of the first modern steel-and-concrete ballparks in America, built at a time when the country was replacing its wooden grandstands with permanent structures designed to last.

And last it did. Forbes Field was home to the Pittsburgh Pirates for 62 seasons. Honus Wagner played there. So did Pie Traynor, Ralph Kiner, and Roberto Clemente — one of the greatest right fielders in baseball history, who patrolled the outfield at Forbes until the park closed in 1970.

The Legacy

Forbes Field was demolished in 1971, replaced by Three Rivers Stadium. But the city preserved a piece of it: a section of the original outfield wall still stands on the University of Pittsburgh campus, exactly where it stood when Mazeroski's home run cleared it. A plaque marks the spot. On October 13 every year, Pittsburgh fans still gather there to remember.

The Forbes Field Pittsburgh Retro T-shirt is for Pirates fans and baseball history lovers alike. Find it in the Pittsburgh collection.