Freddie Patek

1969 – Roberto Clemente’s tape-measure two-run blast ties the game at 3-all after six, en route to a come-from-behind 4 – 3 Pirate win over Houston. “Clemente’s homer – his second in two nights – was a prodigious wallop of some 430 feet that landed about 12 rows up in the steps to the right of the service ramp in center field. In addition to loosening a few boards and frightening small children, it also tied the score at 3-all. Matty Alou was aboard with a walk when Jim Ray tried to fling one pitch too many past the dangerous Clemente. Clemente saw the ball good and he sped up his swing and timed the connection perfectly. Jim Wynn, in center, gave token pursuit of the eighth blast this year off the 34-year-old Puerto Rican hero’s bat. But he’d have needed a ladder to reach the blast which soared far over Wynn’s head.” The Astros wisely do not afford Clemente the opportunity to beat them; his 8th-inning at-bat with 2 outs, the go-ahead run in scoring position and first base open yields the predictable free pass. Ironically, in the 9th, the game’s goat thus far, shortstop Freddie Patek comes up with 2 outs, the go-ahead run in scoring position and first base open; his two-run error had put Pitt in in an early 3 – 1 hole. But manager Larry Shepard, apparently no devotee of the “Hollywood ending”, bats Carl Taylor in his stead. Taylor singles for the 4 – 3 lead and Jim Bunning retires the Astros in order in the bottom of the frame, when Wynn hits a fly ball that sends left fielder Jose Pagan to the fence for the final out.