Roberto Clemente Essay Research Paper Roberto ClementePosition

Roberto Clemente Essay, Research Paper

Roberto ClementePosition OutfielderBorn 8/18/1934Carolina, Puerto RicoDied 12/31/1972San Juan, Puerto RicoDebut April 1955Pittsburgh PiratesBats Right Throws RightHt 5′11″ Wt 175Roberto Clemente may be one of the only true heroes American baseball has produced. His dedication on the field was unequaled, and his concern for his fellow human beings was that of a saint. In today’s world, where a visit to a hospital by an athlete is usually a photo opportunity, Clemente’s day-in, day-out commitment to helping needy people seems unbelievable.More than once, filmmakers have tried to tell his story and have given up. The way Clemente lived and played was grander, more touching, and more passionate than any screen treatment could convey. At Clemente’s posthumous Hall of Fame induction, Commissioner Bowie Kuhn said, “He had about him a touch of royalty.” Filmmaker John Sayles noted, “Most of what I know about style I learned from Roberto Clemente.”Clemente played the game as if it were his and his alone. His haughty stance at the plate, the way he snared flyballs, and the way he used his marvelous arm were all unique. Next to Clemente, any other batter would look uncomfortable, any other outfielder would appear clumsy, and anyone else trying to throw as he did would seem ineffectual; but that was the only way that Clemente knew how to play.He won four batting titles and holds the NL record for most years leading the league in outfield assists, with five. He won 12 Gold Gloves, tying him with Willie Mays for the most awarded an outfielder, and remains first in the Pirates record books in games played, at bats, hits, singles, and total bases.As a youth in Puerto Rico, Clemente sneaked peeks through the outfield fence at his favorite player, Monte Irvin. By age 14 he was playing against Negro Leaguers and major leaguers. As a teenager Clemente played in the same Puerto Rico winter league outfield with Willie Mays, an experience he never forgot. It was his first brush with greatness.The Dodgers signed him for $10,000, although he received offers nearly three times that after agreeing to the Dodger contract. A rule at the time stated that because he was signed to a minor league contract, he was eligible to be drafted by any team for $4,000 if he wasn’t brought up to the majors. The Dodgers could have signed him to a major league contract and optioned him back to the minors, but they didn’t.Playing his first professional season with the Dodgers’ farm club in Montreal, Clemente felt he was treated oddly. The Dodgers were trying to hide him from the Giants, but this was never explained to him, and he was so hurt and confused by the way he was handled that he thought of quitting. He recalled, “If I struck out I stayed in the lineup. If I played well I was benched. One day I hit three triples and was benched the next day. Another game I was taken out for a pinch hitter in the first inning with the bases loaded.”After this disappointing first season Clemente returned to Puerto Rico. While he was visiting his brother, who was dying of a brain tumor, a drunk driver plowed into his car. The crash damaged three spinal discs, an injury that would plague Clemente for the rest of his career.When the last-place Pirates met after the 1954 season to discuss who they should draft first, Clyde Sukeforth said to Pittsburgh General Manager Branch Rickey, who had also been his boss in Brooklyn, “You will never live long enough to draft a boy with this kind of ability for $4,000 again.”During his first two seasons as the Pirates’ right fielder Roberto Clemente gunned down 18 and 20 runners, respectively, on the bases. In his second year he hit .311 but wouldn’t top .300 again until 1960. Because he was a free swinger, according to Bucs batting coach George Sisler, Clemente’s head “bobbed when he swung.” In 1958 he led the league in outfield assists for the first time with 22.Clemente, and all of Pittsburgh, had a terrific year in 1960. He hit 16 homers and batted .314, and his 94 RBIs led the team as they won the NL pennant and shocked baseball by upsetting the powerful Yankees in the World Series. Clemente hit .310 for the Series, batting safely in all seven games and driving in three runs.One play in Game 7 epitomized his inimitable style. The Pirates were down 7-5 and batting in the bottom of the eighth when Clemente came to the plate with runners on second and third and two out. He hit a feeble bouncer toward first baseman Bill Skowron. Yankee hurler Jim Coates dawdled over to the bag, but Clemente hustled. He beat Coates to first base, another run scored, and Hal Smith followed Clemente with a three-run homer that gave the Pirates the lead.Always a proud man, Clemente took it hard when he got the news that he had only finished eighth in the 1960 Most Valuable Player voting. It pushed him to try even harder. The next season Clemente changed his bat. To avoid overswinging on bad balls he began to use heavier lumber and went on to enjoy 11 .300-plus seasons in the next 12 years. He won his first batting title in 1961, hitting .351 with 23 homers, 10 triples, and 89 RBIs.Clemente put on a show in that season’s first All-Star Game, too. He tripled for the first hit off Whitey Ford in the second inning and later scored the game’s first run. He drove in the second run with a sacrifice fly, and in the bottom of the tenth his single brought home Mays with the winning run. F