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55 Years Ago: Pirates and Cubs Played Final Games at Forbes Field

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On June 28, 1970, the Pittsburgh Pirates and Chicago Cubs played the final two games at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. The Pirates won both games of the doubleheader by scores of 3-2 and 4-1 in front of 40,918 fans. This included many who purchased standing-room-only tickets. When the Pirates returned from a subsequent road trip, they would play their next home game at the modern Three Rivers Stadium.

Unknown date; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; FILE PHOTO; Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Roberto Clemente (21) poses for a portrait at Forbes Field. Mandatory Credit: Malcolm Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

June 28, 1970: Pirates and Cubs Played Final Games at Forbes Field

The front-page headline of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette blared, “Pirates’ Two Wins Close Forbes Field” before getting to lesser matters like the Vietnam War. It ran a photo of fans eight deep stealing numerals from the manual scoreboard in left field. (Miss Rocco at Immaculate Conception School taught us they were “numerals,” not “numbers.” Numerals are symbols for numbers. One can’t see a number. You’re welcome.) The front page of The Pittsburgh Press didn’t address the closing of the venerable ballpark in its headlines. It ran a photo of fans making off with wooden seats and scoreboard numerals.

Fans interviewed by both local papers were almost unanimous in saying they were sad to see the old ballpark go. As the second game began, Pirates broadcaster Bob Prince told his listeners on KDKA radio, “There’s more than a little sadness, it’s a tremendous, overpowering amount of grief in a sense. . . It’s like losing a dear loved one.” Prince had joined the Pirates’ broadcasting team in 1948.

The Waiting is the Hardest Part

I like to say I’m the only Italian on Earth who knows nothing about construction. But I do know this much: Construction projects, at least in Pittsburgh, are fraught with delays. Three Rivers Stadium was supposed to be ready for the 1970 home opener. The winter weather and work stoppages delayed the projected opening until May 29. However, on April 14, the Stadium Authority ran an ad in the Post-Gazette. They were only then soliciting bids for the “Tarpaulin Field Cover,” “Line Striper,” and “Scrubber,” with a deadline of April 27.

That didn’t happen, and when the Pirates left for a West Coast trip on June 8 (which would feature Dock Ellis’s “LSD no-hitter” on the 12th), they didn’t know whether their next home game on June 19 would be at Forbes Field or the new stadium. The answer came on June 11. A June 19 opening wasn’t feasible. The construction crew still needed to install a “minor electrical part” and 900 seats, and they still hadn’t cleared debris. The new opening date would be July 12.

The Baby Bucs

The delays meant there were several possible “final games” at Forbes Field: on October 2, 1969, or May 20 or June 7, 1970. None of those games were well attended, however. Fans didn’t storm the field after those games. They’d believe it when they saw the official word. Finally, the announcement that the June 28 doubleheader would close Forbes Field brought out the fans. The Pirates’ play may have had a role, too.

They entered the doubleheader having won seven of nine games, including five in a row, during the homestand. They were just 1 ½ games out of first place in the National League East Division, trailing the defending World Series champs, the New York Mets. The Pirates were seeing the fruits of their rich farm system. The “Baby Bucs” – Dave Cash, Gene Clines, Ellis, Richie Hebner, Johnny Jeter, Bob Moose, Al Oliver, Bob Robertson, and Manny Sanguillén – were in the majors, playing well. The Pirates also had plenty of veterans to lead the way: Gene Alley, Matty Alou, Steve Blass, Roberto Clemente, Bill Mazeroski, Willie Stargell, and Bob Veale. The beloved “Maz” was the hero of the 1960 World Series with his game-winning home run in Game 7. Clemente and Stargell would eventually homer in World Series Game 7 victories. The 1970 Pirates were poised for success.

Game 1

Pirates fan George Catlin, 90, threw out the ceremonial first pitch. He was at Forbes Field for the first game on June 30, 1909, also against the Cubs. Pirates starter Moose gave the Bucs seven solid innings in Game 1, but was trailing, 2-1, when he was lifted for pinch-hitter José Pagán. The reliable Pagán smacked an RBI double off Cubs pitcher Bill Hands to tie the game.

In the bottom of the eighth, Clemente hit a one-out double off Hands. Enter reliever Larry Gura, who hit Oliver with a pitch and struck out Stargell. Now, Cubs manager Leo Durocher turned to reliever Phil Regan. Regan walked Alley to load the bases. The next batter, catcher Jerry May, ran the count to 2-2. Regan’s next offering was ball three. Home plate umpire Al Barlick noticed that the ball was covered with petroleum jelly. He went to the mound and gave Regan a thorough inspection. Unable to find a foreign substance, Regan was allowed to remain in the game. But the incident must have unnerved him. Regan walked May to force in the winning run.

Pirates reliever Dave Giusti tried to give it back in the top of the ninth. He allowed the Cubs to load the bases with one out. With the left-handed-hitting Johnny Callison due up, Pirates manager Danny Murtaugh signaled for left-handed pitcher Luke Walker. Walker didn’t like relieving. Murtaugh didn’t care. Durocher countered with right-handed hitter Ernie Banks. The Forbes Field faithful grew nervous when Walker’s first two offerings sailed outside. Walker rallied to strike out Banks and retire Cleo James to end the game.

Discussing the third strike on Banks, Walker told Bill Christine of The Press, “It was a fastball, really it was. It just moved a lot at the last second, that’s all.”

Game 2

The Pirates’ Game 2 starter was rookie right-hander Jim Nelson. The unflappable Nelson made his major league debut on the previous May 30 against the San Francisco Giants. He entered that game with runners on first and third and no outs. All he did was strike out Willie Mays and coax Willie McCovey to rap into a double play. On this day, he walked the tightrope and consistently pitched out of jams, but gave Pittsburgh eight strong innings. Clemente was not in the lineup for Game 2. Prince speculated that Clemente would probably find a way to get into the game at some point. He didn’t. The Great One liked his rest.

With the Cubs ahead, 1-0, in the bottom of the first inning, Oliver, who will be inducted into the Pirates Hall of Fame in August, stepped to the box against Milt Pappas. Prince described the at-bat to his KDKA audience: “I asked Hank Bauer one day what Pappas threw. He said, ‘Fastball, slider. He gets it up, it’s out of the park’ [in a low grumble, presumably imitating Bauer’s voice]. I’d like to see him get a slider up if he still throws it. Three balls, two strikes. Milt Pappas working to Al Oliver. The pitch. There she goes! High fly! Kiss it good-bye!”

Forbes Field “Lasts”

The roar of the crowd was deafening as Oliver’s hit sailed into the right field stands. When the noise died down, Prince’s broadcast partner, Nelson King, asked, “Got anything good at the second race at the Meadows tomorrow night?” (For the uninitiated, the Meadows is a horse racing track in nearby Washington, PA.) It was the last home run ever hit at Forbes Field.

A two-out, two-run double by Alou in the fifth was the margin of victory for Pittsburgh. Robertson added a sacrifice fly in the sixth inning. It was 4-1, Pirates, and all academic after that. In the ninth, the Cubs’ Willie Smith registered the last hit at Forbes Field. It was also the last pinch-hit at Forbes Field. With two outs, it set the stage for a ground ball to Mazeroski. “Maz” fielded it, stepped on second base, and, fittingly, recorded the last out at Forbes Field.

The Last Word on Forbes Field

Forbes Field wasn’t demolished right away. I believe it was in 1972, when I was 14 years old, that my brother Nick, my cousin Paul DeAndrea, and I rode our bicycles to the site and took some bricks from the rubble. Just like that. The area wasn’t fenced off, and nobody was auctioning off the bricks. It was a simpler time.

Today, the center and right field walls remain extant. Fans gather there every year on October 13 to celebrate the anniversary of Game 7 of the 1960 World Series by listening to the radio broadcast of the game. The left field wall is on display at PNC Park.

 

Main Photo Credit: © Malcolm Emmons-Imagn Images

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