Not only because he played for the Pittsburgh Pirates is R Clemente my all-time favorite baseball player. His statistics on the field are stellar. The charitable work that he performed until the last hour of his life is astounding.
Since Roberto left us on 31 December 1972, all sports have been hit by scandals involving players, many of them stars. Roberto sets a better example. and his name is deservedly honored to this day.
I was fortunate to have seen him play about a dozen times. There are not enough superlatives to describe his talent, as a fielder and at the plate. Nut his fame extended far beyond the diamond. As one of the first Hispanic players in Major League Baseball, he blazed the way for others. His reputation was such that the Somoza regime would not allow the much-needed relief to Nicaragua to disappear. For this reason he left a hastily-loaded plane from Puerto Rico on that deadly night.
Many of my international readers may not know about him. I post a few links. One from a Pittsburgh newspaper, the second from Baseball Hall of Fame, and the last is about a biography.
http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/pirates/2015/09/16/Mayor-declares-Clemente-Day-with-special-ceremony-before-tonight-s-Pirates-game-roberto-pittsburgh-peduto/stories/201509160169
http://baseballhall.org/hof/clemente-roberto
http://baseballhall.org/hof/clemente-roberto The first chapter is a winsome view of Pittsburgh in the 1950s.
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