From the BWI McAndrews

[TFBaum]

https://lithub.com/the-greatest-forgotten-home-run-of-all-time/

I never heard this story. My dad always told me that fans would stay until Ralph Kiner last at bat.

 

[4Mark_Marty]

Thanks for sharing. The hair stood up on the back of my neck while reading, however I don’t have the pleasure of remembering Roberto Clemente play live, as I was only 3 when he died.

 

[oldpanther]

https://lithub.com/the-greatest-forgotten-home-run-of-all-time/

I never heard this story. My dad always told me that fans would stay until Ralph Kiner last at bat.

Your dad is correct, just like clockwork, last at bat and time to empty the ball park.

 

[Panther Parrothead]

I recall a certain catch that Clemente made against Houston (not sure if they were the "Colt '45s" or the "Astros" at the time) in Houston's ballpark, but knowledgeable observers claimed that it was the greatest catch of Clemente's illustrious career.

As it was described, it was a long fly down the right field line that was slicing away from Clemente. He went full throttle - racing toward the corner...catching the ball...then crashing face-first into the wall with no let-up. He got up dazed, but the ball never left his glove.

The kicker is that supposedly the game wasn't being televised anywhere, so there is no known video footage of the catch.

 

[TFBaum]

I recall a certain catch that Clemente made against Houston (not sure if they were the "Colt '45s" or the "Astros" at the time) in Houston's ballpark, but knowledgeable observers claimed that it was the greatest catch of Clemente's illustrious career.

As it was described, it was a long fly down the right field line that was slicing away from Clemente. He went full throttle - racing toward the corner...catching the ball...then crashing face-first into the wall with no let-up. He got up dazed, but the ball never left his glove.

The kicker is that supposedly the game wasn't being televised anywhere, so there is no known video footage of the catch.

I never knew Houston had a team called the Colt’s .45.

 

[TDinTheSnow]

Went to a game at Forbes Field when I was a small kid.. only things I remember are how green the grass seemed, and Clemente rocket throw to plate during warm ups...

 

[Panther Parrothead]

I never knew Houston had a team called the Colt’s .45.

Yep....changed the name to the Astros for political correctness and because the Johnson Space Center opened-up in Houston.


https://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/about/index.html

From Wikipedia:
The new Houston team was named the Colt .45s after a "Name The Team" contest was won by William Irving Neder. The Colt .45 was well known as "the gun that won the west. The colors selected were navy and orange. The first team was formed mostly through an expansion draft after the 1961 season. The Colt .45s and their expansion cousins, the New York Mets, took turns choosing players left unprotected by the other National League franchises.

Many of those associated with the Houston Buffaloes organization were allowed by the ownership to continue in the major league. Manager Harry Craft, who had joined Houston in 1961, remained in the same position for the team until the end of the 1964 season. General manager Spec Richardson also continued with the organization as business manager, but was later promoted again to the same position with the Astros from 1967 until 1975. Although most players for the major league franchise were obtained through the 1961 Major League Baseball expansion draft, Buffs players J.C. Hartman, Pidge Browne, Jim Campbell, Ron Davis, Dave Giusti, and Dave Roberts were chosen to continue as major league ball players.

Similarly, the radio broadcasting team remained with the new Houston major league franchise. Loel Passe worked alongside Gene Elston as a color commentator until he retired from broadcasting in 1976. Elston continued with the Astros until 1986.

The Colt .45s began their existence playing at Colt Stadium, a temporary venue built just north of the construction site of the indoor stadium.

1962–1964: The Colt .45s
The Colt .45s started their inaugural season on April 10, 1962, against the Chicago Cubs with Harry Craft as the Colt .45s' manager. Bob Aspromonte scored the first run for the Colt .45s on an Al Spangler triple in the first inning. They started the season with a three-game sweep of the Cubs but eventually finished eighth among the National League's ten teams. The team's best pitcher, Richard "Turk" Farrell, lost 20 games despite an ERA of 3.02. A starter for the Colt .45s, Farrell was primarily a relief pitcher prior to playing for Houston. He was selected to both All-Star Games in 1962.

The 1963 season saw more young talent mixed with seasoned veterans. Jimmy Wynn, Rusty Staub, and Joe Morgan all made their major league debuts in the 1963 season. However, Houston's position in the standings did not improve, as the Colt .45s finished in ninth place with a 66–96 record. The team was still building, trying to find that perfect mix to compete. The 1964 campaign began on a sad note, as relief pitcher Jim Umbricht died of cancer at the age of 33 on April 8, just before Opening Day. Umbricht was the only Colt .45s pitcher to post a winning record in Houston's first two seasons. He was so well liked by players and fans that the team retired his jersey number, 32, in 1965.

Just on the horizon, the structure of the new domed stadium was more prevalent and it would soon change the way that baseball was watched in Houston and around the league. On December 1, 1964, the team announced the name change from Colt .45s to "Astros."

 

[wbrpanther]

I recall a certain catch that Clemente made against Houston (not sure if they were the "Colt '45s" or the "Astros" at the time) in Houston's ballpark, but knowledgeable observers claimed that it was the greatest catch of Clemente's illustrious career.

As it was described, it was a long fly down the right field line that was slicing away from Clemente. He went full throttle - racing toward the corner...catching the ball...then crashing face-first into the wall with no let-up. He got up dazed, but the ball never left his glove.

The kicker is that supposedly the game wasn't being televised anywhere, so there is no known video footage of the catch.

1971 in the Astrodome. It has been called by some the greatest catch they ever saw...period. I was listening to the game and Clemente had just made a sliding catch coming across the foul line and Prince was barely done gushing over that one when Bob Watson cracked one down the right field line. Clemente was running full speed and leaped as high as he could with his back to the infield and caught the ball as he crashed into the wall. He came up with a bloody knee and a bruised wrist. When asked after the game what possessed him to put his body on the line he simply said,"if a ball is catchable I have to try to catch it". And no, there is no known video.

I was 5 years old and just discovering baseball when Clemente was breaking in. he was and still is, along with Ali, my all time hero in sports.

 

[pittmeister]

Blass here recalls a specific debt he owes Roberto:

“I hope somebody has the film of a catch he made a few years ago in Houston. He was playing in right center and Bob Watson hit one down the line. Robby went into the wall – not just running but leaping into it – and made a catch that saved the game." [11]

Blass is referring here to Clemente’s legendary June 15th, 1971 game-saving catch which received, not for the first time in Clemente's career, a standing ovation from the opposing team's hometown fans for the favor he'd just done them – i.e. denying their team a dramatic come-from-behind victory. UPI's Darrell Mack dubbed it the "greatest catch in the history of the Astrodome." [12] It came in the bottom of the eighth with a runner on first. That runner was future HOFer Joe Morgan and he recalls the scene:

"With two out in the eighth and Pittsburgh leading 1-0, I was on first with our left fielder Bob Watson at the plate. Clemente was playing medium deep in right center field when Bob hit a laser beam toward the right field corner. It looked as though the ball would strike just above the yellow home run line, which was 'only' 10 feet above the ground. Most right fielders would have positioned themselves to play off the wall a ball hit that high, that far, and that fast. Clemente, who was 36 at the time, wasn’t having any of that. He galloped at full stride into the corner, leaped, and caught the drive while crashing into the fence..."

Since Morgan, running on contact on the play, had to be at least halfway between second and third by the time the catch was made and, thus, almost certainly could not – and, indeed, should not – have seen the catch itself, the remainder of this narrative will be pieced together from the various beat writers' accounts:

"Clemente absorbed the full impact of the crash against the boards with his left shoulder, rebounded and crumpled to the ground." [13] "He suffered a bruised left ankle and his left elbow was also swollen. Blood spilled from a gash on the left knee. Clemente slumped on both knees, back to the infield..." [14]

"Bob Watson stood frozen at first base… staring into the corner with an expression that suggested that he was having trouble accepting what he’d just witnessed. He was still standing there, motionless, when applause rolled from the crowd in waves, breaking on the distant fences.." [15]

"Stunned for a moment, Clemente nevertheless regained his feet without assistance. The crowd stood and cheered, and his teammates arose from the dugout to rush out and congratulate him. When he stepped to the plate in the top of the ninth, he received another standing ovation." [16]

The hapless victim himself, Bob Watson, was philosophical about the whole thing:

“At least, I got robbed by one of the best in the business. It’s like if you were a trainman in the old days and Jesse James held you up. You know you’ve been robbed by the best highwayman in the business.” [17]

For Houston manager Harry Walker (who'd managed Pittsburgh for two and a half seasons starting in 1965), Clemente's catch was one of a kind. Speaking with Phil Musick after Clemente's death, he remained adament:

“It was the best I’d ever seen. He took it full flight."

This basically reiterates Walker's initial reaction, recorded by UPI's Darrell Mack:

"Houston manager Harry Walker, who’ has been in baseball 54 years, and coach Buddy Hancken, who has been in baseball 36 years, both said it was the greatest catch they had ever seen. 'I never saw one like that off the wall,' Walker said. 'He hit it wide open. He never slowed up. I don’t see how he could keep the ball in his glove. The thing that makes him so great is that he does it all in a jam,” Walker said. “He’s one of the best clutch players in the game.””

Pirate broadcaster (and Clemente's ex-teammate) Nellie King caught up with Clemente after the game and here offers his slightly sanitized account:

I’m sitting with him on the bus going back to the hotel, and I said, ‘Roberto, I’ve seen you make a lot of good catches, but that’s the greatest I’ve seen you make.' And he said, 'Nellie, I want to tell you something. If the ball is in the park and the game is on the line, I will catch the bleeping ball.'" [18]

For teammate Bill Mazeroski and manager Danny Murtaugh, who'd been with Clemente far too long to so easily assign victory to any one of his large and ever-expanding pool of worthy 'greatest catch' candidates, the current contender for that title harkened back to a similarly pivotal – and painful – play executed almost 11 years earlier, likewise in the midst of a successful Pirate pennant drive.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Roberto_Clemente's_'Toolbox':_The_Glove#cite_note-16

 

[TempleBAPittMPA]

Inside-the park grand slam. I remember Frank Taveras' only homer as a Pirate was an inside-the-park grand slam against the Reds in Riverfront Stadium.

 

[TFBaum]

Inside-the park grand slam. I remember Frank Taveras' only homer as a Pirate was an inside-the-park grand slam against the Reds in Riverfront /stadium.

Is wasn’t a walk off was it?

 

[TempleBAPittMPA]

Is wasn’t a walk off was it?

No.

 

[MajorMajors]

Trivia question: What one-time Pirate hit the first home run for the Houston Colt 45s?

Answer: Roman Mejias

Taken in the expansion draft - started in right for the 45s and homered in his first at-bat... Had been the Pirates’ fourth outfielder for a few years...

Go Pitt.

 

[pittdan77]

Any time I read about Clemente I remember that the media in this town always took swings at its stars.

 

[TFBaum]

Any time I read about Clemente I remember that the media in this town always took swings at its stars.

I have never understood Pittsburgh media do they sit around and have a competition of who can be the biggest j*****. They treat Pitt as some second rate place. I have written this before Pitt is the LAST of the great eastern urban football powers. That is something that should be celebrated.

 

[9nationalchampionships]

I stopped buying the PPG when fat boy micco continually went out of his way to belittle Pitt! I would rather get my Pitt info from Twitter and this site!

I have never understood Pittsburgh media do they sit around and have a competition of who can be the biggest j*****. They Treat Pitt as some second rate place. I have written this before Pitt is the LAST of the great eastern urban football powers. That is something that should be celebrated.