Roberto Clemente 1955 Timeline

This is the 1955 installment in a chronology of memorable moments in the professional career of Roberto Clemente.

__ Mar 23 __ Tape Measure Triple: First of Many Such Shots

160-something-pound rookie Roberto Clemente flashes some of his highly under-publicized power in the form of "a 425-foot triple to the fence in center." In the process, Clemente creates perhaps the first instance of a phenomenon he will enact time and time again, ad nauseum, throughout his career, i.e. hitting an absolute laser to the deepest part of a considerably bigger-than-average ballpark. This inaugural version takes place in the Pirates' spring training home, Terry Park in Fort Myers, FLA, in the third inning of an exhibition bout vs. the Chicago White Sox, with one on, two out and the Bucs trailing by two. However, having narrowed the gap to one, youthful valor gets the better of as-yet-undeveloped discretion when Momen makes an ill-advised attempt to score the tying run himself:

"The Puerto Rican measured Morrie Martin for a tremendous triple over centerfielder Johnny Groth's head in the 3-run third, then was an easy out at the plate when he tried to stretch it into an inside-the park homer."

__ Apr 17 __ Big League Debut: First Hit & First Extra-Base Hit

At Forbes Field, the Pittsburgh Pirates' 20-year-old rookie Roberto Clemente makes his major league debut, playing both ends of a doubleheader, ironically but perhaps fittingly, against the Brooklyn Dodgers, the team that should in fact be his team and, were it not for the sorry state of mid-20th Century U.S. race relations, would be. Instead, it's just the team that has jerked him around for the better part of the previous year and then let him go. So, just in case Roberto needed any extra motivation for his career curtain-raiser, it's certainly there. In his first at-bat, the future Hall of Famer rifles one back through the originator, Johnny Podres, and off the glove of shortstop Pee Wee Reese, thus acquiring the first of his 3,000 career hits, simultaneously giving his adoptive parents a quick but short lived lead en route to a 10-3 drubbing by the perennially contending Brooklynites. And, while the 'Bums' will in fact sweep the Bucs today, stretching the latter's losing streak to six, the Pirates' highly touted prospect is far from done for the day. He will also make "a heart-stopping catch of Gilliam's long fly in the fourth inning of the opener, leaping high to grab the ball." In the much more competitive nightcap, Clemente is stranded after his one-out, 6th-inning double but, two innings later, his aggressive base-running will wreak havoc and reap rewards. With one on and none out:

"Clemente's short fly fell safely in center and when the kid rounded first and had to come back in a hurry, Don Zimmer's throw hit him on the leg and went into the dugout. That put Smith over and Clemente on third. Dick Cole scored him with a single."

This narrows the Dodgers' lead to one, but one inning later, the game will end with the tying and winning runs on base and Clemente in the on deck circle.

__ Apr 18 __ First Major League Home Run: Tape-Measure IPHR

450-foot inside-the-parker "off the top of the left-center bullpen in the Polo Grounds." Here's a 1949 photo of the Polo Grounds, giving a good view of what passed for a bullpen there. Incidentally, had Momen struck this blow an inning earlier, it would have been fielded by his boyhood hero, the still strong-armed Monte Irvin, who likely would have held him at third or at least have had a great shot at a play at the plate. As fate would have it, Irvin had moved over to right at the beginning of the inning in favor of the game's starting first baseman, the weak-armed Whitey Lockman. Thus, we have Lockman relaying Momen's 'message' over to Irvin's successor as the apex of his baseball universe, center fielder Willie Mays. Lockman's lob, however, was wild, thus denyng the cannon-armed Mays a chance to postpone his protégé's entry into the ranks of major league home run hitters.

"Bob Clemente, the right fielder, came up with two out and socked a home run over Lockman’s head for an inside-the-park homer which might have been prevented if Lockman, newly moved to the outfield, had not thrown carelessly to Mays, so carelessly the ball rolled."

__ May 01 __ Latino Contingent Leads Corsairs' Comeback

"Roberto Clemente led the Pirate attack in the first game with a triple and two singles. It was Clemente’s triple and Montemayor’s first homer that sparked a Pirate three-run rally in the fifth inning of the first contest."

__ May 03 __ Home Run No. 2 off Fellow Future HOFer

"Roberto Clemente, the lead-off man in the first inning, rapped Warren Spahn’s second pitch over the left-field scoreboard for his second major-league homer."

Pirate starter Dick Littlefield makes Roberto's run stand up, shutting down Mathews, Aaron, Adcock and company for 4-0 final.

__ May 04 __ "Clemente's Great Catch Helps Bucs Beat Braves"

This Milwaukee Journal headline doesn't quite tell the whole story: RC's walk-off circus catch not only secures Pittsburgh's 5-4 victory, it also bails himself out after his own errant throw has put the tying and go-ahead runs on 2nd and 3rd with two out in the bottom of the ninth. And who should walk to the plate at this moment but George Crowe, Clemente's teammate and fellow Caribbean Champion with the Santurce Cangrejeros just three months ago.

"George Crowe, who had replaced the slump-ridden Adcock at first base, pasted the ball against the remote grandstand not far from the right field foul line, only to have young Roberto Clemente race over and time his leap perfectly as he scraped the ball off the wall with his gloved hand."

__ May 05 __ Roberto Clemente, Prototypical Leadoff Hitter?

Clemente's exemplary leadoff performance – 2-for-2, sac fly, single, double, 2 walks, 2 runs scored, 1 RBI, 1 stolen base – is understandably overshadowed by teammate Dale Long's three doubles and six RBI:

"Long’s sacrifice fly in the first brought home Clemente with the first run... [Long] climaxed his biggest day in the majors in the sixth when he smashed a bases-loaded double that scored Clemente, Groat and Shepard." "Clemente drove over the final tally with a sacrifice fly."

__ May 06 __ Mays vs. Momen: 'That's Gratitude for You!'

Clemente crashes birthday party of his recently acquired mentor and role model by getting one over Mays' head in midst of decisive rally:

"Two tallies followed Antonelli's error on Roberto Clemente’s 430-foot triple to center and a two-out single by Felipe Montemayor." "Clemente tripled so far over Mays’ head that even Willie on his charger, shedding the cap, couldn’t catch it... Mays, on his twenty-fourth birthday, doubled to the rightfield corner [in the ninth] to bring in one run. "

Unfortunately for the birthday boy and his crew, that run would leave the Giants one run short.

__ May 21 __ Mays And Momen Go At It Again

"Clemente tied it in the Buc half with a long blast over the left-center wall." "Leading off the Pirates’ batting order, he greeted the Barber with a clout over the 402-foot [sic ] mark."

RC's homer in the bottom of the first ties the score at 1-1 after Mays’ RBI single in the top of the frame. The two would renew their collaboration at the game's conclusion:

"In the bottom of the ninth, after the Pirates had put the tying and winning runs on base, Leo called in Marv Grissom to face Clemente, who had hit the homer in the first." "Clemente went after Grissom's first pitch and lined it to Mays, who made the difficult catch seem easy and the fans who had congregated in the aisles left muttering and shaking their heads."

_ Jun 05 __ Tie-Breaking, Tape-Measure Triple

"Roberto Clemente's triple in the big seventh inning of the opener yesterday went far over Bell's head in dead center, landed on the warning track and hit the wall on one hop. Must have traveled 450 feet in the air and would have been a homer in any National League park except Forbes Field and the Polo Grounds."

_ Jun 17 __ Robby's Rifle Rubs Out Reckless Red

"In the fifth, the Reds filled the bases, then Ted Kluszewski lined to Roberto Clemente. Little Jackie Collum, who suffered the defeat, was trapped between home and third on the play and was tagged out to make it a double play."

_ Jun 19 __ In Twin Bill Split, Robby Hits Hard, Throws Hard

Once again, as on May 5, RC's stellar offensive outing in opener – i.e. two wasted leadoff singles plus 2-run, 9th-inning insurance shot off old friend and fellow Montreal alumnus Joe Black – is overshadowed by big game – i.e. 2 HR, 3 RBI – from teammate Dale Long. In nightcap, Robby nets third outfield assist in three days against Cincy.

_ July 03 __ Robby's Revenge: Dr. C Dispenses Dodger Medicine

Robby begins his revenge in earnest, both on the 'parents' who abandoned him and on an ex-'sibling' from Montreal:

"Bob Clemente hit successive triples off Ed Roebuck in the fourth and fifth rounds to win it for the Bucs. Clemente scored the tying run in the fourth after opening with a three-bagger. His triple in the fifth produced the tally that eventually decided the game."

_ July 10 __ Tape Measure Triple: Inaugural Batting Cage Crasher

Pittsburgh's 3-run third is all Vernon Law needs to salvage a split in today's twin bill with Philly. With all due respect to the 'Deacon', however, his six-hit, complete-game victory can't help being something of an anticlimax to the Forbes Field faithful.

The most exciting moment today comes in a losing cause, courtesy of fan favorite Roberto Clemente, who produces one of his trademark tape measure triples (conjuring up memories of his March 23rd and May 6th moon shots and presaging Heaven only knows how many more). As Les Biederman notes, it's a combination of Clemente's clout and Philly's cockiness that produces Pittsburgh's entire offensive output in the opener:

"Actually, the only Pirate run in the first game was a gift. Clemente tripled to the batting cage with none out in the sixth inning and the Phils gave up the run to throw out Dick Cole."

_ July 29 __ Clemente Curtails Career Game By Future Fellow Pirate

Even with RC's circus catch, Smoky manages 3 HR and 9 RBI:

"Burgess missed another chance for an extra-base blow when he was robbed by Roberto Clemente in the fourth inning. Clemente leaped into the right center field screen to snare the line drive that had extra bases written all over it."

_ Aug 19 __ Mays vs. Momen: Birthday Battle – Advantage Clemente

Willie Mays and Roberto Clemente, tit for tat. Having had his birthday thunder stolen by Clemente less than 3 1/2 months ago, Mays returns the favor, or tries to. Of course, long before Robby disrupted Willie's May 6, '55 festivities, any hope for perfect symmetry had been scotched by 1955's NL schedule, which committed Mays and the Giants to a Brooklyn engagement on August 18, RC's actual birthday. On the other hand, they also gave Pittsburgh the day off, and, on the very next day, in this imperfect world, who should blow into Steeltown but Mays and company, and payback is definitely on the agenda. Bear in mind that, since his mentor's birthday, the talented Pirate rookie has gone into a precipitate decline, from a .333 BA with a .551 SA to .249 and .371, respectively. The Pirates, for their part, have gone, in the same period, from 9-and-11, one game out of second, to 44-and-76, securely ensconced in the cellar. So, when Mays' 3rd-inning solo blast puts Pittsburgh in a 2 - 0 hole, it's beginning to shape up as a very long day for Clemente and the Corsairs. Rather than graciously deferring, however, Clemente, much as he had on Mays' bithday, contributes a big blow to a decisive, come-from-behind, 3-run rally that puts Pittsburgh ahead to stay. This time, though, instead of a 430-foot triple over Mays' head, it's an even more prodigious blast, launched in a slightly more hitter-friendly direction.

"Roberto Clemente started it with his fifth homer, a tremendous wallop over the left-center wall.'' Clemente couldn't properly celebrate his 21st birthday yesterday because there was no game but he did it tonight, two singles and a 450-foot homer. Viva Puerto Rico!

_ Sep 21 __ Mays vs. Momen: Willie's Big Bat But Base-Running BooBoos

Mays' line looks pretty impressive – single, double, triple and 2 RBI in 4 at-bats – but if not for one-sided Giants' victory, his three base-running blunders might've proven more than mere blemishes. Gaffe No. 3 has Mays getting burned by his ungrateful protégé:

"Mays, who batted in two runs in the opener, was not exactly an on-the-ties base runner. He was tagged out after overrunning the bag following his triple over the left fielder's head in the first inning. After doubling in the second, Willie was picked off second base in an attempted steal. In the seventh, Mays was doubled off following Thompson's fly to right."