1960, Game Seven, Found

[Guest Edgy DC]

Number 6 wrote: - Roberto Clemente looked terrible in this game. Kicked two balls in the outfield and looked bizarrely hacktastic at the plate, getting beat by balls low and away while standing a full 2 feet from the plate.

That's because he held on too long! Old washed-up 26-year-old geezer!

[Frayed Knot]

Clemente was always a bit of a hack-tastic kind of swinger, very much befitting the Latin stereotype of his time.
Just tends to look bad when your hacks don't also make contract. And, yeah, there were several balls he tried to short hop which wound up getting kicked around. Maris had at least one too and he was also considered a top-notch RF.

The grass was in lousy shape (one of the players - Groat I think - even commented on it) but finely manicured lawns certainly weren't the rule back then the way they are now. What caught my eye was the dirt which seemed to get huge divots from every footprint like it was wet clay or something. It would have been easy for one of those footprints to have been the cause Kubek's bounce.

Didn't notice the runners thing. The running game certainly became fashionable in the NL later on in the '60s but the '50s game and especially the AL game was much less aggressive in that way.

[HahnSolo]

I could be wrong but I think the Steelers were still playing their home games there in 1960. That may have contributed to the chewed-up playing field.

Also, I caught the postgame with Bob Prince, who I swear in 2 minutes must have talked to about 20 guys. Gold.

[Lefty Specialist]

Prince was amazing. First to find a jacket that ugly- even in black and white it screams at you.

And the interviews!

"Hal, how did it feel to hit that crucial 3-run homer?"

"It felt great, Bob."

"Fantastic. Now here's Dick Groat...."