On April 17, 1955, Pittsburgh Pirates right fielder Roberto Clemente made his major league debut in Game 1 of a doubleheader. The anniversary was commemorated in the morning at a ceremony where Three Rivers Stadium once stood, although the Pirates’ home was Forbes Field at the time. Roberto Clemente, Jr., threw out the ceremonial first pitch before the afternoon 1-0 victory against the Washington Nationals at PNC Park.
On April 17, 1955, Roberto Clemente started in right field and made his Major League debut at Forbes Field, singling in his first at-bat of the game. pic.twitter.com/HLAiRwb93P
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) April 17, 2025
Clemente Debuted for the Pirates 70 Years Ago
The Pirates drafted the right-handed hitting Clemente from the Brooklyn Dodgers’ organization in the 1954 Rule 5 Draft after he hit .257 for the Triple-A Montreal Royals. There was palpable excitement in Pittsburgh over the prospect of the young prospect patrolling the Pirates outfield in 1955. In January, Pirates manager Fred Haney told Jack Hernon of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “Roberto Clemente is going to surprise even his biggest boosters and be the rookie of the year.”
Early preseason reports from the press weren’t as glowing as Haney’s assessment. Charles J. Doyle of the Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph wrote, “In the Caribbean area, Clemente hit better than .300, but there have been well-founded reports that the Winter loop is something of the style of the old Penn State Assn,” a minor league that existed from 1890-1916. Les Biederman of The Pittsburgh Press, never a friend of Clemente, was more enthusiastic about young slugger Dick Stuart. Of Clemente, he wrote, “He’s a high-ball hitter and shows weakness on fly balls hit over his head, but has better than average talent and can really fly around the bases.” Harry Keck of the Sun-Telegraph was more enthusiastic, calling Clemente a “steal.”
“Graceful as a Swan”
By the first day of spring training in Fort Meyers, Florida, Doyle was starting to come around. In his March 2 column, he compared the 20-year-old Clemente to Willie Mays, Max Carey, and Kiki Cuyler. Supposedly, he overheard a fan saying, “That kid is as graceful as a swan as he scoots over the grass.” (It’s hard to believe that such poetry emanated from the stands at a spring training workout, but maybe it’s true.)
Most of the high praise in the press for Clemente concerned his speed and defense. Indeed, Clemente turned in the fastest time when the Pirates ran 60-yard dashes. But he was hitting the ball, too. He hit .385 in the spring exhibition games. Fans noticed. Clemente and third baseman Sid Gordon were reportedly the favorites of the Pirates spring training fans.
History was made on March 13 when the Pirates started an all-Puerto Rican outfield in their exhibition game. The trio was Clemente, Carlos Bernier (who broke the Pirates’ color barrier in 1953), and “Jacques Majias,” according to the newspaper report. However, the latter party was probably Román Mejías, who was in camp with the Pirates. There’s no evidence of a Jacques Majias ever in baseball. The newspapers of the period never worked overtime trying to get the names of Hispanic players correct. Bernier and Mejías finished second and third, respectively, in the aforementioned 60-yard dashes. Mejías, Felipe Montemayor, and Jerry Lynch competed with Clemente for a spot in the Pirates outfield.
Me Roberto, You Jane?
Probably because of the language barrier, reporters made little attempt to get the fans to know Clemente. Biederman, who also interviewed Bernier extensively, made an attempt in his March 12 column. Unfortunately, he had the obscene habit of quoting Clemente as though he were some cartoonish Puerto Rican version of Tarzan.
Nevertheless, here’s what Pirates fans learned about the young Clemente: He hit only .257 in Montreal because he wasn’t playing regularly. He was hitting .390 in the Puerto Rican League. Then, his average dropped 50 points because he was worried about his brother, who died of a brain tumor. Clemente went to school and didn’t work much. When he did work, it was on his father’s farm, where sugar and cows were raised. He used his $10,000 bonus to buy his parents a city house in Puerto Rico. He runs 100 meters in 11 seconds. Clemente likes cars and music. He likes mambo and Nat King Cole, but doesn’t consider himself a good dancer. Mays was the best player he ever saw.
“A Man Who Knows a Man”
With Clemente and Mejías on the Opening Day roster, Haney purchased a Spanish dictionary, mainly so he could hold them up as they were running the bases. For the opener in Brooklyn, it was Mejías, not Clemente, in the Pirates lineup against the Dodgers. Pirates general manager Rickey was decidedly unhappy. Wrote Davis J. Walsh of the Sun-Telegraph, all in caps, “WE KNOW A MAN WHO KNOWS A MAN WHO INSISTS BRANCH RICKEY WAS NOT NOTICEABLY PLEASED WHEN FRED HANEY PICKED ROMAN MEJIAS OVER ROBERTO CLEMENTE FOR PURPOSES OF YESTERDAY’S EBBETS FIELD PREMIERE.” In Pittsburgh, everybody knows a guy, and if they don’t, they know a guy who knows a guy. It’s considered a reliable source. Mejías was the right fielder for the first three games of the season. Clemente didn’t appear in any of those games.
Enter Clemente
Finally, on April 17, wearing uniform number 13, Clemente started in right field in the first game of a home doubleheader against the Dodgers. Perhaps it was because Mejías went just 2-for-11 in those games, or perhaps under pressure from Rickey. Haney told Walsh it was his plan all along to break the shy Clemente in slowly.
Of the three Pittsburgh newspapers, only the Sun-Telegraph even mentioned Clemente. In his first at-bat against left-hander Johnny Podres, he beat out a grounder to shortstop Pee Wee Reese for his first major league hit. Clemente went 1-for-4 with a run scored in a 10-3 loss. Doyle reported that “Clemente made a splendid catch in the first game when he leaped high to the top of the right field wall and, with his shoulder pinned against the concrete, grabbed Junior Gilliam’s smash.” In the second game, Clemente started in center field and batted leadoff. He went 2-for-4 with a double and a single and another run scored against right-hander Clem Labine. However, the Dodgers won that one, too, 3-2.
Clemente was back in right field the next night at the Polo Grounds against the New York Giants. There, he hit his first home run, an inside-the-park job in the fifth inning of a 12-3 loss. Wrote Doyle, “Clemente displayed more speed than this writer has seen any Pittsburgh player show in recent years.” The Pirates were 0-6, but it looked like they had their right fielder.
Main Photo Credits: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
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