"In 1971, I was playing for the Houston Astros in a game against Roberto Clemente’s Pirates. With two out in the eighth and Pittsburgh leading 1-0, I was on first with our left fielder Bob Watson at the plate. Clemente was playing medium deep in right center field when Bob hit a laser beam toward the right field corner. It looked as though the ball would strike just above the yellow home run line, which was 'only' 10 feet above the ground. Most right fielders would have positioned themselves to play off the wall a ball hit that high, that far, and that fast. Clemente, who was 36 at the time, wasn’t having any of that. He galloped at full stride into the corner, leaped, and caught the drive while crashing into the fence."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Baptists from the United StatesPresidential Medal of Freedom recipientsUnited States MarinesPeople from San Juan
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Joe Morgan, from Baseball for Dummies (1998) by Morgan with Richard Lally, p. 310
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Roberto_Clemente
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Roberto Clemente
baseball player
1934 – 1972 · United States
Roberto Enrique Clemente Walker (August 18, 1934 – December 31, 1972) was a Puerto Rican Major League baseball player from 1955 through 1972, exclusively with the Pittsburgh Pirates. A posthumous inductee to the National Baseball Hall of Fame (following his fatal plane crash on December 31, 1972, en route to deliver aid to earthquake victims in Nicaragua), Clemente became both the first Latin American and the first C
927 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Roberto Clemente →
Related Quotes
"Clemente was an emotional man, and that was his beauty. It drove him not only to physical anguish, but also to nearly…"
"Both Walkers owe a debt of gratitude to the most revered player in Pirates history. Tom Walker played winter ball in …"
"As we were talking, I was moving my neck around so he asked me what was the matter. I told him that my neck hurt beca…"
"Well, somebody asked me if it was true that I scuffled with Roberto Clemente and he pulled a knife and cut me on the …"
"If I went along with all the praise he gets, I’d be a hypocrite. Because it’s not my true feelings. I didn’t look up …"
"I don't believe if Clemente were still alive that there'd be a statue. It's the way he died. I think, in my mind, Sta…"
"I asked Face if he remembered where he was when he learned that Clemente had died in an airplane crash on New Year's …"
"There wasn’t too much contact with Clemente off the field; just at the ballpark. He was pretty much by himself, a lon…"
"Roberto’s body didn't appear because God wanted us to remember him as he was: that handsome negro, so strong, so beau…"
"Everybody looked rumpled next to Roberto Clemente."