SARASOTA, Fla. — Don Kelly began a team meeting Saturday with news he didn’t want to share. But the Pirates manager also took time to properly honor a franchise legend in Bill Mazeroski.

Mazeroski died Friday at the age of 89, the Pirates announced Saturday morning. As news broke, Kelly took time to remind players of Mazeroski’s legacy as a player but also as a person.

“DK was talking to us about him, the way he carried himself as a professional, as a human being, the relationships that he tried to foster,” said Isaac Mattson, who grew up in Erie, Pa., and went to Pitt. “A huge loss for our organization, for sure.”

Mattson understands Mazeroski’s legacy more than most because of his time in Oakland. He recalled walking past home plate from Forbes Field, still located in Posvar Hall. Or spending time around the fence Mazeroski cleared with his homer in Game 7 of the 1960 World Series.

“He’s a huge piece of the history of Pittsburgh Pirates baseball,” Mattson said. “Tremendous loss. We’re gonna miss him.”

There’s plenty to say about Maz’s home run, the magnitude within the city of Pittsburgh, how it brought people together, the stories of celebrating afterward being passed down from generation to generation and how it takes baseball fans back in time.

Plus the defensive wizardry Maz showcased as arguably the greatest second baseman of all time.

One of Mazeroski’s favorite topics of conversation (and jokes) throughout the years was how he’d often cheat on double plays, the neighborhood play being stretched awfully thin.

Mazeroski was also somehow able to navigate the lousy infield at Forbes Field, which was so bad that opposing teams would purposefully avoid pregame work.

What made Maz Maz on a baseball field was sizable. But the way Kelly talked and what those in the organization think about him now assumes a slightly different tone.

It’s his humility.

“Just a humble guy,” said Tony Beasley, the Pirates’ third-base coach and someone who has done just about everything in the organization over the years.

“He’s one of the greats. I remember when I was infield coordinator, I used to tell him, ‘Come out and be involved in the infield stuff. If you have something to say … ‘

“He told me that he didn’t want to intrude. The way he cared about people, he was just so humble. You would never know that he was who he was in the game of baseball.”

The last time Mazeroski visited Pittsburgh was 2022, and he echoed a similar sentiment, talking to the Post-Gazette about how he’s amazed that people still talk about his home run.

“Everywhere I go, somebody brings it up,” Mazeroski said. “They seem to remember it.”

Team historian Jim Trdinich backed that up with some of his own experiences.

Like Mazeroski being interviewed by CNN in advance of his 2001 induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum and acting like he was picking up milk from the grocery store.

Mazeroski knew the homer was special. He just never let it get to his head or change him.

“The most humble guy there ever was,” Trdinich said. “He would always say, ‘Aw, shucks. It was just a home run.’

“Just a home run? It’s the most famous home run in baseball history. But Bill was that kind of guy.”

Which is what Kelly wanted his players to remember more than anything.

Sure, Mazeroski played 17 seasons in the majors, was an All-Star in seven of them and won eight Gold Gloves. He turned double plays at the blink of an eye. He won two World Series. There’s a statue of the guy outside of PNC Park.

The accolades Mazeroski accumulated were many, yet his personality was unique, his humility both hilarious and impressive.

“He was iconic, but he didn’t carry himself like that,” Kelly said. “He was a teammate, he was human, he was humble, and he was really, really good. Those things can all be together in the same person. We have guys in there that are like that, superstar guys that emulate those traits, as well.”

During his speech, the normally composed Kelly appeared emotional. Could you blame him? After all, he’s from here and knows what Mazeroski means to Pittsburgh.

Kelly also knows what Mazeroski means to the Pirates organization and its history. Those things are not small.

“What an icon,” Kelly said. “What a guy for the Pirates, the City of Pittsburgh, for Major League Baseball and what he meant overall and what he meant to a lot of people.

“When you talk about the accolades he had, you would never know meeting and talking to him. He was the most humble. He was all about the team and really embodied what we’re trying to do this year.”

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