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Roberto Clemente (1934-1972) - Puerto Rican Baseball and Humanitarian Legend for the Pittsburgh Pirates


DonRocks

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It about kills me to put this video up here, but the one person in the world I'll do it for is the great Roberto Clemente, killed in an airplane crash while making a humanitarian visit to earthquake victims in Nicaragua. He was 38 years old, and was still arguably the best right fielder in baseball at the time - it's hard to believe he was a year *older* than Frank Robinson, a pretty darned good right fielder himself, and whom you can see scoring the winning run here, the game before, off a Brooks Robinson sacrifice "fly" (if you want to call that a fly).

This video is Clemente's second World Series championship, and his interview begins just after 2:06:30 (I have it set to this). Shortly after one year later, he was gone - I cannot believe I'm about to say this, but I'm glad for both him, and his mom and dad, that he won this World Series.

Other than perhaps Jackie Robinson, can you name a greater human being who ever put on a mitt?

 

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Still highly esteemed by Major League Baseball:

The Roberto Clemente Award

"The Roberto Clemente Award is given annually to the Major League Baseball (MLB) player who "best exemplifies the game of baseball, sportsmanship, community involvement and the individual's contribution to his team", as voted on by baseball fans and members of the media. It is named for Hall of Fame outfielder Roberto Clemente. Originally known as the Commissioner's Award, it has been presented by the MLB since 1971. In 1973, the award was renamed after Clemente following his death in a plane crash while delivering supplies to victims of the Nicaragua earthquake.[1]

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1 hour ago, dcs said:

My apologies, I forgot to add Roberto Clemente.

When I was growing up, it was "Bob" Clemente (and Columbus discovered America).

(Just now realizing that one of my fraternity brothers was named "Robert Clement.")

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