Roberto Clemente 1960 Timeline

This is the 1960 installment in a chronology of memorable moments in the professional career of Roberto Clemente.

__ April 14 __ 410-Footer Followed by 440-Footer

Unfortunately For Robby, He Hit 'Em At Forbes. Nonetheless, a statement game for Roberto – in 1960, he was in for an unprecedented period of prolonged good health while, on the other hand, opposing pitchers were appearing decidedly unwell – and it wasn't about to get better anytime soon.

“Clemente starched the ball all four times he was at the plate... In the second inning Clemente lined a shot off the wall at the 406 mark... In the fifth he lashed a drive to the deepest part of centerfield toward the batting cage where Vada Pinson went back on the dead run and jumped up to take it one-handed.”

__ April 17 __ HR No. 1: The Fun Begins

Pittsburgh's first two runs come in "on Clemente's line drive homer over the wall in left center." A slightly lower trajectory produces Pittsburgh's final tally, when Clemente and Dick Stuart launch back-to-back "booming triples," not quite over but "off the wall in left center."

__ April 22 __ HR No. 2: The Party Continues

Just as he would on May 31, 1964, towards another of Forbes Field's light towers, tonight Clemente launches a stepped-up assault on the light standard he'd first targeted on July 25, 1956, when his blast off the base of the tower next to the left field scoreboard would go down as the first, and as yet only, walk-off grand slam IPHR in ML history. While obviously carrying neither the historical nor in-game import of the earlier clout, tonight's "towering home run" is pretty impressive in its own right, and its higher trajectory affords Clemente, by contrast, a more leisurely circuit of the bases:

“Groat doubled to left and Clemente sent one into orbit, about a fourth of the way up the light tower along the scoreboard and out of sight.”

__ April 30 __ HR No. 3: 'If It Isn't My Old Buddy Brosnan"

Reliever Jim Brosnan, entering game with two gone in second following five-run Buc outburst, has chance to stop bleeding but is instead greeted by RC just as rudely – if not quite so dramatically – as he had been on July 25, 1956 , in this case allowing only three-run HR which simply breaks game open rather than ending it.

__ May 01 __ HR No. 4 = Four-Run Homer = One-Sided Win

1st-inning 4-run blast is more than sufficient in 13-2 rout.

“Clemente unloaded on Newk's second pitch and sent it over the centerfield wall for the second grand slam of his career as the 8,244 fans moaned.”

__ May 05 __ HR No. 5: Robby Helps Bucs Spoil Skipper's Debut

Robby's blasts help sabotage Lou Boudreau's managerial unveiling:

“The Pirates got a run off Morehead in the third on Clemente’s triple and Dick Stuart’s second single.” “Then Roberto Clemente drove his No. 5 homer into the right-field stands.”

Latter blast brings Bucs to within two en route to 9-7 come-from-behind win.

__ May 06 __ HR No. 6: Clemente Conquers Candlestick Crosswind

aka Mays vs. Momen: Crashing Willie's Party - 5th Anniversary

Ever the ungracious guest, Roberto, just as he'd done 5 years earlier, comes to the birthday boy's house and crashes—and I do mean 'crashes'—the party; incidentally, becoming the first player in Candlestick history (then all of three and a half weeks old) to conquer the soon to be infamous crosswind.

Appropriately enough, Mays has his moment, as do all the Giants' Willies en route to a 6-1 win, but this game's signature moment is easy to discern, even for the winning pitcher, Sam Jones. "Don't forget the home run," replied the Giant starter when commended for his complete-game, 3-hit performance.

"Easily the most satisfying homer was hit by the ‘birthday boy,’ Willie Mays, who reached the age of 29 with an off-field shot in the sixth inning off shell-shocked Pirate pitching ace, Vernon Law. The line drive just eluded the acrobatic leap of Roberto Clemente, hit the top of the right field barrier and bounced high over the fence. [...] 'The lost balls were belted, in order, by Willie McCovey (a 410-foot liner to right center), Willie Kirkland (a 430-foot job that bounced into the right field parking lot), Mays’ birthday hit, and then the biggest shot of them all, and that one belonged to Roberto Clemente. Roberto’s blow traveled 410 feet, but it was hit into the treacherous cross-wind in left center. Pittsburgh manager Danny Murtaugh said afterward that he’d ‘like to see Clemente’s hit on a clear day with no wind and see how far it really would go.’"

Precisely how far it did go remains unclear. 450 feet or thereabouts is the figure published by Clemente biographers Anold Hano and Kal Wagenheim, while AP's Ed Wilks eschews distance in favor of direction ("the left-centerfield fence at the 397 mark") while echoing the editorial consensus: "It was really hit." Arnold Hano elaborates:

"Clemente's bat hit the ball, and the result absolutely clubbed the crowd into awed silence for a long moment. Right into that wet whipping wind the ball carried. Right on through, hit 120 feet high in a long soaring majestic parabola that came down finally over 450 feet away. There is just no way of telling how far Clemente’s home run blast would have traveled had it not been for that wind. Suffice it to say partisan Giant fans suddenly broke their shell-shocked silence and let loose a gigantic roar. For two innings the stadium buzzed. For days the Giants talked about it. Even today if you slip up behind a Giant pitcher and suddenly whisper in his ear: ‘Remember the home run Clemente hit?’ he’s likely to jump as high as if he’d been caught putting spit on baseballs."

A piece published in the Los Angeles Times 10 days after the fact puts Clemente's clout into context:

"Speaking of the wind, and everybody does, it blew so hard here the other night that the minute hand on the big scoreboard clock actually was blown ahead 10 minutes. And Willie Mays, who has yet to hit a homer into the left-field stands, has an opinion of Candlestick which is graphic, specific and fulsome, but is unfit to print. Excluding Ed Bressoud’s inside-the-park round-tripper, there hasn’t been a homer hit to left in the daytime to date. Four players – Ernie Banks, Orlando Cepeda, Roberto Clemente and Jim Davenport – parked balls in the seats under the lights."

Two of those home runs—Banks’ and Cepeda’s—were hit in a single game, and all but Clemente's were hit in virtually windless conditions. Regarding the first two, Oakland Tribune writer Alan Ward writes:

"It was noticeable that the wind had dwindled to the mildest of breezes when both the homers were recorded. Later the air currents were reactivated and there were no more homers to left field. A pair to right, yes, and both by Giants – Willie Kirkland in the seventh and Willie McCovey in the eighth."

Similarly undeterred—as per Bob Wolf of the Milwaukee Journal—was Davenport's modest drive, hit on May 2nd:

"His first pitch was a fastball, inside and around the shoulders, and Davenport pulled it into the left field bleachers near the 335 foot mark on the foul line.

No Wind

This was the fourth home run of the season for Davenport, who hit only six all last year. And the ironical part of it was that he hit it in a direction in which home runs were supposed to have been next to impossible because of the prevailing winds in the new park. 'They talk about how hard it is to hit a home run to left field, yet a Punch and Judy hitter gets one to beat us.' coach Bob Scheffing said after the game."

__ May 14 __ Robby's Blow Beats Braves in 11

“Clemente’s two-out, two-run triple in the eleventh resulted in a 6-4 Pirate victory... Don Hoak doubled, Bob Skinner was purposely passed, and both scored when Clemente tripled off the left-field fence... Clemente’s winning hit just eluded Covington. The Milwakee outfielder made a great try, but the ball bounced off the top of the wall.”

__ May 19 __ Mays vs. Momen: Well, Not Exactly...

Although this 8-3 trouncing – with mighty contributions from Momen – is administered not to San Francisco but rather St. Louis, that does not prevent UPI's Fred Down from framing his story in terms of Clemente-Mays rivalry:

“Clemente went on a 4-for-5 tear, two doubles and two singles. He's hit in 14 of the Pirates' last 15 games to raise his average to .372, only four points behind Mays' .376... Even more astonishing has been Clemente's sudden development into a power hitter. He has never previously hit more than seven homers or driven in more than 60 runs in a season but he's already hit six homers and knocked in 29 runs this year.”

_ May 20 __ Mays vs. Momen: Momen Passes Mentor And Beats Giants

“The Pirates now have a 1 1/2 game lead over San Francisco in the NL pennant race, thanks to Bob Clemente. Clemente, hitting in 15 of his last 16 games, took over the batting lead and kept the Bucs in business, capping their two-run 12th inning with a two-out single that beat the Giants 5-4.”

Here's a photo of RC doing a bit of post-game celebrating with winning pitcher Fred Green.

_ May 21 __ Mays vs. Momen: Take That, PeeWee

“Clemente drilled Byerly's first serve on a line to deep center and Willie Mays raced back to the batting cage and turned it into a sacrifice fly. In many other ball parks, it would have been a homer or an extra base hit off the wall.”

Just as Forbes Field cannot quite contain the reaction to this dramatic turn of events, the Pittsburgh Press account of those events will not be confined to the sports pages:

“The roar that went up with Roberto Clemente's oh-so-close-to-the-fence hit yesterday drifted into Carnegie Music Hall in the midst of some of the most peacefully beautiful music of the past 20 years."

When all is said and done, however, the quiet power of the Creston String Quartet will withstand the challenge posed, albeit indirectly, by Clemente's resounding long ball bid:

“And it was a significant indication of the quality of the music that despite the two men on base, despite the transistor radios going faintly in the lobby, no one in the Music Hall took any notice of the offstage noises.”

_ May 22 __ Mays vs. Momen: Say Hey' Protege Protects Pirates' Position

RC bats in Bucs' first two in fourth and scores walk-off game-winner in eleventh.

“Roberto Clemente started the Giants’ downfall in the 11th with a double down the right field line.”

_ May 24 __ Robby's Revenge: Podres Punished; Dodgers Saved by Doctor

Strangeglove, that is

“With two out [in the fifth], Bob Skinner legged out an infield hit, Dick Groat walked and Clemente lashed a double to left to score Skinner. Dick Stuart ended the threat by striking out.” “The fans really got on Stuart when he grounded out after Clemente tripled with two away [in the seventh].”

_ May 29 __ Pittsburgh Wins This Intra-State Contest

“The Pirates jumped on Roberts for two runs in the first on a double by Hoak, a single by Groat, an infield out, a single by Nelson and a sacrifice fly by Clemente... Clemente’s spectacular catch of Pancho Herrera’s sinking liner saved two runs.”

Beneficiary of Robby's offensive and defensive largesse, starting pitcher Vernon Law, will recall his good fortune many years later:

“He chased a lot of my mistakes. He made so many clutch catches for me.”

_ May 31 __ Cincinnati Reds versus Roberto Clemente

Reds v. Robby

Recalling '56 walkoff shots and anticipating Promethean late-sixties performances, RC once again torches Reds:

“Clemente enacted his heroic role with a bases-loaded single in the 11th to give the Pirates a 4-3 victory over Cincinnati... Dick Groat scored the first Pirate run in the first inning by singling ahead of Clemente’s double.”

_ Jun 05 __ Double Defeat Despite Robby's Best Efforts

Pirates stub toes twice on fellow Pennsylvanians:

“Clemente was the hitting star for his team. He had two singles and a double in the first game and two singles in the second game.”

_ Jun 21 __ First Stab at 436 (*): Floyd Patterson Style

*Also, see 8/2/60, 5/07/61, 5/31/61, 5/1/66, 6/5/66 and 6/9/66, as well as 7/8/69.

This BP blast, one hop off the bricks in right center, comes one day after RC attends the Patterson-Johansson rematch. Said contest having ended in 5th-round KO of the previously victorious Swede, RC nows 'calls' his BP shot, claiming he'll emulate Patterson's bout-ending blow. Had he been present, FP could hardly have been insulted by the result:

"Clemente picked up a bat and walked toward the batting cage for his practice swings [and] said, “Watch me. I hit one like Floyd Patterson.” He sat himself deep in the batter’s box, uncoiled and lined the first pitch to deep center field. The ball hit the 436-foot mark on one bounce.”

_ July 01 __ Robby's Revenge: JC and RC / Fleet Feet Beat LA

Before Christopher and Clemente combine to steal this game from LA, RC has resorted to more conventional means to achieve desired end:

“The Pirates scored a pair in the sixth when Groat walked, Clemente doubled, Stuart was purposely walked and Gino Cimoli unloaded a two-run single.”

Though this lead will prove short-lived, Pittsburgh does prevail, utilizing speed rather than power:

“But after Johnny Podres retired Bob Skinner for the first out in the last of the 10th, Joe Christopher doubled (his second major league base hit) to kayo Podres. Johnny’s replacement, Larry Sherry, retired Dick Groat on a fly, but the fleet Christopher then tied the score by racing in on Roberto Clemente’s infield single. Maury Wills fielded the bouncer and pegged to Gil Hodges. Clemente was safe by inches, and Christopher slid in a fraction of a second before Hodges’ peg to the plate arrived. Hitless in three previous trips and the target of boo-birds, Dick Stuart sliced a lazy fly ball down the right-field line. Clemente, of course, was off and running at the crack of the bat. Frank Howard lumbered over to pick up the ball, hesitated before throwing, and then fired wildly between third base and home as Clemente scored standing up. An accurate throw might have nailed the mercurial Puerto Rican, but the Pirates aren’t about to play this one over.”

_ July 09 __ RC's Stellar D Can't Quite Stave Off Defeat

1st-inning single followed by singularly frustrating game for RC; he accounts for all but one of Philly starter Gene Conley's 4 strikeouts. By contrast, Clemente's combination of defensive athleticism, aptitude and effort saves Bucs at least three runs:

“With the score tied 1-apiece and one out in the ninth, Taylor and Herrera brought victory to Conley by belting consecutive hits against the wall in right-center field. The triple that Taylor blasted against Vernon Law couldn't be caught. The ball banged up against the wall to the left of the scoreboard and only a fine retrieve by Roberto Clemente prevented an inside-the-park homer... Three good defensive plays [had] saved the Pirates in the seventh... Virdon scooped up Callison's looping liner to left-center] and fired to Hoak in time to force Taylor at third. Clay Dalrymple followed with a screaming smash toward the right-field wall only to see Clemente make a spectacular, leaping catch.”

_ July 11 __ Robby Robbed in First All-Star Appearance

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 RC's friend, mentor and 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, 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 ninth inning of Monday’s All-Star game.”

_ July 25 __ HR No. 7: Long HR Ends Long HR Drought

Insurance run in victory over St. Louis is provided by RC's moonshot off left-field scoreboard, this long blast ending an even longer home run drought, stretching all the way back to May 6.

“Clemente gave Friend a 4-2 edge when he led off the ninth and sent Kline's first pitch sailing against the lower edge of the scoreboard in left-center.”

Incidentally, if 'July 25' seems to ring a bell, congratulations: you've obviously been paying attention – see 1954 and 1956.

_ Aug 02 __ Second Stab at 436 (*): RC Robbed by 'Fan'

* Also, see 6/21/60, 5/07/61, 5/31/61, 5/1/66, 6/5/66 and 6/9/66, as well as 7/8/69.

With two on, two out and no score in the 6th, center fielder—and Clemente admirer—Duke Snider goes to considerable lengths to frustrate his favorite right fielder:

"Alston put Rocky Nelson on to pitch to Clemente and got him on a long drive to deep right where Snider just did catch up with the ball in the sixth." "Clemente clouted an ‘extra-baser’ which Snider caught with one hand near the center-field wall."

Incidentally, RC should probably not complain about being robbed since, a mere two innings earlier, he himself has performed a bit of 'armed' robbery with Norm Larker playing the hapless victim though Larker, for his part, claims it's the umpire who's robbed him.

"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."

Apparently not content with retroactive retribution, Clemente's 'lethal weapon' once again proves pivotal two innings later.

"Williams learned how costly his [7th-inning] error was when John Roseboro led off the eighth with a single. Roseboro, batting for Williams, lined 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."

_ Aug 05 __ Mays vs. Momen: Not Done Mistreating Mays... Nor Mutilating Himself

Frightening catch-and-crash into right-center wall deprives Giants of leadoff extra-baser, preserving scoreless pitching duel later won by Bucs, 1-0. Giants' beat writer Bob Stevens is moved to comment:

"Clemente smashed face-on into the concrete base of the right-centerfield stands, at the 395-foot mark, and collapsed in the dirt warning track he had ignored in his pursuit of the certain double. It required five stitches to close a laceration on his chin and his left knee was sorely damaged. The catch had to rank with the greatest of all time, as well as [being] one of the most frightening to watch and painful to make."

_ Aug 13 __ HR No. 8: "Pirates Halt Cards, 4 to 1; Clemente Bats In All Runs"

Harvey Haddix makes RC's tie-breaking, 2-run blast stand up.

“Clemente, who went hitless Friday night in his return after running into the right field wall, singled home Groat in the first inning, whacked one over the left-center wall with Groat aboard in the third and beat out an infield single in the fourth for his fourth RBI.”

_ Aug 16 __ Walkoff Walk?... Well, no, actually, but game-winner nonetheless

Following three straight bunt singles to start off 9th, visibly rattled Robin Roberts administers utterly unintentional free pass to one Roberto Clemente who, despite his free-swinging and prideful reputation (and that of Latin-American players in general, at least of that era), is evidently not entirely inflexible in his determination to accept no handouts. Thus is broken 3-3 tie produced by RC's 6th-inning RBI single.

_ Aug 21 __ HR No. 9: But Bucs Come Up Short

Back-to-back two-out 8th-inning solo shots by Stuart and Clemente put Pitt back in contention at 6-4, but Burgess grounds out, Reds add on two more in ninth, and Reds’ writer/reliever Jim Brosnan comes in to shut down bottom of order in bottom of ninth.

_ Aug 24 __ HR No. 10: Third Time's the Charm

Prior to final-frame heroics, RC has accumulated 3 singles, scoring Bucs' first run and driving in sixth, thus helping to furnish first two – ultimately blown – Buc leads.

“Successive ninth-inning homers by Dick Stuart and Roberto Clemente propelled the Pittsburgh Pirates over the Chicago Cubs 10-6. Each of the home runs sailed over the left field wall and came on first pitches by Don Elston.”

_ Aug 30 __ HR No. 11 aka Robby's Revenge: Longest 'Wrong'- Field Blast, Says Sandy

Koufax, victim of this particular bit of RC-authored brutality, will later call this the longest ball he's ever seen hit to the opposite field, hit "not just over the fence," but "way out." Described at the time as a "liner over the 375-foot mark in right field," the home run had actually cleared a point 394 feet from home plate, which had simply been marked incorrectly.

The following excerpt from Frank Finch's piece written the following spring gives us some perspective on Clemente's shot, illustrating how difficult it was for a right-handed batter at the Coliseum – particularly circa 1960 – to get a ball over the right-field fence at all, much less "way out":

"In the matter of home runs, it is evident by now that the Coliseum right-field fence was moved closer to the plate [this season], despite the wails and doubts of some long-ball blasters. In 10 games, five round-trippers were hit to right – by Johnny Callison, Duke Snider, Bill Virdon, Bill Cunningham and John Roseboro. That’s an average of one every two games.

"Last year, right-field homers were hit on an average of every 2.75 games – 28 in 77 games, to be exact. The Dodgers hammered 18: Duke Snider (7), John Roseboro (3), Frank Howard (3), and one apiece by Willie Davis, Ron Fairly, Jim Gilliam, Norm Larker and Irv Noren. Visiting athletes connected 10 times: Willie McCovey and Billy Williams (twice each), and [one each by] Ed Bailey, Gordy Coleman, Roberto Clemente, Eddie Mathews, Bill White and Willie Kirkland."

A quick click on each of the above-mentioned names will confirm that only one of the Dodgers—the 6 foot 7, 255 pound Frank Howard—and none of the visiting players apart from Clemente—all 170–to–175 pounds of him—were of the right-handed persuasion.

_ Aug 31 __ HR No. 12 aka Mays vs. Momen: Many-Faceted Team Tames One-Man Army

As with so many Buc victories during this magical 1960 season, the contributions come from many quarters, Clemente’s two-out, two-run homer and Elroy Face’s clutch closeout being merely two of the most prominent.

"Right after the Giants mishandled a double-play ball that would have ended the inning without a score, Roberto Clemente slammed a home run over the right-field screen and just barely clear of the foul pole... Before Face had completed his two and two-thirds innings on the mound he had struck out six Giants and nailed the remaining two on routine grounders to shortstop Dick Groat."

As for the not-so-well gelling Giants, Mays does his best to will a W their way with a single, double and near-HR his first time up, but falls victim – as does the rest of the Giant lineup – to the aforementioned Face in his final at-bat:

“With the tying run at the plate and one out in the seventh, the incredible Elroy Face made his 58th clutch appearance of the campaign. He struck out Willie Mays and whiffed Felipe Alou.”

_ Sep 01 __ HR No. 13 aka Mays vs. Momen: Clemente Conquers Candlestick Crosswind #2

First-inning 3-run blast puts Pittsburgh ahead to stay. Going against the wind at Candlestick for the second time this year, this long shot to left-center is dubbed by SF's publicist "the hardest hit ball there all year." Described by the Chronicle's Bob Stevens as "over and beyond the 420-mark", this is clearly much closer to dead center than its storied predecessor, RC's legendary May 6 blast.

_ Sep 04 __ HR No. 14: RC's Long Poke Puts Pittsburgh Closer to Clinching NL Pennant

"Clemente powered a 420-foot shot into the center-field portion of the stands at Forbes Field."

Prodigious poke provides insurance in 5-3 win as Dick Groat-less Bucs continue to chip away at ever-more-miniscule magic number in all-but-settled NL pennant race.

_ Sep 13 __ HR No. 15 aka Mays vs. Momen: Mike McCormick's 400-Plus-Foot Hiccup

Mays rattles Maz, ignites 3-run burst; Clemente clout makes it close.

“Twice McCormick set the side down in order, and were it not for a momentarily frightening blast over the left-field wall by Roberto Clemente in the seventh, Mike would have breezed to the wire. [An early 1-1 tie lasted] until the sixth. With one down, Mays tripled. He lined safely between center fielder Gino Cimoli and right fielder Clemente and was only five feet past second base when second baseman Mazeroski accepted Clemente’s throw-in. But Willie startled Maz, who threw wide of third and Mays was in, easy."

"A wild pitch bought Willie home, Mizell walked Cepeda and Kirkland, and Eddie Bressoud chopped a single up the middle to give McCormick a 4-1 lead. Mike needed them all. For in the seventh, another inning in which McCormick struck out the side, Cimoli singled and Clemente wafted his 15th home run of the season. It was 4-3, but Mike was unperturbed. Quickly he dispensed of both Dick Stuart and Hal Smith on swinging third strikes.”

_ Sep 24 __ HR No. 16: Not Quite Enough to Win But Bucs Back Into Share of NL Flag Anyway

Third-round bases-empty blast off Burdette puts Pitt in scoring column but that's all she wrote – 1st and 6th-inning singles go for naught as RC dies twice at third.

_ Oct 12 __ Yanks-Bucs, Game Six: Robby's Blast Just Misses Putting Pittsburgh Up, 1-0

Just a few feet foul or maybe this game goes another way...

"Clemente brought a roar from the crowd with a long foul into the right field stands that narrowly missed being a home run. Clemente singled sharply into right field. Stuart struck out."

Perhaps it is this roar-inducing near miss to which Ford refers when speaking to sportswriter Jerry Izenberg many years later:

“Whitey Ford, who pitched against him twice in the Series, recalls that Roberto actually made himself look bad on an outside pitch to encourage Whitey to come back with it. ‘I did,’ Ford recalls, ‘and he unloaded.’”

Nonetheless, the ball is foul (eerily prescient—complete with followup opposite-field single—of its considerably less obscure 1971 Series counterpart), and thus are we not deprived of what, arguably, will prove to be the World Series' most memorable game 7 ever. But getting back to today's game, Clemente accumulates one more single; unfortunately his teammates manage just five of their own as Ford continues his mastery over Pittsburgh, RC excluded.