Charley Feeney on Roberto Clemente

“Roberto Clemente crashed a two-run homer in the seventh and it was a smasheroo. Clemente's drive, off Bill "No-Hit" Stoneman, carried well over the wall in center field. Few right-handed batters have hit a ball out of the park in this sector, which is to the right of dead center between the exit gate and the light stanchion.”

“If they ever want to rate the 10 greatest catches of all time, Roberto Clemente’s fantastic catch of Bob Watson’s line drive in Houston’s Astrodome on June 15 will have to be among them. Houston manager Harry Walker called it the greatest catch he has ever seen. Pirates’ second baseman Bill Mazeroski rates it equal to any catch Clemente ever has made. "It was a lot like the one Clemente made in 1960 against Willie Mays," said Maz. In the 1960 catch, Clemente crashed into the right field wall at Forbes Field and suffered a gash on his chin which required seven stitches. Clemente isn’t sure which catch is his best. Most of the 16,307 fans in the Astrodome felt it was the best catch they had ever seen. They gave Clemente a standing ovation for his feat, which deprived Watson of a home run which would have put the Astros ahead, 2-1. Instead, Steve Blass held a 1-0 lead and the Bucs, after Clemente’s eighth-inning catch, scored twice in the ninth for a 3-0 win. Here was the setting for Clemente’s heroics: Joe Morgan was on first base with two out. The second out had been recorded when Clemente made a sliding grab of Cesar Cedeno’s hump-back liner in short right. Watson, a right-handed hitter, followed with a vicious liner toward the right field corner. Clemente, going full speed, raced toward the wall and, in one sudden move, made a twisting leap for a one-handed grab, back to the plate, just before the ball would have hit above the yellow line on the wall, which is home run territory. When Clemente came down, his body hit the wall. He suffered a bruised left ankle and his left elbow also was swollen. Blood spilled from a gash on the left knee. Clemente slumped on both knees, back to the infield. The Houston fans stood up and cheered. After Blass hurled a scoreless ninth for his fourth shutout, he said: "This shutout belongs to Clemente."”

“Then there's the story about The Throw, which happened in the late 60’s at Forbes Field. Clemente made the most remarkable throw I ever saw … and he got an error on the play! The Bucs were playing the Cardinals, it was one of the middle innings and the Cards had runners on first and third. I don’t recall the runner on third, but Orlando Cepeda was on first. I believe Tim McCarver singled to right, and the runner on third scores. Cepeda is about to stop at second, but the ball rolls through Clemente’s legs, and Cepeda takes third (reason for the error being charged to Clemente). The ball rolled to the warning track in right (not close to the foul line), and Clemente picks up the ball with his back to the plate. He whirls and throws a no-bounce strike to Milt May at home plate and Cepeda is out trying to score. After the play, I looked around the press box to find the oldest baseball observer there. Leo Ward, the traveling secretary of the Cards, had been watching baseball since the teens. His quote: "If I didn’t see it, I wouldn’t believe it."”