Roberto Clemente
From BR Bullpen
Roberto Clemente Walker (Arriba; The Great One)
- Bats Right, Throws Right
- Height 5' 11", Weight 175 lb.
- Debut April 17, 1955
- Final Game October 3, 1972
- Born August 18, 1934 in Carolina, Puerto Rico
- Died December 31, 1972 plane crash at sea near San Juan, P.R..
Inducted into Hall of Fame in 1973
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[edit] Biographical Information
"He gave the term 'complete' a new meaning. He made the word 'superstar' seem inadequate. He had about him the touch of royalty." - Bowie Kuhn in 1973
Roberto Clemente is one of the most beloved figures in baseball history. He is the "Jackie Robinson" of Latin players and is an icon in Pittsburgh, where he spent his entire major league career; Puerto Rico, where he was born and raised; and Nicaragua, where he was taking relief supplies when he died. To this day, many Latin American players wear #21 in his honor. Clemente signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers for a $10,000 bonus. The Braves offered him a $30,000 bonus as soon as he was old enough to sign, but he had already made a verbal commitment to a Dodger scout that he would sign with Brooklyn as soon as he was 18.
"I am convinced that God wanted me to be a baseball player. I was born to play baseball." - Roberto Clemente
Clemente rose through the minors quickly, and by 1954 he was with the Dodgers' AAA affiliate in Montreal, the Montreal Royals. But he wasn't able to make it to the majors because of a star-studded Dodgers outfield, as well as concerns that fans would be turned off by having too many black players on the team. It has been alleged that the Dodgers tried to hide Clemente from other teams by benching him when he played well and keeping him in the lineup when he slumped. But in fact, day-by-day records disprove this, and Clemente played regularly against left-handed pitchers in the season's second half as Montreal made it to the International League finals. His performance in limited playing time did not escape the attention of Pittsburgh Pirates executive Branch Rickey who selected Clemente with the first pick in the Rule V Draft the following December.
During his career with the Pirates, Clemente amassed 3,000 hits and led the team to two World Championships, in 1960 and 1971. He was largely underappreciated during the early part of his career, due partly to nagging injuries that caused him to be labeled as a hypochondriac and partly due to being a dark-skinned Hispanic at a time when American society had not yet fully accepted minorities in the major leagues. This prejudice was reflected in his Topps baseball cards, which for much of his career referred to him as "Bob Clemente".
"Some right fielders have rifles for arms, but he had a howitzer." - Tim McCarver
"Clemente could field the ball in New York and throw out a guy in Pennsylvania." - Vin Scully
Clemente was considered one of the greatest defensive right fielders in baseball history due in large part to his very strong throwing arm. He was recognized for his ability, winning 12 Gold Gloves.
Clemente managed Puerto Rico in the 1972 Amateur World Series.
On December 23, 1972, a massive earthquake struck the Central American country of Nicaragua. The quake pushed the famed Immaculate Reception off of the front page in Pittsburgh, and tragically proved to be a more important moment in Pittsburgh sports. On December 31, Clemente died when the plane he was riding crashed off the coast of Puerto Rico, en route to deliver relief supplies to victims of the disaster.
Clemente was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame on January 24, 1973 by the Baseball Writers Association of America. He is one of three Hall of Fame players who was inducted without the mandatory five year wait, Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig are the others. He was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 1973, the first baseball player so honored.
Based on the similarity scores method of comparing batting stats, the three most similar players are Zack Wheat, Goose Goslin, and his contemporary Vada Pinson.
Clemente felt a strong sense of loyalty to his team and its fans. During the 1972 strike, which came at a time when free agency was becoming an issue, Clemente wrote a letter to Pirates management stating that he would never have taken advantage of free agency had it been available. The letter was made public by the team in 1994 at the unveiling of the Clemente statue outside Three Rivers Stadium.
The Clemente family name lived on in the 1980s as Clemente's eldest son Roberto Clemente Jr. played in the minor leagues for the Philadelphia Phillies, San Diego Padres, and Baltimore Orioles from 1984 to 1990. His second son Luis Clemente was selected by the Pirates in the 1984 amateur draft. He is also the uncle of Edgard Clemente.
Among the things named for Clemente, a state park in the Bronx, NY, a city park in Cleveland, the Roberto Clemente Bridge in Pittsburgh, Estadio Roberto Clemente and Avienda Roberto Clemente in Carolina, Puerto Rico, and schools in Rochester, NY, New Haven, CT, Milford, CT, Chicago, IL, Allentown, PA, Germantown, MD, Philadelphia, PA, Paterson, NJ, and Ypsilanti, MI.
Clemente's memory was the center of attention before the 2006 All-Star Game. His widow and Bill Mazeroski, among others, attended in his honor.
In 2007, Roberto was voted onto the Rawlings All-Time Gold Glove Team, joining Willie Mays and Ken Griffey Jr. in the outfield.
[edit] Notable Achievements
- 12-time NL All-Star (1960-1967 & 1969-1972)
- NL MVP (1966)
- 1971 World Series MVP
- 12-time NL Gold Glove Winner (1961-1972)
- 4-time NL Batting Average Leader (1961, 1964, 1965 & 1967)
- 2-time NL Hits Leader (1964 & 1967)
- NL Triples Leader (1969)
- 20-Home Run Seasons: 3 (1961, 1966 & 1967)
- 100 RBI Seasons: 2 (1966 & 1967)
- 100 Runs Scored Seasons: 3 (1961, 1966 & 1967)
- 200 Hits Seasons: 4 (1961, 1964, 1966 & 1967)
- Won two World Series with the Pittsburgh Pirates (1960 & 1971)
- Baseball Hall of Fame: Class of 1973
| NL MVP | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1965 | 1966 | 1967 |
| Willie Mays | Roberto Clemente | Orlando Cepeda |
[edit] Further Reading
- David Maraniss: Clemente: The Passion and Grace of Baseball's Last Hero, Simon & Schuster, New York, NY, 2006.
- Bruce Markusen: The Team That Changed Baseball: Roberto Clemente and the 1971 Pittsburgh Pirates, Westholme Publishing, Yardley, PA, 2006.
- Stew Thornley: "Clemente's Entry into Organized Baseball: Hidden in Montreal?", in The National Pastime - A Review of Baseball History, Society for American Baseball Research, Cleveland, OH, number 26 (May, 2006), pp. 61-71.
[edit] Related Sites
Chasing 3000 is a movie about two brothers who travel to Pittsburgh to watch Roberto Clemente get his 3000th hit.
