With 2 outs and 2 strikes, Pirates right fielder Roberto Clemente lines a tie-breaking 2-run homer into the right field upper deck at the Polo Grounds, putting Pittsburgh ahead to stay, 3 – 1, against the New York Mets. While the shot is not a tape-measure one, it is remarkable that the pitch almost hit Clemente in the head. Maury Allen reports it thus: “‘I was trying to waste a pitch’, Tracy Stallard said. ‘I figured if maybe I could get him to swing again at a pitch around his head.’ So Stallard threw a real pitch to Clemente, the kind any human being hitter would duck away from and scream for the umpire. Naturally, Clemente hit it upstairs.”

This Day In Baseball

On July 5, 1963 With 2 outs and 2 strikes, Pirates right fielder Roberto Clemente lines a tie-breaking 2-run homer into the right field upper deck at the Polo Grounds, putting Pittsburgh ahead to stay, 3 – 1, against the New York Mets. While the shot is not a tape-measure one, it is remarkable that the pitch almost hit Clemente in the head. Maury Allen reports it thus: “‘I was trying to waste a pitch’, Tracy Stallard said. ‘I figured if maybe I could get him to swing again at a pitch around his head.’ So Stallard threw a real pitch to Clemente, the kind any human being hitter would duck away from and scream for the umpire. Naturally, Clemente hit it upstairs.”

Source
Baseball Reference July 5