Place in history: Famous HR was key, but Vern Law played a role, too

No sleep came before the Oct. 13, 1960, game. "I had to go out and give my team a chance," he says. "I didn't want to be remembered as the guy blowing the World Series."

Stifling the Yankees early while his teammates jumped out to a 4-0 lead, Law was pulled in the sixth by manager Danny Murtaugh with two on in a 4-1 game. He still thinks he could have — should have — pitched more but figures Murtaugh saw something, perhaps with the bum ankle.

New York finally solved Face's forkball and finished the seventh inning ahead 5-4, behind Maris' RBI single and Berra's three-run homer. The back-and-forth battle continued into the final two innings before the Yankees tied it 9-all in the ninth.

Opening the bottom of the ninth, Terry threw two fastballs to face Mazeroski, who drove the second over the fence to punctuate what MLB.com has called "maybe the greatest Game Seven in World Series Championship history."

Law faced another obstacle — fighting off frenzied fans and honoring the invitation to appear at a Pittsburgh TV station for a post-Series show.

With the crowd besieging the locker-room doors, Law got a timely assist from U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Ezra Taft Benson, a fellow Idahoan and future LDS Church president who had secured dignitary tickets for a family foursome through Law. Benson suggested a backdoor to a stadium alley, where the Cabinet member's chauffeur collected the group and drove off unnoticed.

Setting several single-game and Series offensive records, the Yankees outscored the Pirates 55-27 and outhit them 91-60. In the four games Law didn't start, New York averaged nearly 11 runs.

"Dad always says, 'The Yankees got all the records and we got the rings,' " said son Vance Law, who followed his father's footsteps not only in his own respectable major-league career but also coaching at BYU.

After that stellar 1960 season, the Pirates rewarded Law with a $15,000 raise, upping his salary to $50,000. While shoulder problems kept him in and out of the lineup for the next season or so, Law still reached double-digit victories in four of the final six seasons of his 16-year career. The highlight came in '65 — a 17-9 mark with 13 complete games, a career-best 2.15 ERA and the Lou Gehrig Award as baseball's comeback player.

Retiring after the '67 season, he had pitched in 483 games, starting 364 and completing 119 en route to a 162-147 record. He racked up 1,092 strikeouts and had a 3.77 ERA. Respectable at the plate, he hit .216, including 11 home runs, 90 RBIs and only 179 strikeouts in 883 at-bats.