Looking back on his career some 30 years later, Willie Mays will recall being gunned down going from first to third exactly once by Roberto Clemente 

Looking back on his career some 30 years later, Willie Mays will recall being gunned down going from first to third exactly once by Roberto Clemente 

ByBaseball

Looking back on his career some 30 years later, Willie Mays will recall being gunned down going from first to third exactly once: “Roberto Clemente threw me out on a bang-bang play at third. I should have remembered what a tremendous arm he had.” If Willie’s memory is correct, this was the play, as witnessed by James K. McGee of the San Francisco Chronicle: “Willie Mays, leading off the 7th, lined a single into left for the Giants’ first hit. When Willie McCovey, the next hitter, bounced a single over Donn Clendenon’s outstretched glove into right field, it appeared the dam had been broken and runs would flow. Then came the key play of the game. Mays rounded second base and slowed down to draw a throw from right fielder Roberto Clemente. Mays, either overestimating his own speed or underestimating the power and accuracy of Clemente’s arm, was thrown out trying to reach third. Maury Wills tagged him as he slid by.”

Roberto Clemente shines on opening day despite Pirates loss and guns down rookie Hal King  
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Roberto Clemente shines on opening day despite Pirates loss and guns down rookie Hal King  

ByTom

1968 – Roberto Clemente’s opening day optical illusion goes for naught as Pittsburgh’s newly acquired answer to its pitching problem, Jim Bunning, fresh off his career year with Philadelphia, provides an unwelcome harbinger of what will be a very trying season and, in so doing, marks the beginning of the distinctly mediocre final phase of his Hall of Fame career. But it’s just another day at the office for Clemente, as he provides one of those signature moments when, as Frank Robinson recalls, “You’d watch him and find yourself saying to the guy next to you, ‘Did you see that?'” Unfortunately, Bunning, Juan Pizarro and Ron Kline combine to squander Pittsburgh’s 4 – 2 advantage in the final frame, thus leaving Clemente’s magical moment (and his 3rd-inning, tie-breaking homer) somewhat adrift: “Rookie Hal King couldn’t believe Roberto Clemente caught his long fly down the right field line for the third out in the 2nd inning,” writes Les Biederman in the Pittsburgh Press. “King had just turned second base when he heard the crowd groan and saw the Pirates running off the field. He stopped, gave a bewildered look and kept glancing down the right field line to see how it was possible.”

Goose Goslin

Goose Goslin and Kiki Cuyler are elected into the Hall of Fame by a unanimous vote of the Veterans Committee

ByTom

Goose Goslin, a former Senator and Tiger outfielder who retired with a career .316 batting average after playing in five World Series, and Kiki Cuyler, a .321 career hitter who won four stolen base crowns while running the bases for the Pirates and Cubs, are elected into the Hall of Fame by a unanimous vote of the Veterans Committee. Goslin believed his enshrinement in Cooperstown was helped by his interview that was shared in Lawrence Ritter’s 1966 book, The Glory of Their Times: The Story Of The Early Days Of Baseball Told By The Men Who Played It.

Roberto Clemente manages for one game and wins!

Roberto Clemente manages for one game and wins!

ByThis Day in Baseball

1967 – Roberto Clemente’s Major League Managerial Career: Here it is, ladies and gentlemen, all one day of it. Filling in for interim manager Danny Murtaugh, Clemente puts up stratospheric – if statistically insignificant – numbers as Pittsburgh’s player-manager. Joe Curcio of the Pittsburgh Press reports: “Baseball’s only undefeated ‘manager’, Roberto Clemente, climaxed his greatest season ever by smashing his 23rd homer, a triple and driving in three runs while managing the Bucs before 28,244 fans on Prize Day.”

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1967 – Bob Aspromonte drives in four as the Astros storm back to overcome the Pirates, 6-5, completing a four-game sweep. Julio Gotay, pinch-running for Aspro after his two-run double in the eighth, scores on a single by Bob Lillis for the game-winner. Larry Sherry shuts the door for winning pitcher Dave Eilers.

ByThis Day in Baseball

1967 – Bob Aspromonte drives in four as the Astros storm back to overcome the Pirates, 6-5, completing a four-game sweep. Julio Gotay, pinch-running for Aspro after his two-run double in the eighth, scores on a single by Bob Lillis for the game-winner. Larry Sherry shuts the door for winning pitcher Dave Eilers.

1967 – Reliever Bill Short and right fielder Roberto Clemente preserve Pittsburgh’s come-from-behind, ulcer-inducing 5 – 4 victory over their cross-state rivals. Les Biederman of the Pittsburgh Press reports: “The Phils tried to get going after Pete Mikkelsen retired the first two batters in the 9th and what remained of the crowd of 4,979 stood in the aisles. Mikkelsen dared Richie Allen with a fastball and fanned him for the second out but Tony Gonzalez rammed a line drive into the right-center hole. Usually this is good for a double, maybe a triple if the ball gets through. But Clemente dived at the ball and came up throwing to second base as Gonzalez wisely stopped at first. Cookie Rojas followed with a single to left. Had Gonzalez’s ball gone through for a double, Rojas’ single would have scored him with the tying run. Bill Short came in to pitch to Johnny Callison and walked him on a 3-2 pitch to load the bases but then he got Jackie Brandt on a slow roller for the final out.” Pittsburgh pulls even in the game during Clemente’s two-out 7th-inning at-bat, but he is a mere spectator: a wild pitch from Larry Jackson and an errant throw from Bob Uecker account for the two equalizing runs.

ByThis Day in Baseball

1967 – Reliever Bill Short and right fielder Roberto Clemente preserve Pittsburgh’s come-from-behind, ulcer-inducing 5 – 4 victory over their cross-state rivals. Les Biederman of the Pittsburgh Press reports: “The Phils tried to get going after Pete Mikkelsen retired the first two batters in the 9th and what remained of the crowd of 4,979 stood in the aisles. Mikkelsen dared Richie Allen with a fastball and fanned him for the second out but Tony Gonzalez rammed a line drive into the right-center hole. Usually this is good for a double, maybe a triple if the ball gets through. But Clemente dived at the ball and came up throwing to second base as Gonzalez wisely stopped at first. Cookie Rojas followed with a single to left. Had Gonzalez’s ball gone through for a double, Rojas’ single would have scored him with the tying run. Bill Short came in to pitch to Johnny Callison and walked him on a 3-2 pitch to load the bases but then he got Jackie Brandt on a slow roller for the final out.” Pittsburgh pulls even in the game during Clemente’s two-out 7th-inning at-bat, but he is a mere spectator: a wild pitch from Larry Jackson and an errant throw from Bob Uecker account for the two equalizing runs.

Willie Stargell caps a streak going 9-9 over 2 games
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Willie Stargell caps a streak going 9-9 over 2 games

ByThis Day in Baseball

On June 5, 1966, at Forbes Field the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Houston Astros 10-5, during the victory slugger Willie Stargell goes 5-for-5, includes two home runs and a double. The hitting spree gives Stargell nine hits in nine consecutive at-bats over the last two games. In the same game Roberto Clemente hits his second…