Top Clutch Performances: Pittsburgh Sports History

Couple weeks ago, we ran a piece on "Top Choke Artists in Pittsburgh Playoff History," establishing, per my opinion, that Barry (Big Head) Bonds was undoubtedly the LCAP (Leading Choke Artist: Pittsburgh).

How about the top clutch performers though, whether it be a moment, a game, or (less preferably) a season?

Here they, are the top 10, in inverse order:

#10:  Roberto Clemente-1971 World Series
The Great Roberto batted .414, letting the world know what we in Pittsburgh had been treated to for years.  His 12 for 29 performance included 5 extra base hits, including a pair of homers, one in the deciding 7th game against the Birds of Baltimore.

#9:  L.C. Greenwood-Super Bowl IX
Dunno about you, but my one lasting image of the Steelers first Super Bowl win, is of L.C. playing volleyball with the offerings of Fran Tarkenton, 3 times batting his passes at the line of scrimmage. 
For the record, L.C. didn't give a bad accounting of himself in SB X either, sacking Roger Staubach 4 times.

#8:  John Stallworth-Super Bowl XIV
Steelers down in 4Q, and Stallworth hauls in a 72 yarder from Bradshaw for the go-ahead score, then make an over the head, falling catch on a similar play on the next possession to ice the victory.
Like L.C., one could also cast a vote for his other SB big-time performance, that of SB XIII where he made a pair of touchdown grabs.

#7:  Terry Bradshaw-Super Bowl XIV
Like his teammates in the 8 & 9 slots, one could rightfully ask which Bradshaw SB performance nets our vote?  Not often mentioned in a discussion of THE greatest quarterback of all-time, Brad was 4-0 in Super Bowls and threw a TD in the 4th quarter of every one.  We'll take his final SB though, and his linkage to John Stallworth on whatever that play was called.

#6:  Marc-Andre Fleury-Game 7
Again, one could argue that Fleury's defining moment was on the Dan Cleary breakaway with a little over a minute remaining in Game 6, that his teammates did a stellar job in keeping the puck to the edges of the rink in Game 7. True enough, but I'll take the final 6.5 seconds, and his turning away a pair of shots to earn the improbable Stanley Cup victory.  I've watched this replay most morning since June 12th, and I never tire of hearing Mike Emrick, at the broadcast's conclusion, say, "...and the final 2 saves by Marc-Andre Fleury."

#5:  Steve Blass-1971 World Series
Steverino, early on in his career, known for not finsihing games, in this complete game era, rang up a pair of complete game victories, including Game 7.Per Fleury, in games 6 & 7, Blass gave up a single run in both games, 3 & 7, surrending 3 & 4 hits in the respective outings.
In 1973, however, he contracted the illness to be forever dubbed "Steve Blass Disease," was unable to find the plate, walked 84 batters in 88 innings, and was essentially all done.

#4:  Maxime Talbot-Game 7
Still can't figure this guy out.  Scores 12 goals over the course of an 80-game season, then...
*8 goals in 24 playoff games
*4 goals in 7 Stanley Cup Finals games
*2 goals in Game 7
Clutch!!

#3:  Ben Roethlisberger-Super Bowl XLIII
After having led his team to victory on the final possession on 5 previous occasions during the '08 campaign, Big Ben is faced with 88 yards in front of him, and about 2:20 remaining, down 4 points.  He evades pressure, he buys time, and he's damn near perfect, leading his team to the winning TD...culminating in the scoring pass to Santonio Holmes, where Ben had only the very slightest margin of error.  Perfect pass!!

#2:  Santonio Holmes-Super Bowl XLIII
Forever and for all time linked with #7, Santonio had zero margin for error on the Catch, dubbed by some as the greatest catch ever, and this factor enables him to edge out Ben for the #2 slot. 
I've watched this video, often repeatedly, most days since February 1st, and I'm thankful that when the ref was under the hood at Raymond James, we weren't being shown the replay from the rear.  What appeared from the front to be both feet down, the right tucked in back of the left, was, for all but a split second, the right tucked behind the left, but off of the turf.  Both feet were indeed down, but for the briefest of instants, necessitating Santonio to snag the pass with nary a hint of a bobble, similar, amazingly, to his goal-line grab a few weeks previous in Baltimore.
Santonio helps his case for #2 by making 9 catches on the game, 4 on the final drive.

#1:  Bill Mazeroski-1960 World Series
Gotta go with the one swing of the bat that brought Pittsburgh its first championship of any kind in 35 years, sending the town into delirium.  Once the offering from Ralph Terry cleared the 406 mark, with Lawrence (Yogi) Berra turning his back and trotting in, Bill Maz was to live forever as #1 in the hearts of Pittsburghers.
__________________________________________________ _________________

As an aside, I've argued that this June's 7th game Penguins victor in Motown qualifies as the Greatest Pittsburgh Sports Victory of All Time.  Consider:
*Steelers were favored in all 6 SB victories
*Bucs were serious underdogs to the Yanks in '60, but did return to Forbes Field, needing to win but one game of two to take the Series
*Penguins were serious underdogs as well, homer series, final game at the Joe
I still hear two Mike Emrick calls...
a.   "The horn sounds, and the Penguins have won the Stanley Cup!" (followed by 75 seconds, appropriately, of silence from the broadcast booth, in the best tradition of Ray Scott....yes, I timed it).
b.    At the very close of the broadcast, after thanking his partners, "....the Pittsburgh Penguins are the NHL's Stanley Cup Champions.  From Detroit, this is Mike Emrick, saying 'Goodnight, all."

Game 7...#1