Miguel Rojas’ World Series heroics echo the most iconic swing in Pirates history

Game 7 of the World Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Toronto Blue Jays had more than its fair share of memorable moments, not the least of which was the game-tying homer from light-hitting infielder Miguel Rojas that kept the Dodgers' title defense alive in the top of the ninth inning.

Rojas' clutch blast had shades of Bill Mazeroski's iconic Game 7 walk-off homer for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1960. The moments mirror one another in spirit, even if not in exact circumstance. Both swings transcend box-score numbers, and they symbolize the heartbeat of baseball’s drama – the unlikely hero who changes everything with one perfectly timed swing.

Mazeroski's homer is the archetype of a clutch Game 7 winner – a player, not necessarily be biggest star, delivering the ultimate swing at the ultimate moment. Rojas' homer is a modern echo of that archetype – a non-headline player arriving at exactly the right moment to keep his team alive in Game 7 to change the narrative and set the stage for a win.

Miguel Rojas' World Series homer has parallels to Bill Mazeroski's iconic walk-off for Pirates

Mazeroski and Rojas were never supposed to be the headline acts. Mazeroski was a glove-first second baseman known more for turning double plays than turning on a fastball. He hit just 11 home runs that regular season. Yet, with one crack of the bat in the bottom of the ninth, he delivered the most famous swing in Pirates history.

Rojas entered 2025 as a defensive stopgap and clubhouse veteran who lived in the shadows of Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman. But when the Dodgers were on the brink, it was Rojas – not a superstar – who authored the swing that saved them.

Both players embodied the beauty of baseball’s unpredictability: greatness isn’t reserved for the MVPs. Sometimes it’s the steady, selfless veterans who seize the moment when the lights are brightest. Both home runs were singular inflection points in their World Series narratives – moments when one swing re-wrote the story and made everything that came before or after feel secondary.

Mazeroski’s homer ended the Pirates’ long wait for validation – the ultimate exclamation point to a Cinderella run that toppled baseball’s powerhouse. Rojas’ homer extended the Dodgers’ lifeline – the punctuation mark that turned a doomed finale into an 11-inning epic and back-to-back titles.

Both swung their teams from despair to glory, both did so when the entire world was watching, and both proved that baseball’s greatest drama isn’t scripted by payrolls or superstars; it’s written in moments of courage from the most unlikely hands.

It's been 65 years since Pirates fans last got to experience the kind of exhilarating drama that Rojas provided Dodgers fans with in Saturday's Game 7. Hopefully, they won't have to wait 65 more.