Remembering Game 5 of the 1972 Pirates-Reds NLCS, Roberto Clemente's last

Going into the 1972 season, the Pittsburgh Pirates were hoping to repeat as world champions. The dramatic Game 7 win over the Orioles in the ‘71 series gave the soon-to-be City of Champions another title, as star right fielder Roberto Clemente was honored as the World Series MVP. This was the same season that the Pirates fielded the first all-minority starting lineup on Sept. 1 in a triumph over the Philadelphia Phillies. Five Pirates (Clemente, Steve Blass, Al Oliver, Manny Sanguillén and Willie Stargell) were elected to that year’s All-Star game in Atlanta and reunited with their former manager Danny Murtaugh, who returned to the dugout and led the National League team to a 4-3 victory.

They continued their dominance of the NL East in the second half, finishing with a record of 96-59, 11 games ahead of the runner-up Chicago Cubs. Their opponents for the National League Championship Series, the Cincinnati Reds, were growing into their moniker as the Big Red Machine and won 95 games.

The two historic franchises matched up once again in the NL’s deciding series in 1972, a rematch of the 1970 postseason, where the Reds swept the Pirates in three games. The Reds claimed the pennant once more in the memorable 1972 affair, clinching the series in an infamous Game 5 that sadly would be the last game of Roberto Clemente’s career.

Remembering Roberto Clemente's final game with the Pittsburgh Pirates

The series was tied going into the conclusive Game 5, the Pirates coming off a loss the previous afternoon at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. Lefty Ross Grimsley shut down the Pirates in a one-run, two-hitter, as the Reds tacked on seven runs to force a Game 5. First-year Pirates manager Bill Virdon, a member of the 1960 championship team, went with Steve Blass on the hill in a rematch of Game 1 versus 21-year-old righty Don Gullett. Blass had a phenomenal regular season. He was an All-Star, as mentioned previously, had a record of 19-8, and posted an elite 2.49 ERA. For his efforts, he was the runner up for that year’s Cy Young award, finishing behind Steve Carlton, who had a historic 1972 campaign.

Blass ended up going 7.1 innings of two-run ball, as the Pirates maintained their 3-2 lead going into the bottom of the ninth. Second baseman Dave Cash led the bats with two hits and two runs batted in. Clemente also had a hit, the last of his career, in the first inning off Gullett. To that point, he only had three hits in the series (one in Game 3, and two in Game 4), which included a solo home run off Grimsley in the seventh inning of the previous game. Clemente was intentionally walked in his final plate appearance in the eighth inning of Game 5. The Pirates were three outs away from returning to the World Series. Then, the improbable happened.

Dave Giusti, the Pirates' closer, was brought in to shut the Reds down. That year, he picked up 22 saves and had an incredible 1.93 ERA, a career low. Ramón Hernández, a dependable lefty out the bullpen, who had 14 saves of his own in 1972, finished out the eighth, but was replaced by Giusti for the final frame.

Johnny Bench, arguably the greatest catcher of all time, led off the inning for the Reds. Down 1-2, he hit a towering shot to right-center to tie the game. The crowd lost it. That would be an understatement. Tony Pérez hit a single on the next pitch. Manager Sparky Anderson then brought George Foster in as the pinch-runner. After working a full count, third baseman Denis Menke advanced the runner with a single to left.

César Gerónimo was up next. Virdon took Giusti out of the game after starting the at-bat with a 2-0 count, and replaced him with Bob Moose, who had taken the loss as the starter in Game 2. Moose got Gerónimo to fly out to Clemente, but Foster managed to tag up on the play. Darrel Chaney then popped up to short. Two outs, bottom of the ninth, this was it. Hal McRae stepped into the box, hitting for pitcher Clay Carroll. The count was 1-1, and then it was over. A wild pitch from Moose allowed Foster to advance and score the winning run. One pitch, that was it. A truly heartbreaking loss.

The Reds would go on to lose the World Series to the Oakland Athletics in seven games, with the A’s winning it all in Cincinnati. Meanwhile, Game 5 of that 1972 NLCS marked the last game of Roberto Clemente’s major league career. Tragically, on Dec. 31, 1972, he died in a plane crash; the plane was on its way to deliver aid to victims of the recent earthquake in Nicaragua. The Pirates retired his No. 21 the following season. Clemente became the first Latin American player to become a member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, inducted posthumously in 1973.

The Commissioner’s Award was renamed in his honor, and is given annually to the player “who best exemplifies the game of baseball, sportsmanship, community involvement and the individual’s contribution to his team”. On Sept. 15 each season, Major League Baseball celebrates Roberto Clemente Day, coinciding with the start of Hispanic Heritage Month. A statue of Clemente was unveiled at Three Rivers Stadium before the 1994 All-Star Game in Pittsburgh. It now resides outside the center field gate at PNC Park, not far from the bridge that bears his name. The legacy of "The Great One", as a ballplayer and humanitarian, lives on.