Jay Greenberg’s family after the Philadelphia Flyers honoured the former Flyers writer, who worked in Toronto in 1992-93. That’s wife Mona, from left to right, daughter Elizabeth and granddaughter Vivienne. On the right: grandson Jacob, daughter Stephanie and husband Matan and granddaughter Melody.

October 24, 2026

By Bob Elliott

Canadian Baseball Network

Some call October the game’s best month.

It always is: especially for the World Series winner and its fans.

Yet, October is about memories:

Like ... Atlanta Braves’ Tom Glavine pitching a one-hitter against Cleveland to clinch matters in 1995, Blue Jays broadcaster Tom Cheek saying “Touch’em all Joe ...” almost ordering Joe Carter to touch first; Minnesota Twins ace Jack Morris pitching 10 scoreless in Game 7 of 1991, the Kansas City Royals scoring two in the bottom of the ninth forcing a Game 7 (an easy win) against the St. Louis Cardinals in 1985 and Lew Burdette shutting out the New York Yankees in Game 7 at Yankee Stadium in 1957.

That’s not my favourite though. My all-time best was a dream scenario: Game 7. Tie game. Bottom of the ninth ... Pittsburgh Pirates second baseman Bill Mazeroski, who hit 11 homers all season at the plate. Maz took Ralph Terry over the left field wall at Forbes Field to win it for the Bucs 10-9.

Carter and Maz have been the only two players to end the World Series on a home run.

That Maz homer was a favourite memory of my friend Jay Greenberg, one of the most talented scribes I have ever worked with. We would talk about it each October.

The conversation could be in Pittsburgh with a Pirate fan, or someone from Pittsburgh and Jay would say, “Tell the Maz story.”

I was seated in class at Rideau Public School in Kingston. I had my transistor radio inside my shirt pocket and wore a pullover sweater. The cord from the radio ran up my sleeve and into my ear, covered by my left hand ... listening to Game 7.

When Maz homered, I punched my right fist in the air and yelled “YESSSSS!”

The other kids looked at me wondering what was going on and the next voice I heard was our teacher Mrs. Lake:

“Class will be dismissed in 22 minutes, but Mr. Elliott will be standing in the corner for an hour.”

One elderly gentleman, Jay had me tell the story to broke down in tears at the memory.

The Pirates won in 1960 and so did the “We Are Family” Pirates in Game 7 of the 1979 Fall Classic against the Baltimore Orioles and in 1971 facing the same team.

So two championships since 1960 and the Bucs previous one before that was 1925 against the Washington Nationals.

* * *

Jay could pick them though. His favourite players included Roberto Clemente and Willie Stargell, plus side-winding closer Kent Tekulve, who had 184 career saves.

In the late 1970s, their first dog, was named “Tique.” In wife Mona’s mind, the name was short for “antique” -- a rare and cherished treasure. In Jay’s mind, the dog, who was a fabulous black lab, was named after Tekulve.

When the Blue Jays were in New York and the Post assigned Jay to a game he’d ask me, “Want a ride home?” I always said yes, of course. He lived in New Jersey, so we would head across the George Washington bridge and as long as the next day was not a day game, we’d make a pit stop at some all-night diner.

* * *

As a writer, you can’t cheer for a team or else you will get so distraught over a loss you will miss deadline. I’ve cheered for the Milwaukee Braves as a kid, the Syracuse Orangemen and the Buffalo Bills.

Jay’s heart belonged in Pittsburgh. He was a Bucs fan through and through.

Despite ownership which has not spent, Bucs fans remember Maz’s homer. Forbes Field is gone now. So, too, is Three Rivers Stadium, as the Bucs now play in the picturesque PNC Park.

The left field wall at Forbes was not demolished. The surviving wall is located on the University of Pittsburgh campus in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh.

The section of the red-brick outfield wall (including original distance markers from home plate and the flagpole) stands near the Pitt’s Posvar Hall and Mervis Hall.

So, every Oct. 13, Pirates fans gather to remember the glory days. Tail gating. Barbecues. Stories. They listen to a re-broadcast of Game 7.

It is a celebration of days of old. I am sure Jay is there in spirit. In fact, I know Jay, or Jaybird as he was known around the office, is watching down as “his Pirates,” win again. Jay was living in Englishtown, N.J., on Aug. 12, 2021, when he passed away from complications of West Nile virus.

The Philadelphia Flyers honoured Jay with a celebration and wall in his honour: Jay Greenberg Press Row, near the refreshment/popcorn stand outside the press box at the Wells Fargo Center, now known as the Xfinity Mobile Arena, on Nov. 2, 2024.

Jaybird did love his popcorn. We think Jay set a SkyDome two-year record for most kernels consumed. As well as most kernels spilled.

The Flyers gave Mona, Steph, Liz and their children a box, refreshments, commemoratives, visits from players and team management.

* * *

It was surprising for me to learn Jay was a Bucs fan since he made his name in Philadelphia covering the Flyers for the Daily News, writing hockey that one scribe told him he wrote “like a Canadian,” He was born in Johnstown, Pa., 90 minutes from Pittsburgh.

This Game 7 event started in 1985, for the 25th anniversary of Maz’s homer, when a Pirate fan named Saul Finkelstein decided to listen to the game.

The Pirates honoured Jay at PNC Park as well.

There were 1,600 people for the 50th anniversary in 2010 and the event consistently draws several hundred fans who eat, drink, smoke cigars and talk about the Pirates’ history.

There is a group of regulars who call themselves the “Game 7 Gang.” They have been coming to the listening party for the past four decades or so.

Did you attend the Blue Jays’ 33rd listening party of Joe Carter’s homer? It was Friday.

The night Carter homered, Jay spotted Paul Molitor sitting in the dugout as the replay played again and again. Paul explained how the games don’t always end like this.

The next night, Jay phoned me and asked, “Guess who phoned me? Paul Molitor, he thanked me for the story.” I may have had that three or four times in 50 years and three months of writing.

That’s how special Jay was.

* * *

Jay wrote for the Kansas City Star, Philadelphia Bulletin, Toronto Sun and New York Post.

“I covered the Blue Jays in 1992 and 1993,” Jay said to more than once during the Blue Jays’ post-season drought. “You should tell Paul Beeston they should bring me back as a good-luck charm to end the drought.”

And then he would laugh. Jay had a laugh that could light up a room or a press box.

In 2013, Jay was awarded the Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award by the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto.

(Jay invited me as his guest. A number of Flyers showed which was a sign of respect. We were lucky we didn’t get kicked out of the luncheon. A ball writer and a hockey scribe talking about Mazeroski. Fortunately, the Sargent-At-Arms was at the back of the room.)

Future scribes? Grandchildren Vivi and Jacob sitting in the press box viewing the ice.

I had an old boss who would say don’t try to be funny. Humor is the most difficult thing to convey to the reader. Jaybird and Mark Whicker, another Philadelphia alum, were as funny in person as they were in the daily bugle.

Here’s a sample of Jay’s humor in The Hockey News from when he won the Elmer Ferguson award, presented during the Hall of Fame week at a downtown Toronto hotel.

Princeton man Mark Shapiro, president of the Toronto Blue Jays, was a regular Greenberg reader.

Jay also wrote a book titled, “Full Spectrum: The Complete History of the Philadelphia Flyers Hockey Club” for the team’s 30th anniversary season. And later Mark Howe asked him to write an autobiography titled “Gordie Howe’s Son”.

And when Jay left the Post -- since he did not hunt, golf or fish (well, he did go to the Arctic Circle with Edmonton Oilers owner Peter Pocklington and Glen Sather for Sports Illustrated), he did what writers do when they retire, they write.

And since Stephanie and Elizabeth attended Princeton, Jay did too.

Jay covered the Princeton Tigers football games -- home and away -- wrote features for the alumni publications and did a regular blog: princetontigersfootball.com saying, “I had a blast, a lot of fun, doing this blog. It was fun watching the team get good. The year before I started, they were 1-9, and my first year, they were 5-5.”

They went on to win three championships in the years he covered them and they even gave him three championship rings.

Despite never playing a down the 1966 championship team made Jay an honorary captain.

For Jay’s Memorial Book, he wrote, “The 1966 football team decided to make me an honorary team member and captain, to thank me for documenting their championship in my article, “What Two Inches Meant to the 1966 Tigers is Immeasurable.” They even added his picture to their team photo.

* * *

A player will give us memories this World Series. A bench player? A star? Who knows? The memory may even be good enough to rank behind Lew Burdette, Bill Mazeroski and Jay Greenberg.

Elliott: Remembering our dear pal Jay Greenberg