April 18, 1955: Roberto Clemente hits first home run and records first outfield assist — in same inning

A day after dropping both ends of a Sunday doubleheader to the Brooklyn Dodgers at Forbes Field, the winless Pittsburgh Pirates traveled to New York City to take on the defending World Series champion Giants on Monday, April 18, 1955.

It was yet another loss for the visitors, in front of fewer than 3,000 paying customers at the Polo Grounds. The Pirates, managed by Fred Haney, were just six games into what became their fourth consecutive last-place National League finish – which would have been five straight if they hadn’t narrowly escaped the cellar in 1951.

In a little over a week, any early-season optimism had vanished – especially among those who covered the team for the Pittsburgh Press, the Post-Gazette, and the Sun-Telegraph. Lester J. Biederman, writing in the Press, pulled no punches in his game story lede:

“The Buccos had the daylights thrashed out of them by the slumping Giants yesterday in their first Polo Grounds appearance, 12-3, and within a half hour after the shambles ended, three Pirates pitchers were sent back to the minors.

“However, the way the Pirates have been playing since the season started, losing all six games, cutting a team of this caliber shouldn’t be difficult.”1

Post-Gazette sportswriter Jack Hernon added a heavy dose of sarcasm to his report:

“The Pirates rallied for two runs in the ninth here this afternoon, falling only ten runs short of beating the Giants, and thus lost their sixth in a row, 12-3.

“Unfortunately, before that ‘rally,’ the World Champs had put an eight on the scoreboard in the fourth inning, and that was about the size of it.”2

Despite the shambles, the game was noteworthy for two plays in the fifth inning involving Roberto Clemente, the Pirates’ 21-year-old rookie from Puerto Rico – plays that provided an early glimpse of the power, speed, and defense that would define Clemente’s brilliant 18-year career.

By the fifth inning, the rout was already on. Led by Whitey Lockman and Willie Mays, the Giants scored two runs in the first inning, another in the third, and eight in the fourth, all before the Pirates tallied their first run.

In all, the defending champions pounded out 15 hits. Among Lockman’s four hits were a homer and a double, while Mays had three hits, including an RBI triple. Hank Thompson homered in the first inning. Pirates starter Max Surkont, a journeyman who finished the season with a record of 7-14 and an ERA of 5.57, was lifted in the fourth inning after surrendering eight hits and seven earned runs.

In the top of the fifth, with the Pirates already trailing 11-0, center fielder Earl Smith led off by lining out to pitcher Don Liddle, an Illinois native who had started and won Game Four of the World Series the previous year. Second baseman Gene Freese grounded out to third.

Clemente stepped to the plate with two out. He had made his major-league debut just the day before, starting both games of the doubleheader against the Dodgers, the team that originally signed him out of the Puerto Rican League. In the opener, he singled off starter Johnny Podres in the first inning for his first major-league hit, and scored his first run when the next batter, outfielder Frank Thomas, tripled to right. In the nightcap, Clemente doubled to right with one out in the sixth off Dodgers starter and future Pirates teammate Clem Labine. He added an infield single in the eighth.

Now, in the fifth inning of his third big-league game, Clemente hit a drive to deep left-center field. The ball sailed over the head of Lockman, playing left field instead of his customary first-base position because right fielder Don Mueller had just left the game with an ankle injury. Left fielder Monte Irvin was now in right field.

Pittsburgh Press writer Biederman, in his column “From the Scoreboard,” wrote that Lockman “tried to make a stab for (the ball) in front of the Pirate bullpen.”3 It’s important to note that in the cavernous Polo Grounds, the visitors bullpen was located in the field of play in front of the left-center-field wall – more than 440 feet from home plate.4

Lockman retrieved the ball and threw wildly to Mays, whose relay was too late to give the infield any chance of throwing out the flying Clemente. In the third-base coaching box, manager Haney gave Clemente the “go” sign, and the speedy outfielder slid past Giants catcher Wes Westrum and was called safe by home-plate umpire Dusty Boggess.

Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph staff writer Charles J. Doyle wrote: “Clemente displayed more speed than this writer has seen any Pittsburgh player show in recent years.”5 In a column appearing in the same issue, he wrote: “The Bucs still are talking about the speed and slide used by Roberto Clemente in his first major league homer.”6

It was the first of nine inside-the-park home runs Clemente hit in his major-league career, which places him second among players since 1950.7

After this display of power and speed, Clemente showed off his legendary right-field throwing arm – for which he is still widely known more than 65 years later.

Leading off the home half of the fifth, pitcher Liddle popped out to shortstop. Second baseman Davey Williams walked. The next batter, shortstop Alvin Dark, hit a line drive to Clemente in right field. Clemente caught the ball and threw to first baseman Preston Ward, doubling off Williams and earning Clemente his first major-league outfield assist.

Clemente led all National League right fielders with 16 assists in 1955. Over his career, he led the league in outfield assists five times and ranks second all-time among right fielders with 266.8

In other game highlights, Clemente singled in the seventh and hit a sacrifice fly in the ninth, driving in Dick Groat for Pittsburgh’s second run. His line on the day: four at-bats, two hits, one home run, one run scored, two runs batted in, one putout, one assist.

Clemente’s home-run dash around the bases may have stunned teammates and the small crowd, but probably not anyone who knew him well – and especially not Clemente himself. Two months after the game against the Giants, Biederman wrote in The Sporting News: “He’s very proud of his feats as a track star in Puerto Rico and explains he was considered so good in the 400 meters, the javelin and the hop, skip, and jump that he would have been picked for the Olympics at Helsinki but for the fact that he already had signed a professional baseball contract.”9

Also of note, Clemente and Mays – who made the relay throw when Clemente hit his home run – were teammates with the champion Santurce Cangrejeros of the 1954-55 Puerto Rican winter league.10

Clemente quickly became a fan favorite during his rookie season. Biederman wrote in The Sporting News: “The Pittsburgh fans have fallen in love with his spectacular fielding and his deadly right arm.”11

SABR biographer Stew Thornley described Clemente as “the greatest Puerto Rican player.”12

That Monday afternoon at the Polo Grounds provided a stunning preview of his legacy on the field.

SOURCES

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author accessed a file provided by the National Baseball Hall of Fame Library, R​etros​heet.​org, and B​aseba​ll-Re​feren​ce.​com.

NOTES

1 Lester J. Biederman, “Bucs Farm Hurlers Thies, Bell, Hall, but 12-3 Drubbing by Giants Qualifies More Pirates for Cut,” Pittsburgh Press, April 19, 1955.

2 Jack Hernon, “Winless Bucs Lose Sixth, Bow to Giants, 12-3,” Pittsburg Post-Gazette, April 19, 1955.

3 Les Biederman, “From the Scoreboard,” Pittsburgh Press, April 19, 1955.

4 h​ttps:​//bal​lpark​s.com​/base​ball/​natio​nal/p​ologr​.htm.

5 Charles J. Doyle, “Giants’ Battling Slump Ends; Cold Weather Shortens Bucs’ Stay in N.Y.,” Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph, April 19, 1955.

6 Chilly Doyle, “Chilly Sauce,” Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph, April 19, 1955.

7 Derek Bain, “Fun Facts About Inside-the-Park Home Runs,” S​eamhe​ads.​com, June 8, 2016. h​ttps:​//sea​mhead​s.com​/blog​/2016​/06/0​8/fun​-fact​s-abo​ut-in​side-​the-p​ark-h​ome-​runs/, Accessed February 13, 2022. Carl Reichers researched the dates of Clemente’s inside-the-park home runs and found nine: April 18, 1955; July 25, 1956; May 11, 1957; July 23, 1958; August 28, 1959; July 14, 1966; April 21, 1968; September 22, 1968; May 19, 1971.

8 https​://ww​w.bas​eball​-refe​rence​.com/​leade​rs/A_​rf_ca​reer.​shtml.

9 Les Biederman, “Clemente, Early Buc Ace, Says He’s Better in Summer,” The Sporting News, June 29, 1955: 26.

10 h​ttps:​//bas​eball​hall.​org/d​iscov​er/sa​nturc​e-can​greje​ros-w​illie​-mays​-robe​rto-c​leme​nte.

11 Les Biederman, “Clemente, Early Buc Ace, Says He’s Better in Summer.”

12 h​ttps:​//sab​r.org​/biop​roj/p​erson​/robe​rto-c​leme​nte/.