Jimmy Wynn on Roberto Clemente

“My first major league game was at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, and Roberto Clemente almost killed me! Not many people know this, but I came up as a shortstop. Clemente hit a screaming line drive, and I got my glove up just as the ball hit the left field wall. I was one heck of a high school shortstop, but the majors were another story. After that, I told the coaches and manager to get me out of the infield.”

“I remember I was playing shortstop in that game and I almost got killed by a line drive by Clemente. We had the infield in, and Clemente hit one that ricocheted off my glove, off the top of my hat and went into center field for a triple. My thought was, "Get the married men off the infield, quick!"”

“One fact about big league life came hard in my first game. The ball just seems to come at you faster on the infield, and especially on a steel-hard surface like they had at old Forbes Field. Roberto Clemente lashed a wicked hop-and-skip grounder to me that I played all right, but I stopped it with my shin. Man! Did that thing ever sting! It's a wonder I even made the play.”