The+Amazing+Roberto+Clemente

= The Amazing Roberto Clemente =

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Growing Up
Roberto Clemente was born on August 18th, 1934 in Barrio San Anton in Carolina, Puerto Rico. Roberto was the seventh and last-born child of Melchor Clemente, having five brothers and one sister. His family was very poor, and Clemente worked hard as a kid to help support his family. Growing up, he was a superior athlete. He won regional competitions in javelin and was extremely fast on the track competing in sprinting and hurdling events. However, baseball was his passion. During his first year at Vizcaronda High School, Clemente was recruited to play with the Sello Rojo men’s softball team that was sponsored by a large rice-processing company. This experience, along with all the childhood days he spent playing baseball with friends and neighbors groomed him for his near future. After dominating at shortstop and at the plate for two years with the Sello Rojo team, Clemente moved up to a very competitive amateur baseball league, playing for a team known as Ferdinand Juncos. Before Roberto could finish high school, he went from amateur status to playing in the Puerto Rican professional league.He was eighteen years old playing for the Santurce Cangrejeros, making $40 dollars per week.



Making it to the Bigs
It wasn’t long before Clemente caught the attention of a major league scout and, in 1954, he signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers who sent him to their minor league team in Montreal. The Dodgers made history in 1947 when they broke the color barrier by signing Jackie Richardson. By the time Clemente was playing in Montreal, there were many black players on the roster in Brooklyn. However, the Dodgers management refused fielding more colored players than whites. This made it nearly impossible for Clemente to reach the top. During his first season in Montreal, Roberto did not receive much playing time. This was not because of his ability to play the game, but because of the Dodgers interest in hiding his talent from other teams. His talents were completely unused; when he would shine on the field they would bench him. Unfortunately for the Dodgers, this lost them one of the greatest players of all time. Legendary executive Branch Rickey moved from Brooklyn Dodgers to the Pittsburg Pirates and immediately targeted Clemente. Soon after, the Pittsburg Pirates selected Clemente as the first selection in the rookie draft that took place on November 22, 1954. Clemente debuted for the Pirates on April 17th, 1955, playing right field. Ironically, his first game came against the Brooklyn Dodgers.



Racial Scrutiny
Playing baseball wasn't the only part of Roberto Clemente’s major league experience. He found himself surrounded by the racial politics, the brutality of the press, and the business of the big leagues. The language barrier, racism and discrimination was overwhelming for Clemente. The press was rude and disrespectful, simply for being black and Latino. The press would even make fun of his thick accent. Clemente became a union leader in the developing Major League Baseball Players Association, because of the constant scrutiny. His motive was to demand better working conditions to all players.

Career Accomplishments
During his eighteen-year career, all with the Pirates, Clemente won many personal awards and helped his team win two World Series championships. He was known to have one of the best arms in the history of the game, leading the league in assists by an outfielder in five different seasons. He had four National League batting championships, twelve Gold Glove awards, the National League MVP in 1966, and the World Series MVP in 1971. In one game he did the near impossible: hit three triples in one game. In 1972, Clemente hit his 3,000th hit in the last game of the regular season. At that time, no one knew that that would be his last season playing baseball.



His Influence Off the Field
During the winter of 1972, Clemente returned home to Puerto Rico with his family. There he began to work on one of his long-time dreams-opening a sports center for young people of San Juan, especially for the ones that came from disadvantaged backgrounds. His hope of this center was to teach kids the virtues of integrity and hard work to improve their chances of succeeding in life. This also provides a very competitive venue for premier athletes to compete at. Clemente spent of a lot of his time doing charity work. On December 23, 1972 a massive earthquake hit Managua, the capital of Nicaragua. This earthquake made more than 250,000 people home less, killed 7,000 people, and injured thousands. When Clemente heard the news, he immediately set out to set up emergency relief flights. He felt the danger of his loved colleagues, fans, and friends. Just a month prior to the quake, Clemente spent time in Nicaragua managing an All-Star amateur league team for an amateur World Series tournament. He lost many friends in the earthquake.

Clemente accepted the honorary chairmanship of an earthquake relief committee. He worked day and night, even going door to door for donations. Clemente and his committee received $150,000 and shipped nearly 26 tons of food, clothing and medicine by air and sea. The committee soon received news from Managua that the corrupt regime of the Nicaraguan President was intercepting the packages. This made Clemente very upset, he wanted to know that the food and medicine was going to the people that needed it the most. On New Years Eve, Clemente paid for a small plane and pilot to take supplies to Nicaragua himself with the help of four others. The planes engines exploded soon after take off and crashed in the Atlantic Ocean. Search parties worked hard to find any survivors. Manny Sanguillen, a close friend and Pirate teammates, spent three days diving the shark-infested ocean in search of Roberto. Everyone on the plane was killed. Clemente’s body was never found. He was thirty-eight years old. That day Roberto Clemente became a hero to an entire nation.



Honors
For his "outstanding athletic, civic, charitable, and humanitarian contributions," Roberto Clemente was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal by the United States Congress in 1973. Clemente’s name has been used for stadiums, schools, hospitals, and highways in Puerto Rico, the United States, Nicaragua, and places in Europe. After his death, the Major League Baseball established an award that bears Clemente’s name. The Roberto Clemente Award recognizes a player who best represents Clemente’s philanthropy and humanitarianism through community involvement, sportsmanship and positive contributions to their clubs. In Puerto Rico, an award is given at public schools to those who excel as athletes, student, and citizens. The Baseball Writers Association of America held a special election. The usual five-year waiting period for entrance into the Baseball Hall of Fame was suspended. Soon after his death, Roberto Clemente became the first Latino player to be included in the Baseball Hall of Fame. The Pittsburgh Pirates also honored him in 1973. They removed Clemente’s number, 21, from their team. That means no other player on the team could ever wear that number again.



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