Roberto Clemente 1967 Timeline

This is the 1967 installment in a chronology of memorable moments in the professional career of Roberto Clemente.

__ Feb 18 __ Vanquished by 'The King' (of Softball, that is)

An oft recounted -- and considerably embellished -- close encounter of the blurred kind between the self-proclaimed "King of Softball" and at least seven prominent big leaguers, all seven fanned by Eddie Feigner -- including future Hall-of-Famers Clemente, Brooks Robinson, Willie Mays, Harmon Killebrew and Willie McCovey (the final three, in succession), as well as Frank Howard and Maury Wills. If not quite as stark as has long been portrayed (i.e. a two-inning exhibition with Feigner striking out all six batters faced), the mismatch is pronounced nonetheless, as this exhibition contest (taped on this date and broadcast in abbreviated form on November 28) generously affords its Hollywood celebrities the handy option of bringing in their ringer/reliever on multiple occasions, thus averting a big league blowout.

__ Mar 27 __ Sports Expert: 'No Tape Measure Jobs For RC'

"No Record of Any 'Tape-Measure Jobs' on Roberto Clemente" Say WHAT??!!!

This confident pronouncement by syndicated, self-proclaimed 'sports expert' Fred Imhof would be hard to fathom were it not typical of pundits across the board, both then and now. Sports-Talk icon Mike Francesa and Pulitzer Prize winner David Maraniss are just two of the more celebrated recent victims of this persistent collective blind spot. In order to shed some small particle of light on this sadly neglected subject, let's flash back to 1966.

• Mar 14 – 450-Foot Grapefruit Game-Winner
• Mar 24 – 500-Foot G G-W
• May 01 – "The Hardest Ball I Ever Saw Hit" : Fifth-inning line drive high off wall above 436-foot mark makes big impression on young Ron Swoboda.
• May 13 – Tape-Measure Triple: 440-to-450-footer off Forbes Field's distant left-center wall leads to deciding run.
• Jun 05 – Five Hundred-Footer
• Jun 09 – And That Makes a Thousand: Four days later, hit to almost the identical spot.
• September 24 – Gargantuan Game-Winner: "tremendous 440-foot drive over the right-center field fence."

__ Apr 23 __ Robby Beats Fergy, Fergy Beats Bucs

“Clemente opened the sixth with a long poke onto the left-field catwalk.”

Unfortunately for Bucs, this will be their final score, down by four. However, minus Fergy's first-frame fielding gem, Robby would have done even more damage – both to Cubs and Jenkins.

“Jenkins helped his own cause by spearing Clemente’s smash to the mound and starting a rundown that ended with Wills being tagged out by Ron Santo.”

__ May 01 __ Two-Run, 420-Foot Blast Proves Decisive

“Clemente’s homer was a 420-foot drive over the center-field fence following a single by Mota.”

__ May 04 __ Robby's Revenge: Served Up Old Testament Style

“Before Drysdale retired, he took a physical pounding from the Pirates. Clemente’s third hit almost tore Don’s right hand off, and later in the same inning Donn Clendenon’s drive drilled Drysdale on the shins so hard that it bounced to first base, where Wes Parker made an easy put-out. Clemente, who wangled a $100, 000 contract out of the front office this year to join such financiers as Drysdale, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Juan Marichal and Mickey Mantle, certainly is showing his gratitude. The free-swinging star boosted his average to .388, and has to be rated an odds-on favorite to capture his fourth National League batting crown.”

Exactly one month after giving Drysdale this very visceral bit of payback, Clemente will exact some less symmetrical but perhaps more satisfying retribution upon his ‘tormentor’ – see below.

__ May 06 __ Mays vs. Momen: Birthday Crashers, Final Chapter

One last ‘Say-Hey birthday’ crashing opportunity is presented to our protagonist in the midst of arguably the greatest month – within the greatest year – of Roberto Clemente's career; compared to the numbers he piles up during the rest of May, his rather unimposing line for this game – one single in four at-bats with one run scored – would lead one to believe Momen’s manners have improved, but upon closer examination, the impudent and incorrigible Clemente emerges: manufacturing that run with a typically Maysian maneuver. Although Bob Stevens’ S.F. Chronicle item contains no specific mention of anything triggering left fielder Ken Henderson's fumble of Mazeroski’s single (which allowed Clemente to score all the way from first base), Clemente routinely provokes this type of error, taking enormous turns, forcing the issue, forcing the outfielder to make the throw. As Al Jackson recalls:

“He was the only player I ever saw who would hit a single to left field and round the base so hard he would get halfway to second and have to hit the dirt and slide to stop himself, then pop up and get back to first base. If the left fielder bobbled the ball, he would be into second easily – but he always got back to first if he had to. He played that hard and intensely all the time.”

__ May 12 __ 400-Foot, Bases-Empty Blast Puts Pitt Ahead to Stay

“Clemente rocked loser Pat Jarvis for a 400-foot blast over the left-center wall.” "His resounding home run gave the Pirates the lead in the third and his single in the three-run seventh was the hit that finished Jarvis."

7th-inning single plus aggressive baserunning add up to necessary insurance in 5-2 win. Necessary, but not sufficient. RC's defensive skills will be required before this win is secured, as starter Billy O'Dell falters five outs shy of finish line:

"Face got the last five outs as O'Dell beat the Braves last night, 5-2. Said Face to O'Dell: 'You did a great job with that junk you throw.' Said O'Dell to Face: 'After you came in, I looked like Walter Johnson.' In the eighth, with one out, Mike de la Hoz, a pinch-hitter, punched the clock atop the scoreboard - the fourth hit off O'Dell and an automatic home run. O'Dell had developed a blister on his middle finger and couldn't grip the ball tight to throw breaking stuff, he said. De la Hoz hit a fastball and with Face on the scene, it was probably the last one the Braves saw. They kept Roberto Clemente busy chasing long flies in right field for what was left of the game but as Face said afterward, 'Clemente makes the most money, so he should do the most work.'"'

__ May 14 __ Thanks, Hank: Frustrated by Forbes, Admired by Aaron

“Aaron whistled when he talked of the two shots Roberto Clemente drilled. One struck the left field wall and bounced back on the field for a double. The other traveled over Mack Jones’ head in dead center (450 feet) and he got a triple.”

How colossal an irony that this game which, in conjunction with the next (Clemente's legendary 3 HR, 7 RBI Crosley Field Massacre), illustrates so perfectly his dilemma (i.e. that, by virtue of both the Forbes Field factor and batting instructor George Sisler's influence, Clemente has never, and perhaps never will be, recognized as a true 'elite', five-tool player), should occur on the same day that Mickey Mantle enters the then quite exclusive 500 home run club. All the more ironic since, in Clemente's eyes, it's probably Mantle more than anyone, or at least the worshipful media treatment accorded Mantle, that symbolizes the media's double standard vis-à-vis white vs. non-white – especially Latin American – players.

__ May 15 __ RC's 3 HR + 7 RBI = Cincinnati 8, Clemente 7

Also throw in a 2-run double plus a 9th-inning defensive gem which temporarily staves off the eventual heartbreaking 8-7 loss.

"He hit a first-inning, two-run homer to right field and came back with another two-run homer to right-center, both off Milt Pappas and Bob Veale had a two-run lead after two innings. When the Reds got close with three runs in the sixth inning and kayoed Veale, Clemente again took charge. " "The Pirates came back for two runs in the seventh on two walks and Clemente's double off the left-center field scoreboard." "[N]ow the Pirate lead grew to 6-3. Pete Mikkelsen got into trouble in the Reds’ seventh and gave up two more runs and, once again, Clemente came to the rescue. This time he hammered a two-out home run far over the left field fence off Gerry Arrigo and the Pirates were ahead, 7-5. But Lee May dropped a two-run homer into the right-center seats off Juan Pizarro to tie it up in the ninth after Pizarro [had] pitched out of a jam in the Reds’ eighth. Then with two gone and Pete Rose on first base in the 10th, Perez lined a two-bagger off the center field wall and Rose scored easily."

Actually, the game has only gone to extra innings thanks to RC's athleticism on the other side of the ball.

"Clemente also prevented the Reds from winning in the ninth when pitcher Gerry Arrigo smashed a drive that was headed over the fence. He leaped into the air, tipped it and the ball caromed for a double."

But there's only so much one man can do, even the defending NL MVP.

"The Pirates were marking time until Clemente's next trip to the plate. But Tony Perez got there first, leaving Clemente with a night to remember and an empty feeling." "Perez knocked in the Reds' winning run by lashing a two-base hit just out of the reach of Clemente's outstretched hand."

Clemente’s amazing performance – and the Pirates’ inability to take advantage of it – is something of a microcosm for his tremendous but similarly frustrating ’67 season as a whole; all of Clemente’s contributions to the Pirates’ run total can’t quite keep pace with the Pirate pitchers’ even more generous contributions to their ostensible opponent’s final tally.

__ May 16 __ The Day After – RC's Pre-Game Fireworks

"The night Clemente put on his show, only 5,222 fans showed up in Cincinnati. The next night, the attendance jumped to 13,389 and Clemente put on a display during batting practice. He lofted five out of six balls out of the park in all directions and when he left the batting cage, the fans applauded. ‘It’s the first time I’ve seen that since Ted Williams’ days with the Red Sox,’ coach Johnny Pesky remarked."

_ May 20 __ Momen in May: The Mayhem Continues

"Clemente got Veale off to a 1-0 start with his seventh homer against Dick Kelley in the fourth inning. Clemente's long homer was the first hit off Kelley and the Bucs used an error to help score a solo run in the fifth. [...] The sixth inning was weird and the Pirates scored three runs on just one hit and that a leadoff pop-fly double to shallow center by Manny Mota. Then came a sacrifice, an intentional walk to Clemente and Bill Mazeroski's excellent squeeze bunt. At this point Jay Ritchie replaced Kelley and the Braves promptly booted two consecutive double play balls. [...] The Pirates tacked on a sixth run in the eighth inning against knuckleballer Phil Niekro. Clemente opened with a double to right, took third on an out and scored on Clendenon's single to left.”

_ May 24 __ Clemente & Clendenon Manage to Save Face

Clutch clouts from Clem and Clen make up for Maz miscue.

"Face, who was touched for an unearned run in the seventh inning, picked up the victory – his third – when Roberto Clemente homered and Donn Clendenon hit a sacrifice fly to drive in two runs in the eighth." "After the Astros scored on a throwing error by Bill Mazeroski in the seventh, Clemente rapped home run No. 8 into the seats in left center to tie the game against Barry Latman.”

_ May 28 __ 'Wrong'-Field Upper-Decker Rips Reds Again

"Clemente, bidding for his second straight MVP award, drove in the Pirates’ first two runs to increase his RBI total for the season to 34.” " Ellis had two strikes on Clemente in the sixth inning when Clemente hit a long, wrong-way homer into the upper deck of the right-field stands.”

_ Jun 04 __ Robby's Revenge: RC's 2 Home Runs Drop Drysdale

aka Sorry Don, I Guess Slime Doesn't [always] Pay

With two out, bases empty and Bucs down 1-0 in the 5th, RC launches 400-footer , first dinger off Drysdale since September 15, 1966, when he and Stargell had gone back to back [and – yeah, yeah, OK – belly to belly]. Two innings later, 2 out, 2 on, game still tied, Drysdale takes the all-too-familiar low – or should we say 'high and tight' – road, planting Robby firmly on his butt. RC gets up, dusts himself off and proceeds to take ball two and ball three, stopping only then to confer with third-base coach Alex Grammas. When play resumes, he fouls off ball four. At this juncture, Drysdale, either too proud or too foolish to either flat-out hit the batter or flat-out issue the IBB, instead attempts yet another ill-fated foot-outside offering, this one met decisively, dispatched with extreme prejudice, and deposited into the center field seats some 430 feet from home plate. Drysdale's terse response when asked what pitch Clemente hit for the game-winner?

"Ball four."

_ Jun 13 __ "Roberto’s Rifle Wing Amazes Fans, Shoots Down Cardinals"

"Clemente staged a dazzling show from right field against the Cardinals, gunning down two runners at the plate. He had the crowd in a frenzy. Tim McCarver’s single skipped through Clemente’s legs and went back to the right field wall near the foul line. Orlando Cepeda tried to score from first, but Clemente raced after the ball, whirled and threw a strike straight into Jerry May’s hands – and on the fly. Cepeda barreled into May, but was out. Even the Cardinals were flabbergasted that Clemente could pick up a ball 300 feet away and fire it all the way in the air, almost blindly, yet on target. An inning later, Clemente almost duplicated the feat on Curt Flood. This time, Clemente chased Bob Tolan’s double down the right field line and caught up with it in the right field corner. Flood, who was on first with two outs, was given the green light by coach Joe Schultz but again Clemente fired a strike all the way to May – again with no bounce – and Flood bit the dust.

"An inning later, Clemente almost made it three for three in the throwing department. The Cards had three on with one out when Dal Maxvill lined to Clemente. Again Cepeda was on third. When the ball soared toward Clemente, Schultz whispered to Cepeda: 'Want to challenge him again?' 'Yes,' emphatically answered Cepeda. Clemente had to go back a step or two to flag down Maxvill’s fly and then threw side-arm instead of over-handed. The ball landed a few feet toward third base as Cepeda beat the throw and the ball bounced into the seats for an extra run. The Cards understood why Clemente threw all the way in the air on the other two hits to nail runners at the plate. The infield [in Forbes Field] is concrete hard and a ball can bounce either 50 feet high or skip away, never to be seen again."

_ Jun 27 __ 440-Foot BP Blast in Lieu of "Odd Couple" Cameo

“Now it was Clemente’s turn in the batting cage. Hollywood crept closer, hoping Roberto would give him and the movie another chance. Clemente was swinging from the heels, trying to drive the ball all the way to LaGuardia Airport. His last swing, he socked a pitch about 440 feet, over the wall in left-centerfield. “‘Hey movieman,’ he shouted. ‘take a picture of that home run and put it in your picture. You can have it for nothing."

_ July 08 __ Momen vs. May?... Mismatch

"The Reds failed to score in the seventh because of a brilliant defensive play by Roberto Clemente. The Reds threatened when May tripled and pinch-hitter Jake Wood singled. But Clemente faked May into tagging up * and then threw out the Cincinnati runner after fielding Wood's single on one bounce.”

* Particularly unfortunate choice of patsy since May has just been collared by Clemente – albeit much more conventionally – less than 20 hours before.

_ July 15 __ Fighting Fire with Fire: Gibson Goes Down

Notwithstanding last month's apparent renunciation of Old Testament-style justice vis-a-vis Drysdale, Robby here regresses, Golden Rule be damned, extracting his 'pound of flesh' from BG via one vicious, leg-breaking line drive. Gibson will recreate this moment in his 1994 autobiography:

"We were ahead 1-0 when my old pal Clemente led off the fourth with the Pirates’ first hit – a line drive off my right shin. I couldn’t get up right away, and Bob Bauman rushed out to check my leg and spray ethyl chloride on it. I said, ‘I hate to tell you, Doc, but you’re spraying the wrong place.’ He advised me to take a look, and I saw what he saw – a dent in the skin the shape of a baseball. It was odd that I couldn’t feel where I had been struck, but since I couldn’t feel it, I wasn’t particularly worried. I told Doc to put a little tape on it and let me get back to work. Willie Stargell was the next batter, and I walked him. Then Bill Mazeroski popped out, and the count was three and two on Donn Clendenon when I tried to put a little extra on the payoff pitch and collapsed. The fibula bone had snapped above the ankle. I was taken to Jewish Hospital, my leg was put in a cast, and I was out of the pennant race for nearly eight weeks.."

Though deprived of possible Cy Young award, Gibby recovers in time to lead St. Louis to the promised land.

_ July 17 __ Robber-to's Standing O: Crime Victims Salute Criminal

"Clemente robbed Joe Torre with a lunging catch of his pop fly in the third inning with two on and the [hometown Milwaukee] fans applauded him en route to the bench. They even applauded him when he went to the bat in the fourth inning."

For some nice photoreportage on this one, see "NO FLIES ON CLEMENTE".

_ July 27 __ Mays-Like Maneuver Pays Dividends

The one-time prospective Olympian reaches back into his track and field repertoire:

"Clemente beat out a high hopper with one gone in the sixth, took third on Mazeroski’s single and showed the fans how to run the bases after Manny Mota bounced to Harrison. Bateman had the ball to tag Clemente but Clemente waited until Bateman made his move, then jumped over him and touched home plate with his hand."

_ July 30 __ Mays vs. Momen: Two-Way Triumph

RC's sixth-inning two-run shot puts Bucs on top to stay; shameless seventh-inning theft of Willie’s extra-base bid helps keep it that way.

"Alley, with one out, singled to right and Clemente lined a low shot over the fence in right center for his 15th circuit swat... Clemente hit [a foul] homer, missing the right field screen by a couple of feet, then socked his homer on the next pitch."

_ Aug 01 __ Mays – and Marichal – vs. Momen: Juan Beats Bucs, Survives Robby

With baseballs being manhandled by Mays and Momen, it's Marichal's magic and Lanier's leather that tip the balance:

"“Using every pitch in his classic repertoire and his bat, Juan Marichal became the third NL hurler to win 14 games this season when he threw and hit the Giants to a 3-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates. For a moment in the third inning, Marichal trailed, 1-0, on a single by Matty Alou and a whistling line-drive triple by the redoubtable Roberto Clemente, who also doubled to collect two of Pittsburgh’s six hits off the premier right-hander in the major leagues. With one out in the seventh [and the Giants leading, 2-1], Willie Mays came out of a month-long home-run drought with a line drive over the right centerfield screen at the 380-foot mark. It was the elder statesman’s first home run since he hit two in St. Louis on June 28, his 14th of the year and the 556th of his career." "In the eighth, after a sensational play by shortstop Hal Lanier robbed Maury Wills of a hit, Marichal outduelled Clemente with one on and two out. Just as he had prior to his triple, Clemente swung at a three-and-nothing pitch. The count progressed to three-and-two, and the three-time league batting king banged out three wicked-looking fouls. Then Juan nailed him on a line drive to Jesus Alou in right field." "'That man makes contact every time,' said Juan after the game. 'He never misses.'"

_ Aug 02 __ Mays – and Gay – vs. Momen: Clemente Conquers Candlestick Crosswind #3

“Perry made only one serious mistake: the 9th-inning slider, intended for the outer edge of the plate, that instead floated inside to Roberto Clemente. The .356-hitting Clemente blinked in happy disbelief, then lashed the pitch over the left-field fence.”

And not just over the fence, but "25 rows in" with "the wind blowing 30 miles per hour against him," this from the evidently still shell-shocked Perry almost 30 years after the fact. Of course, even if Pitt starter Dennis Ribant doesn't get knocked out in round 3, Mays' first two at-bats – 2-run HR and RBI double – trump Momen's last-minute blast.

_ Aug 21 __ Clemente's Clout Foils Fergy

The first but far from the last of many such encounters:

"Clemente’s 18th homer was hit off the loser, Ferguson Jenkins, in the third inning. Maury Wills and Matty Alou singled before Clemente’s clout into the right-field stands." "Clemente singled to drive across the fourth run of the night in the fifth inning after Wills’ second hit and a hit batsman. The man who was plunked was Alou, and he was irritated enough to have words with Jenkins as he went to first base. Clemente served as one of the peace-makers before stepping up to knock in the run. An error by Don Kessinger led to an unearned run in the sixth, and the other ingredients were a sacrifice and a hit to center by which Wills kept Clemente from having a corner on the RBI market. "

_ Aug 28 __ RC's Bombs Beat Braves, Obscure Hank's Heroics

"[H]e hit a Pat Jarvis fastball 414 feet in the sixth inning and a Jay Ritchie slider 403 feet in the tenth to win the cliffhanger after Hank Aaron saved it for overtime by robbing Manny Jimenez of a home run in the ninth."

_ Sep 10 __ Big Hits Bring League Leader to .352

After Pirates' pitchers cough up quick four spot, RC's 3rd-inning single sets up first run and 4th-inning, 2-out, bases-loaded double brings Bucs all the way back with Matty Alou retired trying to score go-ahead run from first. Unfortunate, at least as regards RC's visibility in next day's wire service copy, are two facts in particular:

• Bucs' staff immediately coughs up three more runs.
• Bucs' decisive 8th-inning, four-run rally occurs before Clemente gets his turn at bat, Manny Jimenez' decisive run-scoring infield out immediately preceding Clemente's two-out, bases-empty single.

_ Sep 13 __ Five Big Hits, One Big Season

"Clemente banged out five straight hits and drove in four runs as the Pirates swamped the Reds 11-3, clipping Mel McQueen and Co. for his 21st homer and he topped the 100 RBI mark for the second year in a row." * "His homer was a line shot into the right field seats in the fifth."

* Good thing, too, seeing as how simultaneously run stories have RC calling out certain unnamed teammates re Pirates' disappointing '67 showing.

_ Sep 15 __ Mays vs. Momen: Willies Win This One

Mays’ HR No. 560; McCovey hits two, including a little milestone of his own; Clemente's clutch single is understandably overshadowed.

"With two out in the first inning, Mays reached across the plate and stroked one into the right-field seats for his 18th home run of the year and the 560th of his career. The Pirates moved into a momentary tie in the third on a single by Maury Wills and a triple by Matty Alou, but Alou died at third as Perry got National League batting champion Roberto Clemente to ground back to him, struck out Willie Stargell and forced Donn Clendenon to hit to Jimmy Hart at third.

"McCovey introduced the fourth with a sinking line drive to left that Stargell foolishly tried to glove on the fly. The ball zoomed through him, he fell down, and McCovey, resembling a huge flamingo in full flight, swooped safely around the bases for his first major league inside-the-park home run. It was Stretch’s 26th of the campaign, but still not enough to bring Perry safely into port. The Bucs took over the lead in the fifth at 3-2 on successive singles by Wills, Matty Alou and Clemente, and a wild pitch.

"After Mays walked in the sixth, McCovey hit one of Blass’ serves about as high as a baseball can be hit and still have enough distance on it to clear a fence – so high, in fact, that Clemente backed up against the wall, took out a draft of his next clubhouse lecture, studied and replaced it in his pocket. By now the ball was beginning its descent. It just did clear the balcony in right field for McCovey’s 27th home run of the year and the lead Perry protected to the end of the evening."

_ Sep 17 __ Mays vs. Momen: Where's Willie?

Clemente hits game-winning HR; Mays’ main role here is to highlight Herman Franks’ brainlock.

"After tying the score in the top of the round at 4-4, and after failing to get away with a little batting order hanky-panky, the Giants lost, 5-4, on Roberto Clemente’s dramatic mash into the right-field pews.

"The climax to this bewilderer was laboriously and not-too-stimulatingly arrived at. Jim Ray Hart ripped a three-tally home run off Alvin Jackson McBean in the first inning, the Pirates worried single runs out of southpaw Ray Sadecki in the first and third innings and ran the count to 4-3 in the fifth by scoring twice more. A 3-3 deadlock was brought about on a single by Clemente (now on the threshhold of a fourth National League batting crown), a wild pitch and a two-out double by Manny Mota. The tie was shattered under most distressing circumstances... But the undaunted gallants from San Francisco managed a 4-4 standoff in the ninth on a walk to Ken Henderson, a sacrifice bunt by Schroder, and a two-down single over the head of the reaching McBean by Ollie Brown.

"Then things got interesting: confused, certainly, but interesting. Giant manager Herman Franks, who had unsuccessfully pinch-hit with Willie Mays in the top of the ninth, announced to the umpires that Frank Linzy now was pitching and would hit eighth, or where Mays had hit for Hal Lanier. Then an inspiration struck the leader – a good one. He took Henderson out of centerfield and sent Mays out on defense and, hooo boy, did this cause one helluva mess. For fully five minutes, Franks and the four umpires huddled in front of the Giants’ dugout while Mays went to center, Henderson to the bench, Jimmy Davenport to shortstop and Tito Fuentes to second. Pirate manager Danny Murtaugh said this was not kosher, so he and the umpires huddled in front of the Pittsburgh dugout for another four minutes, nodding heads and studying the Giants’ new batting order. Finally, one of the arbiters dashed into the clubhouse to run down a rule book, furiously thumbed through it, and triumphantly exclaimed, 'Aha, ’tis here.' The rule proved Franks was in error as the only place Mays could have hit in the batting order was eighth and Linzy already had been announced as hitting eighth. So, Murtaugh sat down, Franks shrugged and surrendered, Mays was called back to the dugout, Henderson was brought back into right after returning to the clubhouse, and Davenport went to shortstop. But Fuentes was called off the field and Schroder was restored as the second baseman.

"Beautiful: Three pitches later, Clemente unloaded his 22nd home run and I don’t believe Mays could have run this one down even had he been allowed to play."

_ Sep 22 __ Mays vs. Momen: Robby's Rope Reels in Rash Runner

While Willie Waits and Watches

"The Giants, up to the point where Haller decided it all, had their best shot when Schroder walked with one out in the fifth. With the Pirate infield tucked in rather closely, Cline rolled a single past Donn Clendenon at first base and Schroder was on his way to a certain death. He challenged the best arm in the National League, the rifle that hangs from the shoulder of Roberto Clemente, and Roberto threw out Schroder into the glove of Maury Wills. The throw was so low in its flight from bare hand to glove, Cline could not risk an advance to second. Mays followed with a single that would have scored Bob had he not given Clemente the challenge."

_ Oct 01 __ RC's Meteoric Major League Managerial Career

Filling in for interim manager Danny Murtaugh, Clemente puts up stratospheric – if statistically insignificant – numbers as the Pirates' player-manager:

"Baseball’s only undefeated ‘manager’, Roberto Clemente, climaxed his greatest season ever by smashing his 23rd homer, a triple and driving in three runs while managing the Bucs before 28, 244 fans on Prize Day."