Roberto Clemente accepts Pittsburgh’s annual “Dapper Dan Award”

Roberto Clemente accepts Pittsburgh’s annual “Dapper Dan Award”

1962 – Roberto Clemente accepts Pittsburgh’s annual “Dapper Dan Award”, acknowledging both Pirate fans and fellow Pirates in the process. Les Biederman writes in The Sporting News: “Clemente, the Pirates’ National League batting champion, gave credit to the encouragement of the Pittsburgh fans for his feats in 1961 that earned him the Dapper Dan Award at the 26th annual banquet before more than 2,000 persons (all male) at the Hilton Hotel. The Puerto Rican, who climaxed his greatest season in the majors with a .351 batting average, accepted the plaque from Dapper Dan President Al Abrams, sports editor of the sponsoring Post Gazette, and responded to a standing ovation with a moving and sincere speech. ‘Without the fans’ encouragement here, I never could win this award,’ Clemente told the hushed crowd. ‘This award belongs to the fans and my teammates as much as it does to me.'”

Stu Miller is literally blown off the mound during all star game
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Stu Miller is literally blown off the mound during all star game

On July 11, 1961, San Francisco Giants pitcher Stu Miller is literally blown off the mound during the All-Star Game at Candlestick Park. In the ninth inning, high winds cause the 165-pound Miller to lose his balance. Umpires call a balk, allowing the runners, Al Kaline and roger Maris into scoring position. The AL will…

1961 – Roberto Clemente’s second career home run off Sandy Koufax comes, like the first, at the Los Angeles Coliseum, a 1st-inning, bases-empty blast which gets Pittsburgh off to a quick 1 – 0 lead. Unlike the earlier Coliseum clout (his opposite-field moon shot of August 30, 1960), this one is pulled over the Coliseum’s notoriously surmountable left-field barrier. However, unlike Dodger left fielder – and left-handed hitter – Wally Moon’s stock in trade, the strategically-served pop flies derisively dubbed ‘Moon Shots’, this moon shot needs no air quotes, landing some 35 rows beyond the screen.

1961 – Roberto Clemente’s second career home run off Sandy Koufax comes, like the first, at the Los Angeles Coliseum, a 1st-inning, bases-empty blast which gets Pittsburgh off to a quick 1 – 0 lead. Unlike the earlier Coliseum clout (his opposite-field moon shot of August 30, 1960), this one is pulled over the Coliseum’s notoriously surmountable left-field barrier. However, unlike Dodger left fielder – and left-handed hitter – Wally Moon’s stock in trade, the strategically-served pop flies derisively dubbed ‘Moon Shots’, this moon shot needs no air quotes, landing some 35 rows beyond the screen.

tape measure two-baggers from Roberto Clemente and Dick Stuart provide all the support Pittsburgh starter Joe Gibbon needs in his complete game victory over the Milwaukee Braves

tape measure two-baggers from Roberto Clemente and Dick Stuart provide all the support Pittsburgh starter Joe Gibbon needs in his complete game victory over the Milwaukee Braves

A bunt single by Dick Groat and a pair of tape measure two-baggers from Roberto Clemente and Dick Stuart provide all the support Pittsburgh starter Joe Gibbon needs in his complete game victory over the Milwaukee Braves. The Bucs batter the Braves, 9 – 1, and 9 doubles to none. Future Hall of Famer Hank Aaron keeps the Braves from being shut out with a home run, which carries, according to Pirate beat writer Les Biederman, “over the left-field fence on a low line as though shot out of a rifle.” Biederman adds that Pittsburgh’s opening-round moon shots target a couple of familiar Forbes Field landmarks: Clemente’s two-bagger is hit to the warning track at the 436-foot sign, while Stuart’s two-run double goes to the light tower in right center.

Dick Groat of the Pittsburgh Pirates is named the 1960 National League’s Most Valuable Player

Dick Groat of the Pittsburgh Pirates is named the 1960 National League’s Most Valuable Player

Dick Groat, the Pirates 30 year-old shortstop who led the league with a .325 average, is selected as the National League’s Most Valuable Player, with Don Hoak, his partner on the left side of the Bucs’ infield, being the runner-up to the award. Another teammate, right-fielder Roberto Clemente, who will cop the award in 1966, is very disappointed with being named eighth on the ballot.

Pirates right fielder Roberto Clemente is robbed on a 430-to-450-foot putout. With two on, two out and no score in the 6th, Dodgers centerfielder Duke Snider goes to considerable lengths to frustrate his favorite right fielder. Frank Finch of the Los Angeles Times reports: “Clemente clouted an ‘extra-baser’ which Snider caught with one hand near the center-field wall.” Clemente, however, has little cause for complaint. A mere two innings earlier, he himself performed a bit of “armed” robbery with Norm Larker playing the hapless victim though Larker, for his part, would claim it’s the umpire who robbed him. Frank Finch continues: “Round Four started well enough for L.A. when Tom Davis got a bad-hop single and raced to third on Norm Larker’s single to right. However, Bob Clemente’s rifle peg to Rocky Nelson nipped Larker trying to get back to first base. Larker snorted and stomped like a Brahma bull, getting the bum’s rush from umpire Ken Burkhart for throwing the tantrum. From the press box, it appeared that Larker had gotten back in time, but he had no excuse for the play even being close.” Clemente’s “lethal weapon” once again proves pivotal two innings later. George Lederer of the Long Beach Independent writes: “Stan Williams learned how costly his [7th-inning] error was when John Roseboro led off the 8th with a single. Roseboro, batting for Williams, lined Vern Law’s first pitch into the right field corner and was held to a single only by Roberto Clemente’s quick retrieve and bullet throw to second. Trailing by three runs instead of one, manager Walter Alston could not call for the bunt that otherwise would have been in order. Maury Wills, leading off in Alston’s revised lineup, promptly grounded into a double play to wipe out the Dodgers’ last serious bid.”

Pirates right fielder Roberto Clemente is robbed on a 430-to-450-foot putout. With two on, two out and no score in the 6th, Dodgers centerfielder Duke Snider goes to considerable lengths to frustrate his favorite right fielder. Frank Finch of the Los Angeles Times reports: “Clemente clouted an ‘extra-baser’ which Snider caught with one hand near the center-field wall.” Clemente, however, has little cause for complaint. A mere two innings earlier, he himself performed a bit of “armed” robbery with Norm Larker playing the hapless victim though Larker, for his part, would claim it’s the umpire who robbed him. Frank Finch continues: “Round Four started well enough for L.A. when Tom Davis got a bad-hop single and raced to third on Norm Larker’s single to right. However, Bob Clemente’s rifle peg to Rocky Nelson nipped Larker trying to get back to first base. Larker snorted and stomped like a Brahma bull, getting the bum’s rush from umpire Ken Burkhart for throwing the tantrum. From the press box, it appeared that Larker had gotten back in time, but he had no excuse for the play even being close.” Clemente’s “lethal weapon” once again proves pivotal two innings later. George Lederer of the Long Beach Independent writes: “Stan Williams learned how costly his [7th-inning] error was when John Roseboro led off the 8th with a single. Roseboro, batting for Williams, lined Vern Law’s first pitch into the right field corner and was held to a single only by Roberto Clemente’s quick retrieve and bullet throw to second. Trailing by three runs instead of one, manager Walter Alston could not call for the bunt that otherwise would have been in order. Maury Wills, leading off in Alston’s revised lineup, promptly grounded into a double play to wipe out the Dodgers’ last serious bid.”

The Bucs return to first place as Bob Friend defeats the Cardinals, 4 – 2, in St. Louis. As UPI tells it: “Bob Skinner’s home run in the 8th inning broke a 2-all tie and Roberto Clemente iced it with a tremendous blast into the bleachers for the Pirates’ final run in the 9th.” Pittsburgh will remain atop the National League for the rest of the season. Clemente’s long home run – actually off the scoreboard behind Busch Stadium’s left-centerfield bleachers, according to The Sporting News’s Les Biederman – breaks a 73-game home run drought, dating back to a similarly prodigious shot launched at Candlestick Park on May 6.

The Bucs return to first place as Bob Friend defeats the Cardinals, 4 – 2, in St. Louis. As UPI tells it: “Bob Skinner’s home run in the 8th inning broke a 2-all tie and Roberto Clemente iced it with a tremendous blast into the bleachers for the Pirates’ final run in the 9th.” Pittsburgh will remain atop the National League for the rest of the season. Clemente’s long home run – actually off the scoreboard behind Busch Stadium’s left-centerfield bleachers, according to The Sporting News’s Les Biederman – breaks a 73-game home run drought, dating back to a similarly prodigious shot launched at Candlestick Park on May 6.

Roberto Clemente
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In the first of this year’s two All-Star Games, Pittsburgh’s Bob Friend notches his second win

In the first of this year’s two All-Star Games, Pittsburgh’s Bob Friend notches his second win in the National League’s last three with 3 innings of one-hit, shutout ball. Friend’s performance plus home runs by Ernie Banks and Del Crandall – not to mention perennial All-Star luminary, Willie Mays, falling just a few feet shy of the cycle – pace the Senior Circuit to a 5 – 3 decision over its junior counterpart at Kansas City’s Municipal Stadium. Albeit not affecting the game’s outcome, a somewhat splashy All-Star debut is made by Friend’s teammate, Roberto Clemente, if only on the wrong end of a circus catch. As readers nationwide will be shown and told by the Associated Press, Clemente’s sole at-bat results in a singularly loud out: “Many a batsman has ‘made his mark’ on the KC left field wall (note numerous dents), but the AL’s Jim Lemon pulled a spectacular catch to prevent Roberto Clemente’s long smash from adding another ‘scar’ in the 9th inning of Monday’s All-Star game.”