On this day in baseball 68 years ago, young Roberto Clemente hit a walk-off inside the park Grand Slam to lift the Pittsburgh Pirates over the Chicago Cubs 9-8. Clemente was in his second year, which was a sign of things to come for his career.
The day was July 25, 1956, and Roberto Clemente was batting in the three-hole for the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Pirates were 41-47 and hosted the 39-48 Chicago Cubs at Forbes Field. Clemente bucked the traditional sophomore slump and was enjoying a very good second season. He ended up with a 106 OPS+.
The game opened up when Dale Long of the Pirates hit a two-run homer off of Cubs starter Warren Hacker to drive in himself and Clemente in the fourth inning. Another run scored in the fifth inning from a Clemente sacrifice fly, and one run scored in the sixth from a Jack Shepard double.
Down 4-0, the Cubs responded with a big seventh inning in which they scored seven runs. Doubles from Walt Moryn, Eddie Miksis, and Hobie Landrith were the pivotal moments of the innings, allowing the Cubs offense to take the lead 7-4.
Both teams scored one run in the eighth, so the game went to the bottom of the ninth with the Pirates down 8-5. With the bases loaded, Clemente struck one well to left field. The ball hit the fencing and rolled along the warning track, giving the men on base more time to score. Clemente ignored the stop sign from his third base coach, raced around third, and beat the relay throw to score. The Pirates won the game 9-8 from an inside-the-park walk-off Roberto Clemente home run.
Photo Credit: Pittsburgh Pirates’ Roberto Clemente (21) slides home in the seventh inning.
