Bypassing the customary Willie Mays-Roberto Clemente on-field rivalry, Willie plays directly to Roberto’s constituents as he makes his bid for the Nobel Peace Prize. Bob Stevens of the San Francisco Chronicle explains: “The second largest crowd in Forbes Field history, 35,797 booing partisan fans, saw cool Willie Mays stop a free-for-all in the opening game. Even in the lair of the Pirates and despite their double defeat, Mays was the hero of the hour. In the middle of a player melee precipitated by a recurrence of a beanball feud that first broke out when Pittsburgh visited San Francisco, Willie tackled a near-berserk Orlando Cepeda to keep him from causing havoc with a bat.” The mêlée stems from a May 7th meeting between the teams and culminates in today’s 5th inning free-for-all with Pirates manager Danny Murtaugh charging P Ruben Gomez and being fended off by the Giant headhunter, now taking his turn at bat. Understandably concerned is Gomez’s fellow Puerto Rican. Stevens continues: “Among the first to his Puerto Rican countryman’s aid was 200-pounder Cepeda, eyes flashing and fists swinging at anything in sight in his lunge to get at Murtaugh. Unable to reach his immediate objective, Cepeda broke free from the milling athletes and picked up the lead-filled bat the batters swing to loosen up before going to the plate. He barely got a hand on it when from nowhere came Mays, head down and charging as hard as he could. Willie slammed into his first baseman, flattened him and pinned him until other players could help restrain the maddened Cepeda in his quest for blood. With Orlando subdued, the abortive riot broke up and Murtaugh was sent to the showers. No Giants were tossed from the contest, even though many people figured that they started the war May 7 in San Francisco when Curt Raydon and Marv Grissom began head-hunting. Mays was given a tremendous hand by the filled stands…”

ByThis Day in Baseball

Bypassing the customary Willie Mays-Roberto Clemente on-field rivalry, Willie plays directly to Roberto’s constituents as he makes his bid for the Nobel Peace Prize. Bob Stevens of the San Francisco Chronicle explains: “The second largest crowd in Forbes Field history, 35,797 booing partisan fans, saw cool Willie Mays stop a free-for-all in the opening game. Even in the lair of the Pirates and despite their double defeat, Mays was the hero of the hour. In the middle of a player melee precipitated by a recurrence of a beanball feud that first broke out when Pittsburgh visited San Francisco, Willie tackled a near-berserk Orlando Cepeda to keep him from causing havoc with a bat.” The mêlée stems from a May 7th meeting between the teams and culminates in today’s 5th inning free-for-all with Pirates manager Danny Murtaugh charging P Ruben Gomez and being fended off by the Giant headhunter, now taking his turn at bat. Understandably concerned is Gomez’s fellow Puerto Rican. Stevens continues: “Among the first to his Puerto Rican countryman’s aid was 200-pounder Cepeda, eyes flashing and fists swinging at anything in sight in his lunge to get at Murtaugh. Unable to reach his immediate objective, Cepeda broke free from the milling athletes and picked up the lead-filled bat the batters swing to loosen up before going to the plate. He barely got a hand on it when from nowhere came Mays, head down and charging as hard as he could. Willie slammed into his first baseman, flattened him and pinned him until other players could help restrain the maddened Cepeda in his quest for blood. With Orlando subdued, the abortive riot broke up and Murtaugh was sent to the showers. No Giants were tossed from the contest, even though many people figured that they started the war May 7 in San Francisco when Curt Raydon and Marv Grissom began head-hunting. Mays was given a tremendous hand by the filled stands…”

Roberto Clemente’s defensive gem and Ted Kluszewski’s leadoff, walk-off, 12th-inning blast over Forbes Field’s right field screen give Pittsburgh’s Ron Kline a complete-game, 1 – 0 victory over Philly ace, and future Hall of Famer, Robin Roberts

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Roberto Clemente’s defensive gem and Ted Kluszewski’s leadoff, walk-off, 12th-inning blast over Forbes Field’s right field screen give Pittsburgh’s Ron Kline a complete-game, 1 – 0 victory over Philly ace, and future Hall of Famer, Robin Roberts. Neither Kline’s nor Klu’s heroics, however, could have come to pass without Clemente’s 4th-inning-ending eye-popper which turns what appears to be a sacrifice fly off the bat of Chico Fernandez into a double play. Clemente catches the ball and fires a perfect on-the-fly strike to the plate to nail a sliding Granny Hamner.

Commemorating the three-year anniversary of his party-crashing heroics, Roberto Clemente again disrupts Willie Mays’s birthday celebration, if not quite so dramatically. Bob Stevens of the San Francisco Chronicle reports: “Only a spectacular catch by Clemente on a 400-foot blast by Mays in the 6th with the bases loaded and George Witt on the mound prevented San Francisco from making a genuine rout of the thing.” Circus catch notwithstanding, the Bucs’ bats fail to ignite as they suffer a 7 – 0 whitewashing.

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Commemorating the three-year anniversary of his party-crashing heroics, Roberto Clemente again disrupts Willie Mays’s birthday celebration, if not quite so dramatically. Bob Stevens of the San Francisco Chronicle reports: “Only a spectacular catch by Clemente on a 400-foot blast by Mays in the 6th with the bases loaded and George Witt on the mound prevented San Francisco from making a genuine rout of the thing.” Circus catch notwithstanding, the Bucs’ bats fail to ignite as they suffer a 7 – 0 whitewashing.

Full Radio Broadcast – Sandy Koufax and the Dodgers face off against Roberto Clemente and the Pirates

Full Radio Broadcast – Sandy Koufax and the Dodgers face off against Roberto Clemente and the Pirates

ByThis Day in Baseball

  August 17, 1957 – At Ebbets Field, the field was full of future Hall of Famers as Sandy Koufax will start vs. the Pittsburgh Pirates and Roberto Clemente. Don Drysdale will finish the game Roy Campanella will go 4-4 in today’s game. The Pirates came into the game with 42 wins vs. 73 losses…

Forbes Field’s vast centerfield expanse provides the setting for one of Willie Mays’ greatest catches

Forbes Field’s vast centerfield expanse provides the setting for one of Willie Mays’ greatest catches

ByThis Day in Baseball

Forbes Field’s vast centerfield expanse provides the setting for one of Willie Mays’ greatest catches, coming at the expense of his young friend, admirer, protégé and rival, Roberto Clemente. Clemente hits a ball that seems headed towards a light tower in left center. The New York Times’s Roscoe McGowen recounts what happens next: “In the 1st inning, with two Pirates on base and one out, Roberto Clemente whacked a terrific drive toward the screen surrounding the light tower in left center field, more than 440 feet from home plate. Willie astonished the players, as well as the fans, by leaping high against the screen and making a glove-twisting catch. Most observers thought the ball had bounced off the screen.” Clemente then almost compounds his misfortune the following inning: “Clemente got into the catching act in the Giants’ 2nd inning. Going almost to the wall for Daryl Spencer’s long drive, Roberto saw the ball bounce out of his glove as he was making one of his ‘basket catches.’ But he snared the ball before it could drop to the ground.”

Sal Maglie Brooklyn Dodgers

Sal Maglie & Duke Snider Lead Dodgers over the Pirates

ByThis Day in Baseball

Interested in exploring FRANCHISING? We will help you through your journey visit us @ www.franchisingconnection.com PODCAST – 1957 Full Game Broadcast   Subscribe to our Podcast on Apples Podcast | Spotify  | Google | Stitcher And connect with us wherever else you listen to Podcast. May 30, 1957 At Forbes Field game 1 of a…

Roberto Clemente’s 4th-inning blast aborts Juan Pizarro’s embryonic no-hitter and puts Pittsburgh ahead of Milwaukee, 1 – 0. “Clemente collected the first hit and it went for everything off Pizarro in the 4th,” reports Jack Hernon of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “Clemente gave Bob Friend a lead when he sent his third home run of the season sailing into the few bleacherites in right field.” Although the Bucs never relinquish this lead, Dick Groat’s infield single, a walk to Hank Foiles and Gene Baker’s RBI single in the 7th will be much appreciated when, leading off the bottom of the 9th, Eddie Mathews manages to get one just beyond the grasp of centerfielder Bill Virdon and over the right centerfield fence. Immediately thereafter, Friend’s gratitude is tempered somewhat when Baker boots Joe Adcock’s grounder, putting the tying run aboard with no one out. Having barely grasped the goat horns, Baker is bailed out by Milwaukee’s Chuck Tanner, who misses a bunt sign and bounces into a 4-6-3 double play.

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Roberto Clemente’s 4th-inning blast aborts Juan Pizarro’s embryonic no-hitter and puts Pittsburgh ahead of Milwaukee, 1 – 0. “Clemente collected the first hit and it went for everything off Pizarro in the 4th,” reports Jack Hernon of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “Clemente gave Bob Friend a lead when he sent his third home run of the season sailing into the few bleacherites in right field.” Although the Bucs never relinquish this lead, Dick Groat’s infield single, a walk to Hank Foiles and Gene Baker’s RBI single in the 7th will be much appreciated when, leading off the bottom of the 9th, Eddie Mathews manages to get one just beyond the grasp of centerfielder Bill Virdon and over the right centerfield fence. Immediately thereafter, Friend’s gratitude is tempered somewhat when Baker boots Joe Adcock’s grounder, putting the tying run aboard with no one out. Having barely grasped the goat horns, Baker is bailed out by Milwaukee’s Chuck Tanner, who misses a bunt sign and bounces into a 4-6-3 double play.

Even though the game is practically over before the Pirates come to bat, having given up 6 runs runs to the Phillies in the top of the 1st inning, the first Pirate at-bat provides the most memorable moment of the game, Roberto Clemente’s 440-plus-foot inside-the-park home run. Les Biederman of The Pittsburgh Press writes: “Clemente greeted Harvey Haddix with a line drive that gathered momentum as it approached Richie Ashburn and took off over his head and ricocheted off the wall toward the batting cage. By the time Ashburn picked up the ball, Clemente was at third base and he made it to the plate without trouble. The hit provoked an argument between the Phillies and the umpires because the ball rolled under the batting cage but the Phils were told there was no ground rule to cover the situation.”

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Even though the game is practically over before the Pirates come to bat, having given up 6 runs runs to the Phillies in the top of the 1st inning, the first Pirate at-bat provides the most memorable moment of the game, Roberto Clemente’s 440-plus-foot inside-the-park home run. Les Biederman of The Pittsburgh Press writes: “Clemente greeted Harvey Haddix with a line drive that gathered momentum as it approached Richie Ashburn and took off over his head and ricocheted off the wall toward the batting cage. By the time Ashburn picked up the ball, Clemente was at third base and he made it to the plate without trouble. The hit provoked an argument between the Phillies and the umpires because the ball rolled under the batting cage but the Phils were told there was no ground rule to cover the situation.”