September 14, 1971: Pirates win as Roberto Clemente throws out two runners from right field

Over the course of his 18-year major-league career, Pittsburgh Pirates right fielder Roberto Clemente recorded 4,514 putouts at the position.1 He earned 266 outfield assists, throwing out that number of baserunners – an average of a little more than 14 per year.

As one looks through Clemente’s career, one comes across the occasional game in which he recorded more than one outfield assist.

There were 14 games in which Clemente earned two outfield assists.2

The first two were both in 1958. The first was on April 17 in Milwaukee against the Braves. He threw out Del Crandall in the third inning and Hank Aaron in the fifth. On July 18, in San Francisco against the Giants, he threw out Valmy Thomas in the third inning and Orlando Cepeda in the fifth.

The next 10 games in which Clemente had two outfield assists were:

• May 1, 1959 – a 7-6 home loss to the Cardinals
• August 10, 1961 – a 3-2 home loss to the Cardinals
• September 4, 1961 – a 9-4 loss to the Cardinals, an away game
• May 3, 1962 – an 8-4 loss to the Giants, an away game
• May 17, 1964 (1) – a 3-2 loss to the Dodgers, an away game
• May 13, 1965 – a 5-4 home loss to the Braves
• May 12, 1966 – a 3-0 home loss to the Giants
• June 13, 1967 – a 7-4 home loss to the Cardinals
• July 7, 1967 – a 6-2 home loss to the Reds
• August 12, 1969 – a 6-3 loss to the Giants, an away game3

Finally, after 12 two-assist games – with every one of them a Pirates loss – Clemente recorded two assists in a game his team won. It was at Wrigley Field on September 14, 1971.

It was late in the season. With only 14 games remaining on the schedule, the 89-59 Pirates had a very healthy 6½-game lead in the NL East over second-place St. Louis. They’d been in first place since June 10 and had won 11 of their last 14 games, but they still had to win in order to clinch. The Cubs had lost nine of their last 11 games and were 14 games behind Pittsburgh.

Manager Leo Durocher had Ferguson Jenkins start. The 6-foot-5-inch right-hander already was a 20-game winner with a 21-12 record and a 2.90 ERA. Pirates manager Danny Murtaugh started right-hander Bob Johnson (9-9, 3.52).

Pittsburgh was the first to score, with two runs in the top of the third. With one out, shortstop Jackie Hernandez reached on an error charged to Cubs first baseman Pat Bourque, for coming off the bag too soon on Ron Santo‘s throw.4 Johnson sacrificed him to second. Pirates second baseman Rennie Stennett singled to center, driving in Hernandez. Center fielder Vic Davalillo hit a shot to right field that got away from Brock Davis and went for a triple, scoring Stennett.5 Clemente struck out.

The Cubs claimed one back right away when catcher Frank Fernandez led off the bottom of the third with a home run into the left-field bleachers. Though they loaded the bases with just one out, Johnson escaped any further damage.

The first two batters in the Pirates fourth reached on singles, but Jenkins shut them down before they could score. Jenkins then came to bat in the bottom of the fourth, with two outs and Fernandez on first after a base on balls. The Cubs pitcher homered into the seats in left field, giving Chicago a 3-2 edge. It was his fifth home run of the season.

Center fielder Cleo James followed with a double to right field, but Clemente fielded the ball and threw it in, relayed by Stennett to first baseman Al Oliver – to erase James, who had rounded second base too far.

Bob Moose – more frequently used as a starter – took over pitching for the Pirates in the bottom of the fifth and gave up a pair of singles but was rescued by Bourque hitting into a double play.

Jenkins was tagged for two more runs in the top of the sixth. He struck out Willie Stargell but then gave up a solo home run, a drive that Oliver sent “over the right field seats.”6 Richie Hebner then tripled to right. Catcher Manny Sanguillen was up next, and he struck out – but the ball got away from Fernandez, a passed ball that allowed Sanguillen to reach first base and Hebner to score from third with the go-ahead run.7 Sanguillen tried to steal second but was thrown out. Hernandez popped up foul to the catcher.

Moose set down the Cubs in order in the sixth. He had just returned after a stint in the military reserve, but clearly had his command.

Jenkins walked Moose leading off the seventh. Stennett bunted for a sacrifice but reached base safely. Davalillo lined into a double play and Clemente grounded out, third to first.

Moose got two outs, but an error by Hebner allowed right fielder Brock Davis to reach first base. Billy Williams doubled to right field. The ball “hit the right field wall and bounced away from Roberto Clemente.”8 Davis – hoping to tie the score – sprinted all the way from first, but Clemente quickly recovered the ball and cut him down at home plate, throwing to Dave Cash (who had just taken over second base from Stennett), who relayed the ball, this time to catcher Sanguillen, who blocked the plate and “then tagging him as he tried to reach around.”9 The play was disputed by the Cubs, who felt that Davis had gotten in before the tag.10

Not another Pirate reached base. Jenkins threw a complete game, retiring the side in both the eighth and ninth. Given his two RBIs, the Chicago Tribune’s Richard Dozer wrote, “It may interest the discerning Cubs fans that Jenkins now has the best ratio for runs batted in per time at bat on the entire ball club.”11 The Cubs pitcher had lost four of his last five decisions. In “referring to sloppy outfield play that has cost him his last two starts,” Jenkins said, “I think I’m going to sign up next year as an outfielder.”12

Moose finished the game for Pittsburgh, working five full innings in relief. He gave up a leadoff single to Santo in the eighth. First baseman Bourque sacrificed him to second, putting the tying run in scoring position with just one out. But Moose got back-to-back groundouts by Paul Popovich and Don Kessinger.

When the game reached the bottom of the ninth still 4-3, Durocher trotted out the pinch-hitters. Fernandez batted first and flied out to left. Johnny Callison pinch-hit for Jenkins. He struck out. Joe Pepitone batted for Cleo James and singled. Bill North was inserted as a pinch-runner for Pepitone. Jim Hickman pinch-hit for Davis and lined out to Stargell in left field for the final out.

Clemente was 0-for-4 at bat, but he had thrown out two Cubs baserunners, either of which could have been the fourth run the Cubs needed to stay in the game.

After the game, Murtaugh said, “Bob Moose did a great job in relief and, of course, those two plays where we hit the cutoff man to get a man at second and another at home helped. They were basic, fundamental plays we worked on all spring. Now they pay off for us in September.”13

For the Cubs, it was their eighth loss in nine games, and they were mathematically eliminated from the race.

Moose improved his record to 10-7.

After the 13 games in which Clemente had recorded two assists but seen his team lose, at last he finally had a hand in holding down the score through the use of his arm.

After the 1971 season, Clemente was awarded his 11th consecutive Gold Glove. He won his 12th the following year.

The Pirates won the division, then beat the San Francisco Giants, three games to one, in the NLCS. They went on to win the World Series against the Baltimore Orioles, taking Game Seven 2-1. Clemente provided the first of the two runs with a solo homer in the fourth inning. Jose Pagan hit a double to drive in Stargell in the top of the eighth.

SOURCES

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted B​aseba​ll-Re​feren​ce.​com and R​etros​heet.​org.

h​ttps:​//www​.base​ball-​refer​ence.​com/b​oxes/​CHN/C​HN197​10914​0.​shtml

h​ttps:​//www​.retr​oshee​t.org​/boxe​setc/​1971/​B0914​0CHN1​971.​htm

Unfortunately, Pittsburgh newspapers were on strike from May 14 until September 20, 1971, so we are deprived of some of the sources we would normally have available.

NOTES

1 In games where he played other positions, Clemente recorded 122 putouts in center field, 34 in left, and one at second base. All told, he made 4,697 putouts and committed 142 errors for a fielding percentage of .972.

2 There were also two games in which Clemente had two assists, but not both as an outfielder. On May 22, 1956, he had two assists but they were as a third baseman; he had one assist in the eighth and one in the ninth. On July 14, 1956, he had an assist from right field in the fifth inning and then played second base late in the game, and had an infield assist in the seventh. In his entire career, he appeared in only two games at second and one at third. The other game he played at second base was on June 10, 1956. Note: Totals differ between B​aseba​ll-Re​feren​ce.​com and Retrosheet. In an email to the author, Retrosheet acknowledges that its fielding statistics for this era have not been fully proofed. Baseball-Reference states on its site, accessed October 6, 2021, “Fielding stats are a combination of official records and Retrosheet records. Both are likely to have substantial errors and will not match perfectly.” The figures we have used here are from Retrosheet.

3 The list of “victims” called out may be of interest. Among the 28 are six members of the Hall of Fame, totaling eight of the outs. Willie Mays was thrown out twice, and Orlando Cepeda thrown out three times.

•   April 17, 1958 – 3rd and 5th innings – Del Crandall and Hank Aaron
•   July 18, 1958 – 3rd and 5th innings – Valmy Thomas and Orlando Cepeda
•   May 1, 1959 – 4th and 5th innings – Alex Grammas and Stan Musial
•   August 10, 1961 – 4th and 5th innings – Ken Boyer and Curt Flood
•   September 4, 1961 – twice in the 3rd inning – Curt Flood and Charlie James
•   May 3, 1962 – 1st and 4th innings – Orlando Cepeda and Willie Mays
•   May 17, 1964 (1) – 2nd and 7th innings – Dick Tracewski and Willie Davis
•   May 13, 1965 – 8th and 9th innings – Joe Torre and Phil Niekro
•   May 12, 1966 – 2nd and 8th innings – Jesus Alou and Willie Mays
•   June 13, 1967 – 1st and 2nd innings – Orlando Cepeda and Curt Flood
•   July 7, 1967 – 2nd and 7th innings – Lee May and Tommy Helms
•   August 12, 1969 – 2nd and 8th innings – Ron Hunt and Hal Lanier
•   September 14, 1971 – 4th and 7th innings – Cleo James and Brock Davis
•   June 25, 1972 – 6th and 8th innings – Ron Santo and Billy Williams

4 “Cubs Tumble, 4-3,” Chicago Daily Defender, September 15, 1971: 32. See also Richard Dozer, “Cubs Done for ‘71!,” Chicago Tribune, September 15, 1971: C1.

5 George Vass, “Pirates Snuff Out Cubs’ Title Hopes,” Chicago Daily News, September 15, 1971: 42.

6 “Cubs Tumble, 4-3.”

7 It was originally scored a wild pitch, but Fernandez took it on himself, explaining that it was indeed a passed ball. See Dozer.

8 United Press International, “Pirates’ Magic Number Reduced to 7,” Franklin (Pennsylvania) News-Herald, September 15, 1971: 30.

9 Vass. Two photographs of the play can be seen in the September 15, 1971, Rockford (Illinois) Register-Republic, on page 33.

10 Dozer.

11 Dozer.

12 Vass.

13 Joe Mooshil (Associated Press), “Chicago’s Elimination Sets Stage for Cards-Bucs Battle,” Greenville (Pennsylvania) Record-Argus, September 14, 1971: 20.