People From San Juan

"Now if you ask me which player I’d pick first in that same era, I’d go with Henry Aaron and I’d take Mickey Mantle. Aaron could hurt you so many ways and he had that consistent power. Mantle played when he couldn’t walk. Clemente was one of the all-time great players, but I’d take those guys over him."

"Head swinger when he misses ball, tends to lunge. Is inexperienced, but from the information I can get, he learns fast. Never makes the same mistake twice. Rawboned, well-proportioned build. The Montreal boys for the most part tell me he could have played regular on their club in '54 and been of more value than Cassini."

"The only thing you ever hear about Clemente is that he doesn’t hit enough home runs. The criticism is ridiculous, because he could hit 40 a year if he wanted to. He has the greatest physical ability of anybody I’ve seen in a long time. He’s got as much power as anyone on this ballclub. Only Robertson may have a little more."

"[Branch] Rickey was a fanatic about speed, and I guess I am too. And you can see for yourself: the [teams that] are built on speed win. I like to get a stopwatch time on a kid in a sixty-yard dash, because in baseball you run sixty yards more than you do anything: first to third, second to home, center field to right-center. But I never time a hitter from home to first. What good does it do you? Clemente – I don’t think he ever ran to first base under 4.4 or 4.5. That follow-through of his brought him up and toward third base, so it took him three tenths of a second just to get out of the batter’s box, but he was still the fastest man on our club."

"Raul Mondesi is a 40. Clemente and Shawon Dunston were the only 60s we ever had. Dave Parker was a 40."

"His hand looked like it was about twice as long as anybody else’s. That’s what…why he could throw the ball – he just had such a wrist movement. And the same way with the bat – he had very good wrists to play ball."

"Then this 20-year-old kid, Roberto Clemente, whom we drafted out of the Brooklyn organization, has been a welcome surprise. I'd say he's potentially one of the finer players in the game. What I like best about the youngster is his hustle. He likes to play ball. In your last series with us at Pittsburgh, for example, he showed up with a rather high temperature. But Roberto gave it all he was worth."

"I look at my hand and see my World Series ring. It takes 25 guys to make a team, but I know who put that ring over my knuckle – Roberto Clemente."

"Me and some of the other guys were probably making the minimum, $12,500, and here’s Clemente – a guy making $150,000. Some guys who make this money might dog it a bit, but when he hit one back even to the pitcher he’d run to first like the cops were chasin’ him. I remember thinkin’ to myself, ‘Hell, if that guy can do it, I’m gonna do it.’ Let me tell you, it’s hard to go out there every day, but once Clemente crossed over the white line onto the field, I think his philosophy was: If you’re going to go half-ass, no sense doing it. Maybe he made mistakes when he was younger, but in my years with him I don’t think he made a handful of mental mistakes. He threw to the right base, hit the cut-off man, took the extra base when he should, hit behind the runner, sacrificed himself at the plate. Guy on second he’d hit the ball and move the runner along. Next thing, there’s a wild pitch or a sacrifice fly and we win the game. A lot of people leave the ballpark and say, ‘Well, Clemente didn’t do nothing today.’ But Clemente was the guy who hit the guy over to third. And out in the field, not many guys tried going from first to third on him. He’d fire it in accurate, right on the bag. I tagged plenty of guys with two minutes to spare!"

"It was my first year in the Pirate organization; I signed with them in ’71. I lived in Pittsburgh, so when our season was over the Pirates let me come out for batting practice and take ground balls. So I took BP with those guys. Just to watch him take batting practice was something that youngsters should watch and learn. Because with his first round, he would just inside-out the ball and hit everything to right field. Then the next round, he’d move the ball around and start hitting the ball up the middle a little bit. And then in his last few rounds, he’d just start turning on the ball and stinging the ball. He used such a big bat, I recall – a big, long, heavy bat. He was so strong with his hands; the ball just jumped off the bat. When him and Stargell hit – when they were in the cage – you actually didn’t even have to be around the cage to know that one of those two was in the cage hitting. The ball had a different sound coming off their bats. It was like a rifle shot. When the rest of us were in there hitting, it didn’t sound quite like that."

"I remember seeing him in the clubhouse. He was 38 years old when I got to come in there. He had a washboard stomach. He had the body of a 21-year-old."

"Guys like Mazeroski and Face had almost an animosity toward Clemente. It upset them when he would sit out a game because of an injury or ailment. Maz always felt that Clemente at 70 percent could do more than Maz and most of the guys could do when they were 100 percent. You couldn’t keep Maz and Face out of a game no matter how they were feeling, but Clemente was different. Even when Bill was in a batting slump, he felt he could help the team win with his work in the field. He came from a different background. Clemente to me was like an artist. Artistic people have greater sensitivities. They're different, whether you're talking about Van Gogh or Gore Vidal. They see, feel and hear things differently. Clemente's sensitivity was toward his body. It was his cathedral. At age 38, he was still in great shape. If he hadn't died, there's no doubt in my mind that he could have made good on his desire to play another four or five years. Why couldn't he. 1n 1972, he was playing for the best team in baseball, and on that team he had the best arm, was the best base runner, and was probably still the best hitter."

"Roberto also tried to get Mazeroski to stay in baseball longer. Bill was having problems with his weight, and just thought he couldn’t continue to fight the battle anymore. It was in his genes. His mother was very overweight, and Bill battled his weight from start to finish. Clemente told him, "Cash is OK and Stennett is OK, but you’re still a better second baseman. You can come down to Puerto Rico with me and get in shape." Bill told him, "I think I can still play, but I can’t fight this weight thing anymore." Maz had his own pride. But he didn’t understand the pride thing with Clemente. Clemente was painting a picture every time he played. He didn't want to play unless he could perform at his absolute best."

"Even though 1960 was exciting, I never felt that Pirate team could have touched the old Dodgers talent-wise – not by one iota. But I will say that Roberto Clemente was the best right fielder I ever saw."

"Clemente was a Berra-type hitter. He could hit the pitch out of the strike zone and hit it with a lot of power. He had a unique batting stance and stride. He would step in the bucket once in a while but had great control."

". And as good a player as Sosa is, I would have to say that Clemente was better. He had everything you looked for in a player—ability to hit, run, throw, and he was a good base-stealer. He could get that extra base for you. He was the spark of the ballclub, and a very unselfish player."

"I think all these things are a myth about Roberto. It has to be that because he just isn't the kind of guy who would beg off anything unless he didn't feel well. He has played lots of times when he shouldn't have. He is definitely one of the leaders on this club. He's been around a long time and he knows what he's talking about. A lot of times he talks about the other hitters in our clubhouse meetings. He's thinking about something all the time. He really is one of the better ballplayers I've seen since I've been around. He has all the essentials, ability, hustle and desire. That's why it's a bit hard to understand some of these things which have been said."

"He was the best in so many aspects of the game. He could go from first to third as fast as any player I saw or played against, and that included some of the best – Lou Brock, Maury Wills and Willie Davis."

""I’ll bet you Harry Dalton would trade half his ballclub for Clemente,” Don Leppert, the Pirates’ first-base coach, said. “He’d probably split the clubhouse down the middle, and give us a choice of either side, to get that guy into an Oriole uniform.” Leppert’s only regret is that Clemente didn’t have the chance to truly excel in the field. Other than his eye-popping throw to the plate in the sixth game, Clemente was required to field no more than ordinary chances. "Brooks Robinson had that great Series with the glove in 1970,” Leppert said, “but you’ve got to be lucky to field like he did. By that, I mean you’ve got to get the tough chances, and if Roberto had had some in this Series, he really would have shown them something.”"

"I saw some great players, including Willie Mays. DiMaggio was a super talent. A guy I really liked was Clemente 'cause I managed him in Puerto Rico. He's one of the superstars of all time. I'll take Mays, Clemente, Williams, DiMaggio—they were so super. Those are the four guys I really felt were something special."

"Dale doesn't rate his own club as a contender. However, he feels that Pittsburgh will be greatly improved over its 1956 form. He likes the pitching. He raves about Roberto Clemente, the hard-hitting outfielder, and he has many favorable words to say of second baseman Bill Mazeroski. He feels that Clemente, the third leading batsman in the league last season at the tender age of 22, will become one of the great stars. He told a funny story about this serious-minded Puerto Rican youth. Clemente was at bat with the bases full, two out and the count three and one. Manager Bobby Bragan flashed the take sign. Clemente planted the next pitch out of the park for a grand-slam. Bragan appreciated the four runs, but all the same he wanted to know why Clemente hadn't obeyed the signal. He asked him. Clemente. speaking in fractured English, said. "Oh, I see take sign. So I take ball, and hit it just as far as I can.""

"People in Pittsburgh don’t really know what they have in Clemente. He’s the best all-around ballplayer I have ever seen."

"This boy can throw like hell, he can run like hell, and he's got real good power. He is an unusually well coordinated athlete for his age and lack of experience. He'll be with us all year and you may see a lot of him."

"Another wonderful prospect. Why, he's only 19; can you imagine what he'll be like a few years from now? But I don't know if we can hold him. scouted him and I'm pretty sure the Pirates intend to draft him."

"This boy can do everything. In a couple of years, I'll bet he'll be a star."

"Hide is not actually the right word. I had no orders from Buzzy Bavasi not to play him. Just to use him sparingly. There was no conspiracy to make him look bad. There's no way to make Clemente look bad. We had three veteran outfielders at Montreal – Sandy Amoros, Dick Whitman and Gino Cimoli – and Buzzy said use Clemente sparingly. He was my fourth outfielder and whenever I was forced to use him, he looked great. He was colorful ... and got better ... and better ... and better. We tried to sneak him through the draft, but it didn't work."

"He followed us around watching Clemente and we used to go out a lot together and eat after a game. It got to be funny. I'd say how bad Clemente looked. He'd say "I'll get in touch with you after the season. You've lost a ballplayer. We're a cinch to finish last and get first draft choice." Yes, I know Clemente thought we were really trying to make him look bad. I now kid him about it all the time. If he did good and I didn't play him the next night, he wouldn't speak to me. Like a petulant kid."

"I never had any orders not to play Clemente. I was told Roberto was only 18 when actually he was 19, but I had three proven Triple A outfielders in Sandy Amoros, Gino Cimoli and Dick Whitman. When the Dodgers took Amoros to Brooklyn, I had Jack Cassini and Don Thompson. I was told to win at Montreal and simply had to play more experienced men. Roberto got in 87 games and I think that's good for a rookie. To me Roberto was a 'fill in guy,' an enthusiastic rookie you would spot in a game without rushing him. Amoros and Whitman didn't have the strongest arms in the world and if we were leading late in a game, I would take one of them out and put Clemente in for defensive purposes. He always did the job. He was always unhappy when he did not play, happy when he did. It did not disturb me when he got mad at me for not playing him. I would have been upset if he did not get angry at me. I'd say this very fact of him having desire and determination has been a great asset to him all of these years. There was little doubt of his potential but his growing up came along later. He put things together to become a star. Nobody could be more delighted about his career than I. All along I have felt he has never been given the credit due him. He is certainly a more complete ball player than many fellows who are given more publicity."

"He was a wild-swinging kid, but he just radiated ability. He was a temperamental kid, and he could hardly speak any English, but luckily we had some players on the team who spoke Spanish."

"If you had been in Montreal that year, you wouldn’t believe how ridiculous some of the pitchers made him look. And he had the habit of always taking a strike, getting himself in the hole, when there were runners in scoring position. But he might look foolish at the plate one time, then come back and really tee off on the ball."

"I knew it was a mistake to sign a player this good to a triple-A contract. We couldn’t protect him, and some team was bound to grab him."

"Historically, the Montreal club always drew well. It was instrumental in paying for a lot of the parent club's tab. Buzzy never once told me to hide Clemente. Hell, there was no way you could hide him even if you wanted to. Don't play him at all, then everybody gets suspicious, anyway. The only orders I had from Bavasi were to win and draw big crowds."

"He didn't believe me, I guess, but we got along. He didn't harbor a grudge. The career he had with the Pirates, that made it easier for him to let it pass."

"He always kept a jar of honey in his locker. My son Blake, when having a chance to come into the clubhouse, always ran for Roberto, sitting on his knee – the two of them eating honey. Watching him hit – sometimes with both feet off the ground at contact – and having the best throwing arm in baseball are things I will remember. I also saw him hit a long home run over the scoreboard at Wrigley Field. I miss him. He was kind to all players; you didn’t have to be a star."

"He was a nice fellow. There were about eight Americans on the team and he invited us over to his house, which I thought was a very nice gesture – opening his house, making us feel comfortable, talking baseball… And he was very impressive. Not a huge guy, but well-proportioned and obviously very strong. He used a maximum-dimension bat – as big and heavy and long as the rules say a bat can be. Huge. The handle was almost as big as the barrel of the bat. It was around 54 inches in length [sic] and weighed I don’t know how many ounces. One day, he was talking to us about hitting and was handling this bat. The size and shape of it sort of intrigued me; I should have been listening to what he was saying. Might have helped me later. Anyway, he set it down. I went over to pick it up. I couldn’t get it off the floor. Here he was holding it and moving it around like it was nothing and I could barely lift it. That was very impressive to me."

"Everybody pitched him the same way. They pitched him away and shifted the defense the other way and made him hit into the defense – and he still hit .350."

"As a young player, I was in awe of Roberto Clemente’s ability to hit in a seemingly unorthodox manner. As a hitting coach, I am in awe of how fundamentally sound a hitter he actually was."

"I didn’t do it. This man next to me did it. Talk to him."

"I got to spend some time with [my family] following the close of the ’54 season. But baseball was my living, and where the chance was to make an additional living, there I went. And it took me to Puerto Rico, where Herman Franks was managing the Santurce team in the winter league there. It was fun, even though they take their baseball more seriously down there. We had a good club, and everybody wanted to win – and when you’ve got people like Gomez and Roberto Clemente on your side in the Puerto Rican league, you’ve got a chance to win, and we did win."

"It was just like a family. We were all extremely proud to play in that game, and winning it was extremely important. We had sort of an unwritten rule that guys like myself, Clemente and Aaron would play the full nine innings, or until we were either way ahead or way behind."

"It’s the little things he does that amaze me. I’ve seen him play in a new park and you’d think he had been playing there all his life. He plays the caroms off the wall like he knows exactly where the ball is going to bounce. He doesn’t have to throw out runners with his arm. They respect it and rarely run on him. Clemente makes opposing runners play safety-first baseball. Often, this helps the Pirates win a ball game. The box score never tells Clemente’s true value to the team."

"He's strong enough to be a home-run hitter, but he lacks what I call the killer instinct. A lot of hitters keep hammering away even if a game is out of reach. Clemente just isn't that kind of hitter. Many of the runs he drives in win games, but he doesn't often get, say, six RBIs in a game we win, 15-2."

"He is a thinking outfielder. Some guys go to a particular spot for a particular hitter and stay there. Clemente doesn’t. He adjusts to the situation each time a guy comes to the plate and then readjusts with the count. You'd be surprised how many outfielders don't."

"There was an iron gate in right center in Forbes Field, and I’ve seen him throw a ball from near that gate to the plate on a fly – a distance of 460 feet."

"When he was throwing to third, his throw was low enough to hit the cutoff and still get to third in the air. Coming home sometimes, he’d miss the cutoff man and try to get it all the way to the plate. Didn’t hurt him because he got it there quicker than most people. Roberto was one of the very few right fielders who could field the ball with the runner rounding first and throw behind that runner, without him taking second. He threw out quite a few guys that way."

"He is set in his ways. He likes to sleep a lot. He does not like noise. He is a hypochondriac. He loves his image. He believes people know you by the company you keep, so he is wary of being with people he does not like. He does not like Pittsburgh writers, because he thinks they don't like him. I agree with him. I think they don't like him either. Bob Clemente is my idol. The papers should readː "Bob Clemente and the Pittsburgh Pirates will be in town tonight..." That's how the story should begin. Clemente first."

"For a long time, he impressed me as an individual; now he is more of a team player. Maybe he was that way before and just couldn’t get it across to the other players. I thought he was playing for himself, but now he works with all of us, the young players, and he’s our intermediary with the front office. And that’s what a superstar’s supposed to do – spread himself around. Robbie has realized his importance, taken control, looked after us. Now he’s everybody’s player. He’s come into his own."

"Clemente was an absolute natural in everything he did in baseball. He picked up things on his own very quickly. He was a great self-teacher. He told me one time that when he threw homeward to nail runners trying to score, he never threw to the catcher. He threw to the unpire because the ump always positioned himself to see the slide at home. He felt it gave him an advantage because the ump could easily see the ball’s arrival in front of his face."

"Clemente played every winter game hard – to win. He played 150-plus big league games plus spring training. It had to be tough for him even though it was in front of his home fans. To see him come there and work so hard was very impressive."

"He no sleep nights. He get up, walk around. Often he spend night in bathtub with hot water for back. He have pain, I know."