Even years after Roberto Clemente played in his final game, his memory is as clear as ever in his fans minds. Some think of Clemente standing on second base after collecting his 3000th hit. Others think of his amazing throws from the outfield to nail runners attempting to score. Still, there are others who remember Clemente for something much more. These people, such as that little boy who Clemente would visit in the hospital, remember him for his role as a humanitarian.
Roberto Clemente was born on August 18, 1934 in the town of Carolina, Puerto Rico. He was the youngest of five siblings and grew up in living conditions that were slightly better than poor. His patient demeanor soon earned him the nickname, Momen, short for momentito. When Clemente was still a baby, he lost a sister who died from burns after touching a stove. That incident stayed with Roberto, knowing that he was too young to help her. When he was twelve Roberto was able to save a man from a burning car. He did so because he was someone who always helped others, regardless of the peril of the situation.
Roberto’s parents, Melchor and Luisa Clemente, were very tough on him growing up. The two valued education and hoped he would become an engineer. Moreover, his father taught him not to hit anyone, but to not let anyone hit him (Maraniss, 23). This would be a lesson Roberto applied to his life, when dealing with problems he encountered in America, such as racism. With that lesson in mind, Roberto became a great person, always peaceful. But he stood up to racism and what he considered was wrong.
Growing up in Carolina, the Clementes were isolated, so Roberto passed his childhood by playing baseball. The sport dominated the Caribbean island and whether he played with tin cans or a broom, he was always playing baseball. Clemente idolized Monte Irvin, a black outfielder for the New York Giants, who also played winter baseball in Puerto Rico. Roberto was also performed the javelin for track and field. Had it not been for baseball, he could have been an Olympic javelin thrower, a tribute to his outstanding arm.
Eventually, Roberto began playing baseball for an amateur team in Carolina that was coached by Robert Marin. Marin would soon become his baseball guardian and Clemente credited Marin with helping him break into American baseball. Clemente gave Marin credit because Marin was always letting pro scouts know of Roberto’s talents, in an attempt to get him signed by a professional club. Without the exposure Clemente gained through Marin’s efforts, he may have never been discovered by pro baseball.
When Roberto was still a teenager he was scouted by Al Campanis, of the Brooklyn Dodgers. Over a year later, in 1954, Clemente signed with the Dodgers for $10,000, which was roughly what 1/6 of the price white players signed for. Although Roberto thought little of this at the time, since he was just happy to be signed, it was a harbinger to the prejudice he would face and fight in America. Once he gained a wide audience with his fame, Clemente would stand up for his Latino followers, who were oppressed by making 1/6 the amount of white players.
During 1954, Clemente played for Brooklyn’s minor league club in Montreal. However, the Dodgers big league team had a crowded outfield so it was apparent Roberto would stay in the minors all year. This was a problem since any player who signed for more than $6,000 would be lost if he did not make the big league roster. The result was that Roberto was drafted by the Pirates in the 1955 draft, with the first overall pick. Being drafted first boosted Clemente’s morale after being benched in Montreal. In Montreal, Clemente longed to return home since he did not play, but being the first overall pick reminded Clemente of why he was so highly thought of.
In Pittsburgh, Roberto showed his natural baseball talents. Graceful was one of the many adjectives fans used to compliment how Clemente played the game of baseball. People consider him one of the best and most enjoyable players in the sports history. He had the arm of a machine gun, the arm of which has become baseballs golden standard. Roberto was also renowned for his great hustle, as he could leg out infield hits and turn singles into doubles. Clemente was also a tough baseball player, always playing through nagging injuries. He often let sports journalists know he was hurt, but that led the media to think he was soft, since the stereotypical image of a ballplayer was a guy who kept quite about injuries.
Roberto spent eighteen seasons in professional baseball, all with the Pirates. He finished his career with a .317 average, .359 On Base Percentage, and .474 slugging percentage, all which were beyond the league average (Baseball-Reference). During the 1960’s he was arguably one of the best players in the game. Over the decade, he collected two hundred hits four times, won four batting titles, and won the Gold Glove each season that decade while leading outfielders in assists five times- a true testament to offensive and defensive ability.
Despite dominating the decade, he won only one MVP award, in 1966. Although he did not care if he won the award or not, he was disappointed for the reason he did not win. Clemente strongly opposed racism and to him, that is the reason he and other Latinos did not win more awards. Growing in Puerto Rico, he was not used to public racism, as there was in America. He became angry, when experiencing Jim Crow laws in the south for the first time. According to his brother, Mario Clemente, Roberto, “…said everyone was equal. White, black, yellow, he believed everyone was equal. He helped a lot to do away with racism…” (Roberto Clemente). That is a true testament to Clemente’s character. He was a social reformer and firmly opposed prejudice, as he considered all people equal. His work against racism was just a sample of his activism against injustice, as he tried to become an inspiration for future generations
In his eighteen seasons, he won two World Series, while collecting a hit in each World Series game. During the 1971 World Series, he won MVP honors for batting .414, all while preserving a game six win with a cannon throw, and smacking a decisive home run in game seven.
In the last game of 1972, Roberto hit his 3,000 career hit, becoming only the tenth player have to do so. Little did he know that would be his last career hit.
When Clemente broke into professional baseball, he was one of the first Latino players to do so. However, it was not until he became a star that the door was open for a future generation of Latino stars. That impact is still felt today by players such as Juan Gonzalez who stated, “Clemente is a great hero for all Latin players especially Puerto Ricans” (Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipient) and Bernie Williams who claimed, “Growing up in Puerto Rico we got to learn a lot about his character…a great human being as well” (Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipient). Without his positive characteristics and skill, Latinos may never have been given a fair chance to play baseball in America. Roberto also helped many players get accustomed to life in the United States, by counseling them with their problems or loaning them suits or his car (Stoda, Kevin). By helping out other Latinos, he was becoming a leader and hero to many people. His influence over the Latino people affected the lives of many people for the better. Clemente was considered the Jackie Robinson of foreign born players and his impact was just the same. In Puerto Rico, Clemente is revered for his legacy. There are memorials built in his honor and there are sports complexes in his name, so that future kids can practice their athletic dreams and carry out a life style similar to Roberto.
Fans that saw Clemente play said he was as close to perfect as any player had ever been. To Clemente, that was a nice compliment, but he preferred to be perfect off the field, rather than on it.
A humanitarian is someone who helps those in need and calls for social change. Roberto often went above and beyond those requirements. Clemente once stated, “Any time you have an opportunity to make a difference in this world and you don’t, then you are wasting your time on Earth.” (Roberto Clemente Quotes) and he based his life around that motto. Often, Clemente would take a bag of coins and distribute the money to people on the street who needed the change (Meaning of Roberto Clemente, 1). While a superstar such as himself did not have to do this, he felt obligated to do so, coming from a similar financial situation as a child. One time when Clemente was visiting a hospital, as he often did in Nicaragua voluntarily, Roberto met a twelve year old child named Julio Parrales. Julio was missing a leg. Upon meeting him, Roberto decided to round up money to pay for a prosthetic leg, and promised the child that he could be bat boy for the team he managed in the winter (Meaning of Roberto Clemente, 1). Clemente was such a great person, he was always helping people like Julio, leaving a positive impact in the community.
During his career, Clemente had trouble sleeping. He slept plenty in the clubhouse, but from one to five in the morning sleep rarely came to him. Roberto once remarked, “”If I could sleep. I could hit .400” (Roberto Clemente Quotes). Clemente was always thinking and it would keep him awake. If by chance he did nod off, he might be startled awake by one of the nightmares that had been haunting him lately. In one he was going down with a crashing plane. In another he was looking over his own funeral.
In December of 1972, an earthquake struck Managua, Nicaragua. Clemente, who was in town just prior to the incident, felt like he was obligated to help the friends he had just made. Within a few short days, he was able to raise thousands of food and medical supplies. Roberto planned to have three trips take the relief over, but he soon learned that the Nicaraguan government was keeping supplies from the victims. He then decided he had to personally deliver the relief supplies, to make sure the victims received them.
The plane Clemente was to take was a DC-7, in horrible shape. The owner, Arthur Rivera, was a man who had dozens of FAA violations, and the pilot also received discipline from the FAA. However, Roberto was unaware of this as he boarded the plane, which was carrying around 4,000 more pounds than the 40,000 pound cargo limit and in bad flying condition. Heeding advice to not go from friends and family, Clemente took off on the plane on December 31, 1972.
Roberto Clemente was thirty-eight when he died, after the plane crashed shortly after take off. His body was never found. Out of respect, the mandatory five year Hall of Fame wait was waived. In 1973, his spirit received the Congressional Medal of Honor, for his humanitarian life style. Moreover, September 18th is Roberto Clemente in Major League Baseball and his legacy is carried with the Roberto Clemente Award, given to the player who does the most to make a positive impact in the community (Medal of Freedom Recipient).
Roberto Clemente grew up relatively poor, so he was continually bettering society, coming from a similar background as the oppressed. Clemente’s image has formed around his influence on society. Tragically, Clemente died doing the one thing that made his image- helping others. Once an earthquake struck Nicaragua, Clemente considered himself obliged to provide relief for the victims. He was a superstar and international sensation. He could have relaxed while others assumed responsibility for the natural disaster. But no, Roberto potentially risked his life and fortune, to save others. That is the definition of a hero and he forever became a martyr for humanitarians. Moreover, Roberto was also a role model for Latino people, to go along with his role in the community.
Roberto Clemente was one of the best baseball players in baseball history. But his achievements on the field are no match compared to his achievements and impact on society off the field. He was a humanitarian, hero to Latino baseball players and people, and championed against racism and oppression. However, he also had a strong sense of pride which many Americans, especially the media, took as arrogance.
Growing up in Puerto Rico, Clemente was instilled with fierce pride. However, in America this trait of his was often taken for arrogance. One example was in 1971, when Clemente pointed out, “Nobody does anything better than me in baseball” (Roberto Clemente Quotes). While there was some truth to the statement and Clemente felt he was innocently taking pride in his game, the media took it for arrogance. He thought that since he was one of the games best players, he could compliment himself like that. The media believed he was being arrogant, since he expressed his worth in an overbearing manner. This arrogance was his one flaw as a human being.
A classic case was in Nicaragua in 1972. A sportswriter there compared the arm of an amateur to Clemente, even suggesting the players arm would make Roberto jealous (Maraniss, 10-11). This greatly angered Clemente, since he took pride in his arm and felt insulted that a sportswriter would compare his arm to a non professional. To others, it looked like another example of Roberto being arrogant. However, Clemente was right in his displeasure, since comparing an amateur to Clemente, is like comparing Andrew Johnson to Abraham Lincoln- there is no comparison.
Originally, Roberto Clemente was not well received in America, because it seemed the American media was out to get him. Whenever he was quoted, the media would quote him in broken English to make him seem less than intelligible. Normally, the media might correct grammar in quotes so the audience could read it legibly, but with Clemente they did not. The media also quarreled with him since he attacked it. Roberto attacked the media since he knew that the media preferred white players to foreigners, which is why he spoke loudly when Latinos were not given the recognition they deserved. Clemente even commented that, “I attack it strongly, because since the first Latino arrived in the big leagues he was discriminated against without mercy” (Maraniss, 12). Attacks like those, even if he was correct in the diagnosis, only fueled the media to give him a less than reputable persona in America. The press did not like that he voiced his opinion, because they felt that as a Latino athlete, he should play his job and that’s it. Moreover, Roberto was continually injury plagued, so he complained to the media of his woes. Yet he would go out and do a great job for his team, despite the injuries. So the media took jabs at him for being soft, since the image of baseball player was to be tough as nails. That assertion is false though, since Clemente was indeed tough enough to play hurt, and thus earned the right to let people know he was hurt.
However, after his plane crash, his image in America took on new life. Writers voted him into the Hall of Fame with over ninety percent of the vote. Also, they used their influence to rightfully shape his image as a hero to his people and champion of the oppressed and social reform. The media, along with baseball, helped create the Roberto Clemente Award, which many recipients consider the most important and valuable award they have ever won.
Today, Clemente is revered in Pittsburgh. There is a bridge in Pittsburgh named after him, and it connects the Pirates stadium to the city. Outside the park, there is a statue of him. The scoreboard fence in right field measure twenty one feet high, in honor of the right fielder who patrolled those grounds wearing number twenty-one. His number is retired by the Pirates. All these tributes are fitting, not just for the Clemente the player, but Clemente the person.
Quotes from and about Roberto Clemente (Courtesy of baseball-almanac): “I am convinced that God wanted me to be a baseball player. I was born to play baseball.”
“I want to be remembered as a ballplayer who gave all he had to give.”
“When I put on my uniform, I feel I am the proudest man on earth.”
“I still see him sometimes when I am alone. People remember him as a ballplayer, but he was so much more. He was a father, a husband, a wonderful man.” – Vera Clemente (wife)
Works Cited:
---Maraniss, David. Clemente. New York: Simon and Schuster Paperbacks, 2006
---Baseball-Reference. "Roberto Clemente." Baseball-Reference. 2008. 11 May 2008
---"Roberto Clemente." American Experience. PBS. 24 Apr. 2008
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--- "Presidental Medal of Freedom Recipient." Presidental Medal of Freedom. 2007. 24 Apr. 2008
---Stoda, Kevin. "ROBERTO CLEMENTE: The Enduring Spirit." OpEdNews 4 Oct. 2007. 24 Apr. 2008
print_friendly.php?p=life_a_alone_071004_roberto_clemente_3a__t.htm>.
---"Roberto Clemente Quotes." Baseball-Almanac. 24 Apr. 2008
roberto_clemente_quotes.shtml>.
---"Meaning of Roberto Clemente." SI. 24 Apr. 2008
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