Gene Clines has passed away.
Clines was a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates’ “Lumber Company” teams of the early 1970s- making his major league debut in the penultimate game of Forbes Field, hitting .405 as a rookie pinch-hitter in that playoff season of 1970, and then continuing as a reliable bat with plenty of speed as a fourth outfielder for the next four seasons before being traded to the Mets for catcher Duffy Dyer.
Clines’ was not known as a home run hitter, but hit the “other” home run the Pirates collected in their first-ever League Championship Series victory against San Francisco in 1971, a 9-4 victory best remembered for Bob Robertson’s three home runs.
At the time only Babe Ruth had ever hit three home runs in a postseason game, and it was the Bucs’ first postseason victory since Bill Mazeroski’s heroics won the World Series 11 years before.
Clines also was the centerfielder in the Pirates’ 10-7 victory on Sept. 1, 1971, notable for the Pirates’ having the first all-minority lineup in major league baseball history.
Clines made the Bucs’ spring training site of Bradenton, Florida his home in his retirement.
Gene Clines was 75.
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