1961 – Roberto Clemente utilizes the entire “toolbox,” but can’t quite keep the Cardinals from beating the Pirates, 3 – 2. Clemente’s 9th-inning leadoff laser over the right field screen pulls Pittsburgh to within one, but that’s how it ends. Earlier in the game, Clemente crushed the ball a couple of times with nothing to show for it. Les Biederman of the Pittsburgh Press writes: “Clemente twice tried to handle things with his bat but he hit the ball too hard. He hit a vicious line drive to Bill White in the 1st inning but the Card first baseman turned it into a double play. The same thing happened in the 3rd but this time his smash went straight to Julian Javier.” While drawing blanks at the plate, Clemente keeps the game close with his arm, doubling Ken Boyer off first in the 4th and cutting down Curt Flood trying to stretch a 5th-inning single. But he’s not done there, reports United Press International: “St. Louis threatened to break the game wide open in the 6th by loading the bases. But Clemente made a running over-the-head catch of [starting pitcher] Ray Sadecki’s liner to deep right to quelch the uprising.”