Bundesliga Radio: Bayern vs Frankfurt Live — and more

Bayern München will face Eintracht Frankfurt at the Allianz Arena in Munich on February 21, 2026. The match kicks off at 15:30.

Dirk Feustel will be reporting from the ground for Bundesliga Radio.

Bill Mazeroski, the Hall of Fame second baseman who won eight Gold Glove awards for his steady work in the field and the hearts of countless Pittsburgh Pirates fans for his historic walk-off home run in Game 7 of the 1960 World Series, has died at the age of 89.

Pirates chairman Bob Nutting said, “Maz was one of a kind, a true Pirates legend … His name will always be tied to the biggest home run in baseball history and the 1960 World Series championship, but I will remember him most for the person he was: humble, gracious and proud to be a pirate.”

Mazeroski died Friday, the Pirates said. No cause of death was given.

‘Defensive wizard’

Elected to the Hall by the Veterans Committee in 2001, he was, by some measures, no superstar. Mazeroski had the lowest batting average, on-base percentage and stolen base total of any second baseman in Cooperstown. He hit just .260 lifetime, with 138 homers and 27 stolen bases in 17 years, and had an on-base percentage of .299. He never batted .300, never approached 100 runs batted or 100 runs scored and only once finished in the top 10 for Most Valuable Player.

His best qualities were both tangible and beyond the box score. His Hall of Fame plaque praises him as a “defensive wizard” with “hard-nosed hustle” and a “quiet work ethic.” A 10-time All-Star, he turned a major league record 1,706 double plays, earning the nickname “No Hands” for how quickly he fielded grounders and relayed them. He led the National League nine times in assists for second basemen and has been cited by statistician Bill James as the game’s greatest defensive player at his position — by far.

“I think defence belongs in the Hall of Fame,” Mazeroski said, defensively, during his Hall of Fame induction speech. “Defence deserves as much credit as pitching and I’m proud to be going in as a defensive player.”

A home run for the ages

But his career’s signature moment took place in the batter’s box, as the square-jawed, tobacco-chewing Mazeroski, a coal miner’s son from West Virginia, lived out the dream of so many kids who thought of playing professional ball.

The Pirates had not reached the World Series since 1927, when they were swept by the New York Yankees, and again faced the Yankees in 1960. While New York was led by Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris, Pittsburgh had few prominent names beyond a young Roberto Clemente. They relied on hitters ranging from shortstop Dick Groat to outfielder Bob Skinner, and the starting pitchers Vernon Law and Bob Friend. Mazeroski, who turned 24 that September, finished the season with a .273 average and usually batted eighth.

The series told one story in the runs column and another in wins and losses. The Yankees outscored the Pirates 55-27 and 38-3 in the three games they won. Mazeroski’s counterpart on New York, Bobby Richardson, drove in a record 12 runs and was named the series’ MVP — even though he was on the losing team. Whitey Ford shut out the Pirates twice, on his way to a then-record 33 2-3 straight scoreless World Series innings for the Yankees ace.

The Pirates’ first three wins weren’t nearly so spectacular, but they were wins — and Mazeroski helped. He hit a 2-run homer in the fourth inning off the Yankees’ Jim Coates in Game 1, a 6-4 Pirate victory, and a 2-run double in the second inning off Art Ditmar in Game 5, a 5-2 Pittsburgh win. In Game 7, he saved his big hit for the end.

Some 36,000 fans at Pittsburgh’s Forbes Field, and many more tuning in on radio and television, agonized through one of the fall classic’s wildest and most emotional conclusions. The lead changed back and forth as Pittsburgh scored the game’s first four runs, only to fall behind as the Yankees rallied in the middle innings and went ahead 7-4 in the top of the eighth. Pittsburgh retook the lead with five runs in the bottom of the eighth, helped in part by a seeming double play grounder that took a bad hop and struck Yankees shortstop Tony Kubek in the throat. But the Yankees came right back and tied the score at 9 in the top of the ninth.

The bottom of the ninth has been relived, not always by choice, by the two teams and by generations of fans. The New York pitcher was Ralph Terry, a right-hander whom manager Casey Stengel had brought in during the previous inning and would later acknowledge that he had a tired arm. The right-handed hitting Mazeroski, who had grounded into a double play in his previous appearance, was up first.

Terry started with a fastball, called high for a ball. After conferring briefly with catcher Johnny Blanchard, who reminded him to keep his pitches down, he threw what Mazeroski would call a slider that didn’t slide. Mazeroski got under it and belted it to left, the ball rising and rising as it cleared the high, ivy-covered brick wall, with Yankees left fielder Yogi Berra circling under it, then turning away in defeat. The whole city seemed to erupt, as if all had swung the bat with him, as if he were every underdog who longed to beat the hated Yankees. Mazeroski dashed around the bases, grinning and waving his cap, joined by celebrants from the stands who had rushed on to the field and followed him to home plate, where his teammates embraced him.

“I was just looking to get on base,″ he told The New York Times in 1985. ″Nothing fancy, just looking for a fastball until he got a strike on me. I thought it would be off the wall, and I wanted to make third if the ball ricocheted away from Berra. But when I got around first and was digging for second, I saw the umpire waving circles above his head and I knew it was over.”

ESPN has called it the greatest home run in major league history. It was the first time a World Series had ended on a homer, leading to enduring waves of celebration and despair. Pirates followers memorized the date, Saturday, Oct. 13, 1960, and the local time of Mazeroski’s hit, 3:36 p.m. Forbes Field was torn down in the 1970s, but a decade later fans began gathering every Oct. 13 at the park’s lone remnant, the center field wall, and listened to the original broadcast.

Meanwhile, Mantle would sob on the plane ride home in 1960, insisting the better team had lost. Ford would for years remain angry at Stengel — fired five days after the Series — for using him in Games 3 and 6 and making him unavailable to start a third time. Singer Bing Crosby, a co-owner of the Pirates, was so afraid he’d jinx his team that he listened to the game with friends across the Atlantic Ocean, in Paris.

“We were in this beautiful apartment, listening on shortwave, and when it got close Bing opened a bottle of Scotch and was tapping it against the mantel,” his widow, Kathryn Crosby, told the Times in 2010. “When Mazeroski hit the home run, he tapped it hard; the Scotch flew into the fireplace and started a conflagration.”

A team player

Mazeroski was a Pirate for his entire time in the majors and was a team man off the field. His wife, Milene Nicholson, was a front office employee whom he met through Pittsburgh manager Danny Murtaugh. They were married in 1958, had two sons and remained together until her death in 2024.

William Stanley Mazeroski was born in Wheeling, West Virginia, during the Great Depression, grew up in eastern Ohio, and lived for a time in a one-room house without electricity or indoor plumbing. His father, Louis Mazeroski, had hoped himself to be a ballplayer and encouraged his son’s love for sports, even practicing with him by having Bill field tennis balls thrown against a brick wall.

Although a star in basketball and football, he favoured baseball and was good enough to be drafted by the Pirates at age 17 in 1954. Mazeroski was a shortstop for a team with numerous prospects at that position, and had switched to second by his rookie year, 1956. Even as a part-time player at the end of his career, he was a leader and steady presence on the 1971 team that featured Clemente and Willie Stargell and defeated the Baltimore Orioles in the World Series.

After his final season, 1972, Mazeroski coached briefly for the Pirates and the Seattle Mariners and was an infield instructor for Pittsburgh during spring training. In 1987, the Pirates retired his uniform number, 9. The 50th anniversary of his Game 7 heroics was marked in 2010 by the unveiling — on Bill Mazeroski Way — of a 14-foot, 2,000-pound statue of one of Pittsburgh’s greatest everymen, rounding the bases, on top of the world.

When Bryce Harper talks, the baseball world listens. And this week, the two-time MVP stirred the pot by suggesting that there should be more fighting in Major League Baseball. Harper’s comments have ignited debate across the sport — from old-school purists who long for baseball’s gritty past to league executives focused on player safety and image control. But in many ways, Harper’s remarks tap into a broader conversation about emotion, entertainment, and what fans actually want from the modern game.

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Emotion vs. Ejection

Baseball has always had an edge to it. From bench-clearing brawls to pitchers protecting teammates with a purpose pitch, confrontation was once woven into the fabric of the sport. However, over the last decade, MLB has cracked down hard on fighting, issuing swift ejections and suspensions to discourage escalation.

Harper appears to believe that something has been lost in the process. The game today is faster and more analytical than ever — but also, critics argue, more restrained. Bat flips are celebrated. Home run trots are choreographed. Yet when tensions boil over, players are quickly separated before much happens. Harper’s argument isn’t necessarily about chaos; it’s about passion.

Hockey Mentality in a Baseball World?

It’s no secret Harper plays with intensity. Since breaking into the league as a teenager, he has embraced the spotlight and the villain role when necessary. Now a cornerstone of the Philadelphia Phillies, Harper has helped fuel a clubhouse culture built on swagger and emotional fire.

Some fans compare his perspective to the culture of hockey, where fighting — while regulated — is seen by many as a release valve for tension. Baseball, by contrast, has leaned heavily into discipline and brand protection. Would more fighting actually help the sport? That depends on who you ask.

The Entertainment Argument

MLB continues to search for ways to grow its audience. Rule changes like the pitch clock, larger bases, and limits on defensive shifts were all designed to inject pace and action. Harper’s suggestion introduces a different kind of action — one rooted in raw emotion.

Supporters argue that controlled confrontation could heighten rivalries and make regular-season games feel more meaningful. Critics counter that fighting brings unnecessary injury risk in a sport built around 162 games and long-term contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

In an era where teams invest heavily in player health, encouraging physical altercations feels counter to the league’s financial reality.

The Safety Factor

Baseball players aren’t equipped like hockey enforcers. There are no helmets designed for fistfights, no officials trained to let a scrap play out. And unlike hockey, where fighting is penalized but understood as part of the culture, baseball fights typically devolve into chaotic pileups involving dozens of players.

The potential for serious injury — to star players in particular — makes league officials wary.

A Cultural Flashpoint

Harper’s comments also reflect a generational divide in baseball. Younger players are expressive, emotional, and social-media savvy. They want the game to feel alive. Meanwhile, MLB executives aim to market a polished, global product.

Is fighting the answer? Probably not in the literal sense. But Harper’s broader point may resonate: fans crave authenticity. They want to see players care. They want rivalry to mean something beyond standings and WAR calculations.

Whether MLB embraces more physical confrontation or simply allows more emotional intensity to breathe, one thing is certain — when Bryce Harper speaks his mind, baseball pays attention. And once again, he’s made the game a little louder.

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All 23rd matchday Bundesliga games will be streamed live from the Konferenz at 15:30 on 21 February 2026. Fans can tune in to watch every match in real time.

Kansas City Chiefs fans are wondering whether tight end Travis Kelce plans to retire from the game, but if you listen to head coach Andy Reid, it seems Kelce isn't ready yet.

According to ESPN, Reid spoke with Kelce, and he thinks Kelce is leaning toward returning this year.

"There is communication," Reid said of his talks with Kelce. "That's the main thing. I've said this before: As long as there's communication, I'm good. That means people want to move forward. I think that's where Travis is."

Kelce had an off year for him with fewer than 900 yards receiving and 5 touchdowns. 

He’s told the team, however, that he plans to make a decision by March. 

"I'm not trying to put words in his mouth at all, and I try to give him some space here," Reid added. "He's been doing this a long time, and he can sort all that out as he goes forward. But we're proceeding with that."

One thing that may influence his decision is the return of offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy. Kelce is thrilled to have him back.

"It's great," Kelce said on his podcast "New Heights. "I can't wait to see him back in the building. He's one of my favorite coaches of all time. I've had so many unbelievable growing moments under him as a player."

With everything that is going on with Rashee Rice, they need Kelce’s leadership on this team, leading the receiving corps. 

This article originally appeared on Touchdown Wire: Andy Reid gives status update on Travis Kelce’s possible retirement