Roberto Clemente

[dudog84]

Probably not much general interest in this, but Roberto was my boyhood hero. One of my few pre-teen memories is of my father coming into my bedroom to tell me of the crash. It was months before I accepted that he wasn't going to be found on a small island somewhere in the Caribbean.

Arriba.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/mlb/google-celebrates-roberto-clemente-for-hispanic-heritage-month/ar-BBOgs9z

[BandAlum83]

Probably not much general interest in this, but Roberto was my boyhood hero. One of my few pre-teen memories is of my father coming into my bedroom to tell me of the crash. It was months before I accepted that he wasn't going to be found on a small island somewhere in the Caribbean.

Arriba.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/mlb/google-celebrates-roberto-clemente-for-hispanic-heritage-month/ar-BBOgs9z

Thanks for posting this!

[CrazyNotCrazie]

Probably not much general interest in this, but Roberto was my boyhood hero. One of my few pre-teen memories is of my father coming into my bedroom to tell me of the crash. It was months before I accepted that he wasn't going to be found on a small island somewhere in the Caribbean.

Arriba.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/mlb/google-celebrates-roberto-clemente-for-hispanic-heritage-month/ar-BBOgs9z

Thanks. I saw that and was too lazy to actually use Google to figure out why his image was there. He was slightly before my time but I always have been fascinated by Clemente. I have been to Pittsburgh a few times and have always wanted to visit the Clemente Museum - it sounds really great.

Interesting piece of trivia is that Yankees utilityman Neil Walker's father was a teammate/friend of Clemente and was supposed to be on the plane, but there weren't enough seats so he stayed behind.

[OldPhiKap]

My first baseball glove was a Roberto Clemente model. Sad when he passed.

[dudog84]

Thanks. I saw that and was too lazy to actually use Google to figure out why his image was there. He was slightly before my time but I always have been fascinated by Clemente. I have been to Pittsburgh a few times and have always wanted to visit the Clemente Museum - it sounds really great.

Interesting piece of trivia is that Yankees utilityman Neil Walker's father was a teammate/friend of Clemente and was supposed to be on the plane, but there weren't enough seats so he stayed behind.

Even better, Neil Walker made his pro debut as a Pirate.

In the mid 90's I visited Roberto Clemente Sports City on my only trip to Puerto Rico. Wasn't much to it then, it was just getting started. Very small gift shop, where I bought a beautiful Clemente ballcap which I have never worn. Don't want to stain it with my sweat or have it dirtied in any way. It has hung by my front door ever since.

[budwom]

In October of 1971 a friend in Baltimore told me tickets were available for Game 7 of the world series, so I drove up and voila, great game...The Fabulous Roberto* hit a home run in the 2-1 Pirate win, and was series MVP...Steve Blass threw a four hitter, but just two years later he couldn't find the plate any more, the infamous Steve Blass Syndrome.

*designation by the amazing Bob Prince, friend of many kids with transistor radios

Just watching Clemente make throws from RF was worth the price of admission...

[BD80]

… Just watching Clemente make throws from RF was worth the price of admission...

From the wall to third base, on a rope, on the money, no bounce.

Just to mess with players that would try to bluff Roberto into making a throw, he would toss the ball underhand from anywhere in the outfield all the way into the infield. Again, on target, on a rope, no bounce.

[HereBeforeCoachK]

I grew up a fan of the Big Red Machine....and Clemente and the Pirates were the "bad guys" - but I remember the shock and sadness of his death. Can't believe it's been that long.

[JasonEvans]

Just watching Clemente make throws from RF was worth the price of admission...

Here he is in the 1971 world series... at age 37 throwing from the wall to home plate. Freak!!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UUy65ZpSP0

[OldPhiKap]

Here he is in the 1971 world series... at age 37 throwing from the wall to home plate. Freak!!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UUy65ZpSP0

Wow — impressive on its own, let alone that he just spun and threw it more than the length of a football field on a damn dime.

[dudog84]

I grew up a fan of the Big Red Machine...and Clemente and the Pirates were the "bad guys" - but I remember the shock and sadness of his death. Can't believe it's been that long.

No, no, no! You (the Reds) were the "bad guys". :p

This memory is a bit fuzzier, but I believe Clemente's last game was against the Reds, when Bob Moose threw a wild pitch in the 9th inning to allow the winning run in the deciding game for the pennant.

Alas, there would not be a "Next year..."

Edit: Maybe I'm not getting so old: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1972_National_League_Championship_Series

[Turk]

I was puzzled by the Google front page as well; the usual milestones are Roberto's birthday in August, the anniversary of his 3,000 hit in September, or the plane crash. JasonEvans, thanks for posting the clip. It cracks me up that the youtube clips have better picture quality than the black and white TV with the rabbit ears we had at the time. No big deal, because there were only about 20 or so road games televised each season. I used to listen to the Pirates games on the radio (KDKA-1020, Bob "The Gunner" Prince and Nellie King on the mic) and keep score.

It was New Year's Day 1973 and a bunch of us were throwing a football around in the front street; I was 10 at the time. A kid who had a bit of a reputation as a storyteller ran up and told us Roberto was in a plane crash. We told him ha ha, very funny, nice try, go away, why on earth would he be on an airplane on New Year's? Like dudog84, I was shocked when we found out it was actually true later that day, and I hoped against hope they would find him somehow.

[RPS]

From the wall to third base, on a rope, on the money, no bounce.
I saw him do this once, in person. It's one of my great sports memories.

[BD80]

... I used to listen to the Pirates games on the radio (KDKA-1020, Bob "The Gunner" Prince and Nellie King on the mic) ...

"Pop fly to Matty Alou in center field. A can of corn, #8 can of Golden Bantam …"

[dudog84]

"Pop fly to Matty Alou in center field. A can of corn, #8 can of Golden Bantam …"

I think my favorite Princeism was "There's a bug on the rug!".

[budwom]

I was puzzled by the Google front page as well; the usual milestones are Roberto's birthday in August, the anniversary of his 3,000 hit in September, or the plane crash. JasonEvans, thanks for posting the clip. It cracks me up that the youtube clips have better picture quality than the black and white TV with the rabbit ears we had at the time. No big deal, because there were only about 20 or so road games televised each season. I used to listen to the Pirates games on the radio (KDKA-1020, Bob "The Gunner" Prince and Nellie King on the mic) and keep score.

It was New Year's Day 1973 and a bunch of us were throwing a football around in the front street; I was 10 at the time. A kid who had a bit of a reputation as a storyteller ran up and told us Roberto was in a plane crash. We told him ha ha, very funny, nice try, go away, why on earth would he be on an airplane on New Year's? Like dudog84, I was shocked when we found out it was actually true later that day, and I hoped against hope they would find him somehow.

as a kid I spent many a night listening to Prince on KDKA, tucked under the covers with my radio like a Hungarian listening to Radio Free Europe. Had I been caught, similar penalties might have applied...

[RPS]

as a kid I spent many a night listening to Prince on KDKA, tucked under the covers with my radio like a Hungarian listening to Radio Free Europe. Had I been caught, similar penalties might have applied...I also listened to the Red Sox (on a Hartford station), the Cardinals on KMOX (the great Jack Buck on the call; Harry Carey, for a while, too), the Tigers on WJR (Ernie Harrell and Ray Lane), the Indians, the Yankees, the Orioles, and the Phillies. Before the season, The Sporting News would print the the radio network for each team, including the location on the dial for each station. I'd cut it out and go searching at night for new games to listen in on. I had a nice radio purchased with paper route money. Nice memories.

[dudog84]

This PBS American Experience on Roberto is 10 years old, not sure why it popped up on my local website, but I can't remember ever seeing it. Like pretty much everything PBS does, it is well made.

https://video.wucftv.org/video/american-experience-roberto-clemente/

[dudog84]

50 years ago today, Roberto was lost at sea when his plane crashed after taking off from San Juan. He was personally taking supplies to Nicaragua after the earthquake a week before. He had heard that the supplies he and been gathering and shipping were not getting to the people but being stolen by corrupt officials. He figured they wouldn't dare steal from him personally.

His body was never found. It took my 10-year-old self a while to come to grips with the reality that he was gone.

I hope he is R'ing.I.P., and playing pick-up every day with Cobb, Ruth, Aaron, and the rest every day.

[OldPhiKap]

50 years ago today, Roberto was lost at sea when his plane crashed after taking off from San Juan. He was personally taking supplies to Nicaragua after the earthquake a week before. He had heard that the supplies he and been gathering and shipping were not getting to the people but being stolen by corrupt officials. He figured they wouldn't dare steal from him personally.

His body was never found. It took my 10-year-old self a while to come to grips with the reality that he was gone.

I hope he is R'ing.I.P., and playing pick-up every day with Cobb, Ruth, Aaron, and the rest every day.

I had a Roberto Clemente glove when I was a kid.

[Reilly]

My first baseball glove was a Roberto Clemente model. Sad when he passed.

Mine was a Doug Rader model. His time a bit before my time, so I didn't realize (until today) that he won 5 Gold Gloves. Still, who knows Doug Rader? Much less to get a glove model after him. Gotta be some sort of agent/connection story there in the early 1970s. Looks like he went to Scheyer's/CC's high school: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doug_Rader

[OldPhiKap]

https://youtu.be/0UUy65ZpSP0

[CrazyNotCrazie]

Amazing to think of what a week+ it was in Pittsburgh in late December, 1972 - the Immaculate Reception followed shortly by Clemente's death. Clemente was an incredible baseball player and an incredible human being.

I have likely mentioned it elsewhere but we went to the Clemente Museum in Pittsburgh this summer. I highly, highly recommend it. They converted an old fire house and the people who run it are incredibly knowledgeable. You have to make an appointment ahead of time rather than just show up, but it isn't hard to do. My 8 year old had just completed a "research project" at school on Clemente so was particularly excited about it. It is a short drive from downtown, PNC Park, etc.

[rasputin]

I had a Roberto Clemente glove when I was a kid.

Roberto was my favorite player when I was a kid, even though I'm a life-long Yankee fan. My name is Robert, and the first glove I ever owned that WASN'T a hand-me-down from my older brothers was a Clemente model, which I cherished. My big sister got it for me when I was about ten.