MLB history: That one time Roberto Clemente threw out Willie Mays

Fifty years ago today in MLB history, Roberto Clemente threw out Willie Mays at third base on a single to right by Willie McCovey.

Willie Mays is the best five-tool player in MLB history. He could hit for average, hit for power, run like the wind, throw out runners on the bases and make incredible catches.

There were other players who did one or two of those things better than Willie Mays, but none equaled his overall excellence when looking at the five tools of a ballplayer.

Roberto Clemente was a terrific player also. He didn’t run the bases like Mays and couldn’t match Mays in the power department, but he hit for average and was strong on defense. The one area he eclipsed even the great Willie Mays was his throwing arm.

Roberto Clemente had a cannon, a howitzer, a bazooka. Legendary broadcaster Vin Scully once said, “Roberto Clemente could field a ball in New York and throw out a guy in Pennsylvania.”

Fifty years ago today, the fleet feet of Willie Mays challenged the awesome arm of Roberto Clemente and lost. Mays remembered the situation in 1998, saying, “Roberto Clemente threw me out on a bang-bang play at third. I should have remembered what a tremendous arm he had.”

Now, you never know how accurate a retired ballplayer’s memory is.

Willie Mays may have been exaggerating, as old ballplayers often due, but if his memory was correct, then the play he remembered happened on April 13, 1968, as described by James K. McGee of the San Francisco Chronicle:

“Willie Mays, leading off the 7th, lined a single into left for the Giants’ first hit. When Willie McCovey, the next hitter, bounced a single over Donn Clendenon’s outstretched glove into right field, it appeared the dam had been broken and runs would flow. Then came the key play of the game. Mays rounded second base and slowed down to draw a throw from right fielder Roberto Clemente. Mays, either overestimating his own speed or underestimating the power and accuracy of Clemente’s arm, was thrown out trying to reach third. Maury Wills tagged him as he slid by.”

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According to the Baseball-Reference boxscore and play-by-play, this was just the Giants’ third game of the season. This play happened in the bottom of the seventh inning with the Giants losing 2-0 and nobody out. Mays broke the cardinal rule of “never make the first or third out at third base.”

The Giants would score later in the inning to make it 2-1, but wouldn’t get another baserunner in the eighth or ninth inning and lost by that one run. Pittsburgh’s Al McBean was the winning pitcher, outdueling Gaylord Perry.

Based on Win Probability Added, which is “the change in the probability of the eventual winner winning the game from the start of the play to the end of the platy,” this was the fourth-most significant play of the game.

The two most influential plays in the game were two plays that either scored a run for the Pirates or led to a run scoring for the Pirates. Third on the list was the leadoff groundout by Jim Davenport with the Giants losing 2-1 in the bottom of the ninth. Next is the play in which Mays was gunned by Clemente.

Next: Tony Gwynn: Mr. Padre’s legend and legacy

It may not have been the most important play of that game, but it was memorable for Mays. Of course, Roberto Clemente had 260 assists in his career, so Willie Mays is hardly the only player burned by his arm. According to the Fangraphs leaderboards, there have been seven seasons in which a right fielder had 24 or more assists in MLB history.

Roberto Clemente had three of those seasons. Willie Mays was right, he should have known better than to challenge Roberto’s arm and now he’s going to down in MLB history — like Rudolph!

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