Thursday, August 22, 2013

Clemente's last homerun, sorta

Technically, his last homerun came in Game 4 of the 1972 NLCS but this one was the 240th of Clemente's career.  This longtripper came against Roberto's favorite victim at his favorite home-away-from-home.  All of this in beautiful color videotape!  More about this simple discovery after the jump.


The pitcher on the mound is Ferguson Jenkins.  I know this for the simple fact that this video clip comes from the Tim McCarver Show during an interview with Fergie Jenkins.  Over his career, Clemente took Jenkins deep 6 times, tied for the most in his career with Sandy Koufax.  


Scrolling through his career homerun log,  the majority of Clemente's homeruns against Jenkins came in the 60's.  This clip shows a Ferguson Jenkins in a Cubs pullover and Roberto Clemente in Pirates grey pullover.  As we have discussed before, that puts this in the 70's.


Clemente's only homerun vs Jenkins at Wrigley Field (he hit 2 in the same July 1, 1972 @ Three Rivers) came on September 13, 1972.  It was in the 7th inning with Nelson Briles aboard in a game that was tied 3-3.


One of my favorite parts of this video clip is this lady in the centerfield bleachers.  She realizes that the ball is headed in her direction and she begins to duck like a house is falling on her. You can see her in the 2nd row.


Clemente's bizarre nature shows itself in this clip.  He rounds the bases with his head tilted sideways, shoulder up to his ears like a bird trying to take flight.   Knowing Clemente, though, he'd probably tell you it was because he had some neck ailment that he was forced to do this.


As for the video clip, there is no play-by-play on it.  We get a high behind the plate camera and a high first baseline camera.  If I had to guess, with this being a Wednesday game, it is pretty safe to assume this is a WGN clip.  Without any audio, it makes it hard to link it to a broadcast team.

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