September 2, 1966: Pirates’ Roberto Clemente reaches 2,000 career hits

Roberto Clemente stepped into the batter’s box in the fifth inning at Forbes Field. More than 13,000 hometown fans watched on September 2, 1966, as the Pittsburgh Pirates superstar took a few practice swings. Ferguson Jenkins, the Chicago Cubs’ 23-year-old right-hander, stood on the mound.

Clemente slammed Jenkins’ first pitch into the right-field upper deck for a three-run homer. It was the 2,000th hit of his career and helped Pittsburgh gain a 7-3 victory. Clemente also reached the century mark in RBIs for the first time in a single season. “I couldn’t have wished for anything better,” he said about his big game.1

The Pirates entered the evening with a record of 78-56 and in a first-place tie with the San Francisco Giants in the National League race. The Cubs, on the other hand, were struggling with a mark of 47-86, in last place by 30½ games.

Pirates manager Harry Walker sent 30-year-old Bob Veale out to pitch on this Friday afternoon in the first game of a weekend series. Veale, a 6-foot-6-inch left-hander from Alabama, had a 13-9 won-lost mark. Earlier in the season he made the National League All-Star team for the second straight year. The hard thrower struck out 276 batters in 1965 and led the senior circuit with 250 whiffs in 1964.

Cubs skipper Leo Durocher countered with Jenkins, a product of Ontario, Canada, who stood just one inch shorter than Veale. The Cubs acquired Jenkins on April 21, in a deal with the Philadelphia Phillies. He had appeared in just one game for the Phillies in 1966 and only seven in 1965. Chicago Tribune sportswriter Richard Dozer called him “the newest darling of the Cub pitching staff.”2 Jenkins shut out the Los Angeles Dodgers for 5⅓ innings in his Chicago debut on April 23. He also hit a home run off LA starter Don Sutton. Dozer told his readers the next day, “The legend of Ferguson Jenkins started in the damp chill of Wrigley Field yesterday.”3

Jenkins, though, had a record of just 2-7 and a 3.77 ERA as he took the mound against Clemente and the Pirates. Pittsburgh ook a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning. Jenkins plunked the first batter he faced, the young left fielder Willie Stargell. Donn Clendenon grounded out, advancing Stargell to second. The next batter, Bill Mazeroski, knocked an RBI single to right field.

The Cubs threatened in the fifth. Randy Hundley doubled with one out and made it safely to third after Veale threw into center field on a pickoff attempt. But Veale struck out Byron Browne and Jenkins to end the inning.

Veale began Pittsburgh’s half of the fifth by reaching on an infield single. Matty Alou sacrificed the pitcher to second and made it safely aboard when Jenkins overran the ball. Gene Alley, the Pirates’ next batter, advanced both baserunners with a sacrifice. That brought Clemente to the plate. The right fielder, famous for his powerful throwing arm and line-drive swing, had 22 homers for the season, one shy of the season high he hit in 1962. He had 98 RBIs and a .326 batting average.

The 32-year-old already had won three batting titles, including the last two, with .339 and .329 marks in 1964 and 1965 respectively. Jenkins, though, had struck him out in the first and induced a groundout in the third. Finally, in the fifth inning, Clemente won the battle between pitcher and batter. “I was trying to pull the ball, waiting for an inside pitch,” Clemente said. “But the ball was outside. I knew it was a homer right away.”4

He added, “With two men on base, I was more concerned with driving in a run than getting number 2,000. I set a goal of 100 RBIs and 25 home runs at the start of the season. Usually, I’m not a home run hitter, but I’ve been hitting more for home runs this season than ever before.”5

Clemente’s manager, Walker, told reporters, “There’s just no way to pitch to him. He can hit everything. I don’t know why he’s hitting home runs this year, though. He’s just going into the ball and meeting it.”6

First baseman Ernie Banks watched as the ball sailed into the seats and Clemente circled the base. Just a few weeks earlier, Banks had entered the 2,000-career-hit club. “I know Roberto had a wonderful feeling of satisfaction,” Banks said. “When you get 2,000 hits it sort of puts you into select company. It’s something you remember for a long time.”7

The Cubs put across two runs in the sixth. Glenn Beckert lofted a one-out single and sprinted to second after Veale uncorked a wild pitch. Billy Williams struck out before Santo and Banks walked to load the bases. John Boccabella’s groundball single scored the two lead runners. Hundley popped up for the third out.

Catcher Jim Pagliaroni put the Pirates ahead by three runs once again with his RBI single in the bottom half of the sixth. The hit scored Bob Bailey, who had led off the frame with a triple. Jenkins retired the next three batters.

Chicago narrowed Pittsburgh’s lead to 5-3 in the seventh. Durocher sent Adolfo Phillips to pinch-hit for Jenkins with one out. Phillips walked, and that ended the night for Veale. Walker brought in Don Cardwell, who promptly threw a wild pitch, sending Phillips to second. Cardwell’s problems continued as he made a wild throw on a pickoff attempt, and Phillips headed for third. Don Kessinger’s subsequent groundout gave the Cubs an unearned run.

Cubs reliever Curt Simmons, in his second inning of work, gave up two runs in the eighth. Bailey walked with one out and Pagliaroni singled. Cardwell lined a double to center field that scored both runners.

Pittsburgh nearly added a few more runs. Alou lined a single, advancing Cardwell one base, and then stole second. Alley grounded out and Simmons walked Clemente to load the bases. Stargell, though, lifted a fly ball that Browne grabbed for the third out.

Cardwell pitched around a Clendenon error in the ninth and recorded his first save of the season. Winning pitcher Veale improved his record to 14-9, while Jenkins dropped to 2-7.8

The next day’s copy of the Pittsburgh Press included a photo of Clemente standing next to 15-year-old Gary Chick. The youngster from nearby Penn Hills recovered the home-run ball and gave it back to the batter. Clemente traded him a bat and an autographed baseball.

Clemente credited the fans for helping him reach the 2,000-hit milestone. In 1957 serious back problems nearly forced the ballplayer into retirement. Fans, aware of their hero’s pain, wrote sympathetic letters that pleaded for Clemente to keep playing. Clemente talked over his injuries with his father. “He encouraged me to stay,” the outfielder said. “But I was still undecided until I remembered what the fans wrote. That clinched it.”9

The Pirates ended the year with an admirable 92-70 won-loss record but in third place behind the San Francisco Giants and the pennant-winning Los Angeles Dodgers. (The Cubs’ struggles continued. They finished last with 103 losses, the second time in franchise history that they reached the century mark in defeats.) Clemente batted .317 with a .536 slugging percentage. He set career highs in home runs (29), RBIs (119), and runs scored (105).

Clemente recorded exactly 3,000 hits in his career. His final one came September 30, 1972, a double in the fourth inning off New York Mets left-hander Jon Matlack. Clemente died just a few months later, on December 31, while on a mercy mission to help victims of a devastating earthquake in Nicaragua. He was 38 years old.

The Baseball Hall of Fame waived the requirement that a player must be retired for five years before being considered for enshrinement and honored Clemente with a plaque in 1973. At the induction ceremony, held on August 6, 1973, in Cooperstown, New York, Vero Clemente spoke about her late husband. “Her voice was choked with emotion and there appeared to be tears in her eyes,” Bob Smizik wrote in the next day’s Pittsburgh Press.10

She told the assembled crowd, “This would have been Roberto’s last triumph. If Roberto had been here, he would have thanked the fans of Puerto Rico, the fans of Pittsburgh and all the fans in the United States.”11

SOURCES

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

h​ttps:​//www​.base​ball-​refer​ence.​com/b​oxes/​PIT/P​IT196​60902​0.sht​ml

NOTES

1 Lester J. Biederman, “Clemente Makes 2000th Hit Big One for Bucs,” Pittsburgh Press, September 3, 1966: 8.

2 Ricard Dozer, “Jenkins Was Hockey Star,” Chicago Tribune, April 24, 1966: 93.

3 Richard Dozer, “Sox Lose; Cubs Win with Jenkins, 2-0,” Chicago Tribune, April 24, 1966: 93.

4 Ira Miller, “Clemente Has Career Highs,” Belleville (Illinois) News-Democrat, September 3, 1966: 6.

5 Jeff Meyers, “Bucs Edge Back in Front on 7-3 Triumph; Cards Win in 12th over G-Men; LA Wins,” Tyrone (Pennsylvania) Daily Herald, September 3, 1966: 8.

6 Meyers.

7 Biederman.

8 Jenkins had a 6-8 won-lost record in 1966. He pitched 19 seasons and won 284 games. He entered the Hall of Fame in 1991.

9 United Press International, “Clemente Gives Credit to Fans; Cards Knock Giants from Top,” Pittsburgh Press, September 3, 1966: 8.

10 Bob Smizik, “Roberto’s ‘Last Triumph’: Induction into Hall,” Pittsburgh Press, August 7, 1973: 26.

11 Smizik.