"In July 1971, just before his thirty-eighth birthday, he made what may have been the most spectacular catch in the history of right field. In the eighth inning, with the Pirates ahead 1-0 in a crucial game, two out and a man on base [i.e. , shortly before being traded to the Reds], Houston’s , a right-handed hitter, sliced a vicious shot into the corner. Clemente ate up a great stretch of turf with his back to the ball, leapt with a half-twist in full flight, made a one-hand catch above the Astrodome’s yellow home-run line, and in a fully extended, leaping-stab posture hit the wall wide open. He didn’t feel for the wall, he ignored the wall, and WHAM. When he got up, the left or glove side of his body was swelling, bleeding, and bruised at, respectively, the elbow, knee, and ankle; and the game was saved. That's one reason Clemente was always hurting: he was always so brave in the field. Men in their late thirties just don't make sliding-on-the- stomach catches, skidding-on-one-hip catches, on a regular basis."
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)
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."