Baptists From The United States

"I’m an observing type of person, and there was no one I loved to watch more than Roberto. I learned a lot about him. I watched his reactions to a variety of everyday game situations. A silent, strong type, Clemente vicariously taught me a lot about life and baseball. I hear talking all the time, but words do not always translate to action. That’s why I feel observation is often the best way to learn about someone. I’m more interested in what a person does than what he says, and Roberto did a lot."

"I remember we were up in Montreal one time. Something happened to my back and I couldn’t play. I was left in the clubhouse for treatment. Roberto didn’t play the first game. He stayed in the clubhouse through the entire game and gave me an ice rubdown. He put this cold ice in his bare hands and would rub and apply pressure to different areas of my back. He said I would be able to play the next day based on things he had learned. It must have been about forty minutes of constant rubbing with that ice. We all know when you put ice in your hand for any period of time, you must release that ice after about five minutes at the most. But he was so into what he was doing, it didn’t faze him at all."

"When I’m done, I want people to say, "He’s the best." Right field belongs to Roberto Clemente, center field belongs to Willie Mays. I want left field to belong to me."

"There aren’t many guys like him anymore: five-tool guys who use all their tools. I don’t know if there’s anybody quite in his class. He’s a Roberto Clemente-type player – no batting gloves and I’m going to stand up here and you throw it and I’m going to hit it like hell and after I hit it, I’m going to run like hell until somebody tags me out."

"The man was a man in every true sense. He was proud, dedicated. He wouldn't want anyone to give him anything. Yet he never had a national commercial, was on only one talk show, , and he never made any appearances in the Pittsburgh area. Blacks get the trophies . . . whites get the money."

"Roberto Clemente has switched from pop-off-pills to pep up pills. The Pittsburgh Pirates have switched, too. They've abandoned the National League's Battle of the Bottom and instead have declared war on the rest of the league. The Pirates, with Clemente at the front of the attack, extended their winning streak to 10 games Sunday by clobbering the New York Mets, 9-1 and 12-0. [...] Manager Harry Walker attributes the change to several factors, Clemente among them. It was only earlier this month that the league's defending batting champion was quoted as saying: "I want to be traded from this club, and I don't want to play for this manager any more." Clemente thought differently soon afterward and now is doing a lot of playing for Walker. He's also taking a lot of pep pills to combat the weakness that remains from the malaria attack he suffered during the winter. The illness kept him away from most of spring training and still has him at less-than-playing weight. The pills apparently are working. During the winning streak, the 30-year-old right fielder is hitting .458 and has raised his season's average to .308. In the New York series he rapped 11 hits in 19 trips to the plate."

"He was so intense in terms of doing something to make me feel better. I felt great, and the next night I played. He didn’t have to do that, but he did it. And he wanted to do it in such a way that very few people, if any, knew about it other than the two of us. That was just one of the many things he did. And it’s those kinds of things that separate him from most people."

"The bigger the guy, the less he argues. You never heard a word out of Stan Musial, Willie Mays or Roberto Clemente. They never tried to make you look bad."

"Standing still as a statue in the October shadows, he looked, grotesquely, more like a patriot than anything usually seen on a baseball field. A trick of light perhaps. Yet what famous athlete last died for a cause bigger than himself? Clemente could sometimes seem like a pest, a nagging narcissist, with only his burningly serious play to deny it. Yet when that plane crashed carrying relief supplies to Nicaragua we saw what he had meant all along. It was like the old Clemente crashing into the right field wall in a losing game: the act of a totally serious man."

"Sam, who had it all—a crackling curve and a fastball with a tail on it—had a two hitter going into the seventh. Then Clemente tied into a fastball and belted it into what is almost considered never never land. [...] Clemente clobbered it through the wind and beyond the 397-foot marker in left-center. [...] Only the fourth ball hit over the left field fence, it put Clemente back into a tie with McCovey for the RBI leadership. Each has 23."

"The shivering fans in the stands took their hands out of their pockets to applaud Roberto Clemente for a small, but at the same time very large, sympathetic act. During batting practice, a little boy in the right-field stands was hit in the arm by a line drive. He then hid among the seats to have his little cry. Clemente retrieved the ball and gave it away, his thanks coming in a puddle of tears."

"Official Pittsburgh Pirate releases reveal that their brash hitting star Roberto Walker Clemente [sic] was given the nickname "Momen" by a cousin for no particular reason. There isn't even a definition listed. However, if early returns are any indication the name is sure to have a meaning shortly. Roberto is likely to knock in "mo men" this season than any other major league batter."

"It was a bang-bang play at first base and I called Clemente out. And he called me a "blind son-of-a-beeeech." And I said, "You can go, Mr. Clemente." And out came Mr. Murtaugh and he said to me, "Why did you run him?" And I told him what Clemente had said. And Murtaugh said, "He couldn't have said that. He doesn’t speak any English." And I said, "Well you guys taught him some English.”"

"Max says Chico is a faster runner than Roberto Clemente, the Royals' youthful outfielder, though he doesn't look it, maybe because he's a smoother runner. But what about Clemente? He has enough power to hit the ball out of most parks, though he still chases the curve. He has come up with a number of circus catches and he has a rifle arm, though it isn't always accurate. There isn't any doubt about his ability to run."

"My locker was next to Bobby’s for the entire six years I played with the Pirates. I watched him and listened to him on a daily basis. He had great pride in being Latin. He consistently brought this to people’s attention. Each year he played winter ball at his hometown of San Juan, not for the money but because he felt he owed it to his town folk. One winter I pitched for him when he managed the San Juan club. I met his wife and children to whom he was deeply devoted. Although a national hero in Puerto Rico and this country, he never took on the air of being a celebrity. He was always just one of the guys, yet separate. I never saw Bobby drunk, disorderly or chasing women, as I did other guys. I always believed he felt the obligation and responsibility of being a major league baseball player was to set an example for the public."

"When I started playing for the Pirates, he was a very loved guy by the other players. As great as Stargell was, Stargell just looked at him in awe. When Clemente walked into the room, everything came to life. He respected everyone. He made you feel at ease. I was not an invited player when I came to my first Pirates camp. I was just there for a look-see, not as a serious candidate for the club. But he acknowledged me and he respected me."

"He was over all the time, all the time! He would stand outside and playfully throw rocks at the house. Roberto would always tease me. He liked to tell me that I couldn't cook. I couldn't cook. He and Curtis would sit there and eat half-cooked food, playing cards and drinking beer, pop, lemonade, whatever. Roberto loved to joke, he was really just a big kid. [...] Roberto and Curt were very close. Roberto would stay at the house all day long until it was time to go to the ballpark. Roberto and Curt would sit around and talk and joke in Spanish. Robert [sic] would look at me with that boyish smile ... he liked to make me think they were joking about me, or talking about some other girl. But he would always break down laughing, and tell me what he and Curtis had been saying. Roberto naturally gravitated to someone who could understand him. Even though we were all kids back then, I think Roberto looked at Curtis as something of a mentor."

"Ballplayers say he bats with his rear end in the dugout. He is just as likely to back away from a pitch as to step into it, and now that Henry Aaron has learned to pay more attention to the strike zone, Clemente is probably the best bad ball hitter in baseball."

"Roberto Clemente's second-game homer that cleared the left center bleachers touched off some excitement . . . Players and fans said they never before had seen a ball go over that section and it was close to a 500 -foot sock . . . Clemente, grinning all the way from here to Puerto Rico, said he never hit a longer one."

"Although the pair by the Phils did the most damage, the inside-the-park job by Roberto Clemente in the first inning was the most thrilling. [...] Clemente greeted Haddix with a line drive that gathered momentum as it approached Ashburn and took off over his head and ricocheted off the wall toward the batting cage. By the time Ashburn picked up the ball, Clemente was at third base and he made it to the plate without trouble. The hit provoked an argument between the Phillies and the umpires because the ball rolled under the batting cage but the Phils were told there was no ground rule to cover the situation."

"He is a right handed batter but his power is to right field. Of his 21 home runs this year, 14 have been in that general direction. When he smacks the ball it takes off the with the velocity and trajectory of a golfer's No. 2 iron unless the pitch is high and outside, in which case he is likely to punch it into the stands, as he did Monday night with one of 's sidearm curves. He is likely to pull the inside low pitch to left and has the kind of wrist action that enables him to back away from a pitch and still decapitate an infielder with a line drive. Even the man on the mound experiences something of the feeling of a man peering into an overdue volcano or a loaded when Clemente is at bat."

"He told me in a three-hour conversation we had that people thought he was not sociable. They said this because he did not go out to parties and other affairs. "I don't drink and I don't speak English," he said. "I'm a wet blanket." He was hurt that people misunderstood him."

"Clyde Sukeforth actually was the first man connected with the Pirates who saw Roberto Clemente when the Puerto Rican was playing for Montreal last summer. Sukeforth, a Bucco coach, was sent to Richmond, Va., last June to get a look at pitcher Joe Black of Montreal. The Pirates and Dodgers were talking about a Sid Gordon trade at the time and the Bucs asked for Black in the deal but wanted a first hand report on how he looked. But Sukey practically forgot all about Black when he caught his first glimpse of Clemente. "I arrived at the Richmond ball park where Montreal was playing just in time to see the pre-game workout," Sukey relates. "I saw Clemente throwing from the outfield and I couldn't take my eyes off him. Later in the game he was used as a pinch-hitter and I liked his swing. He impressed me a great deal. I started asking questions and learned he was a bonus player and would be eligible for the draft. I knew then he'd be our first draft choice. In fact, I told Montreal manager Max Macon to take good care of 'our boy' and see that he didn't get hurt.""

"There aren't many bright spots on the last-place Pirates, but one of the brightest is Roberto Clemente, the 20-year-old Puerto Rican whom the Bucs drafted from the Dodger farm at Montreal. Although he has only a working knowledge of English and speaks with some difficulty, Clemente has no trouble at all playing the National Game. Until he ran into a recent slump, during which he went through eight games with only one hit, Clemente was the leading Buc hitter. But even in his slump, he hit the ball hard, although right at some fielder. The Pittsburgh fans have fallen in love with his spectacular fielding and his deadly right arm. In the first 50 games Clemente played, he turned in ten assists, in addition to some sparkling catches in the outfield. The Forbes Field customers have singled him out as their favorite and he always draws cheers when he steps into the batters box. Although still hitting the ball hard, Clemente claims he won't be at his best until he plays in mid-summer weather. "I no play so gut yet," he tried to explain recently. "Me like hot weather, veree hot. I no run fast cold weather. No get warm in cold. No get warm, no play gut. You see." Clemente likes Forbes Field because of the spacious playing area in right field but has developed a strong dislike for Ebbets Field and the Polo Grounds since he can't fathom the way the balls ricochet off the walls there."

"Clemente’s homer – his second in two nights – was a prodigious wallop of some 430 feet that landed about 12 rows up in the steps to the right of the service ramp in center field. In addition to loosening a few boards and frightening small children, it also tied the score at 3-all. was aboard with a walk when Ray tried to fling one pitch too many past the dangerous Clemente. Clemente saw the ball good and he sped up his swing and timed the connection perfectly. Wynn, in center, gave token pursuit of the eighth blast this year off the 34-year-old Puerto Rican hero’s bat. But he’d have needed a ladder to reach the blast which soared far over Wynn’s head."

"That's really sad, isn't it? It's really sad in a lot of ways, but you know I was thinking that if he were going to die at an early age, it’s good in a sense that he died trying to help people less fortunate. You know, a lot of guys talk about how they’d like to help less fortunate people and give lip service to that. But here’s a guy leaving his family during the holiday season to try to go some place and be kind to people. I think that tells you a lot about what kind of man he was. I met him a couple of times and he was quiet but very manly, and extraordinarily nice. I try to remember people, especially people I get to know a little bit, as they were as people, not by what they did. When I think of Roberto Clemente in the future, I’ll be thinking about him as an extraordinarily nice man who died while trying to help other people."

"Roberto Clemente's triple in the big seventh inning of the opener yesterday went far over Bell's head in dead center, landed on the warning track and hit the ball on one hop. Must have traveled 450 feet in the air and would have been a homer in any National League park except Forbes Field and the Polo Grounds."

"And then, too, there was the shared experience, already permanently fixed in memory, of Roberto Clemente playing a kind of baseball that none of us had ever seen before—throwing and running and hitting at something close to the level of absolute perfection, playing to win but also playing the game almost as if it were a form of punishment for everyone else on the field."

"Every sports fan admired and respected Roberto Clemente as one of the greatest baseball players of our time. In the tragedy of his untimely death, we are reminded that he deserved even greater respect and admiration for his splendid qualities as a generous and kind human being. He sacrificed his life on a mission of mercy. The best memorial we can build to his memory is to contribute generously for the relief of those he was trying to help – the earthquake victims in Nicaragua."

"The durable right fielder, a physical phenomenon at 38, shows no outward signs of relinquishing his claim as the best all-around player in the game today. But a closer look at Clemente's Achilles heel, medically and figuratively, reveals an interesting development. One medical report has it that Clemente has rheumatism in both ankles as well as his right knee and right elbow. Still, he continues to give a fabulous performance."

"We are here for the presentation of the first Presidential Citizens Medal, and I am very honored and this office is honored that that first medal – which we know will be awarded in the future to distinguished Americans for their service – that first medal goes to Roberto Clemente. I would like to read the citation, because it is better than any speech I could make, I think, with regard to Roberto Clemente: Citizens Medal Citation, Roberto Clemente: All who saw Roberto Clemente in action, whether on the diamond or on the front lines of charitable endeavor, are richer for the experience. He stands with that handful of men whose brilliance has transformed the game of baseball into a showcase of skill and spirit, giving universal delight and inspiration. More than that, his selfless dedication to helping those with two strikes against them in life blessed thousands and set an example for millions. As long as athletes and humanitarians are honored, Roberto Clemente’s memory will live; as long as Citizens Medals are presented, each will mean a little more because this first one went to him. [At this point, the President presented the medal to Mrs. Roberto Clemente. He then resumed speaking.] Let me say our only regret is that he isn’t here – but he’s really here – I think he is here in this room. Don’t you think so? I think he would be proud to be the first American to get this medal, too, the first one."

"Ballplayers are notoriously reluctant to talk about their injuries or the infirmities of "old age." Roberto Clemente was out for weeks with a bad back and it was apparent in this series that he was swinging with effort. And yet, every time he was asked how he felt, he always said "great.""

"The House of Representatives of Puerto Rico took official note of the selection of one of its citizens, Roberto Clemente, as the National League's Most Valuable Player. The Puerto Rican House got together three pages of "whereases" and "wherefores" to congratulate both Clemente and the Baseball Writers' Association of America."

"Brosnan made one pitch, high and inside. Clemente drove it against the light standard in left field. Jim King had backed up to make the catch but it was over his head. The ball bounced off the slanted side of the fencing and rolled along the cinder path to center field. Here came Foiles, Virdon and then Cole, heading home and making it easily. Then came Clemente into third. Bragan had his hands upstretched to hold up his outfielder. The relay was coming in from . But around third came Clemente and down the home path. He made it just in front of the relay from Ernie Banks. He slid, missed the plate, then reached back to rest his hand on the rubber with the ninth run in a 9 - 8 victory as the crowd of 12,431 went goofy with excitement."

"Roberto Clemente, the Pittsburgh right fielder, must have taken a course in the Willie Mays school of outfielding. Clemente looks a lot like Mays catching a fly ball. In the Mays-Clemente method, you catch the front part of the ball backward, which means your head points to the South while your feet are running North. It's not recommended for fellows with stiff necks or starched collars."

"Roberto Clemente, the Pittsburgh right fielder, has convinced everyone by now that he has a fine arm. Clemente uncorked two great throws to home plate today which never touched the ground."

"Aside from playing baseball myself over the years, the culture of identifying with star baseball players and my hometown team is an inextricable part of my boyhood. As a young boy playing and watching baseball, I learned the value of hard work, the importance of teamwork, how to deal with success and failure, how to concentrate and stay focused on a goal, and how to look beyond personal achievement to something bigger than oneself. Roberto Clemente embodied all these virtues."

"I was trying to waste a pitch,” he said of Roberto Clemente’s home run. “I wanted to have him swing on a bad pitch. I didn’t care if I walked him. I wouldn’t even care if I hit him. I had two bases open.” Clemente is the kind of fellow who drives pitchers crazy. Stallard fired a fastball near Clemente’s ear. Roberto swung and missed. The crowd cheered. They like that kind of extravagance. Then came the next pitch. This was up near Clemente’s eyes and a foot outside. He flicked his bat, lined a ball upstairs. Foul, motioned umpire Ed Sudol. This confused the crowd. Some cheered. Others booed. They were obeying orders. One of the signal-men held up a bedsheet. It said: BOO. “I knew the two bases were open; I figured maybe I could get him to swing again at a pitch around his head,” said Stallard. Stallard, a marvelous Met in his own right, just couldn’t let the drama build any longer. He threw a real pitch to Clemente, the kind any human being hitter would duck away from and scream for the umpire. Naturally, Clemente hit it upstairs [i.e. right field upper deck]. “He never gets a strike to swing at,” said Danny Murtaugh. “He likes those kind.""

"Allen got up one time to get a soft drink. He flexed his powerful arms and shoulders, the muscles rippling. If anybody had a better body in the present era of baseball it was the late Roberto Clemente. Allen is a heavier man, going about 190."

"It was ‘shot night’ at Candlestick last night, and the popular theory that the Giants’ new park is a home run cemetery was thoroughly shaken up – if only for one game. Four hitters, three of them Giants, slugged baseballs over the distant fences, and every one of them was smashed with velocity comparable to the winds which whipped through the park all night. Easily the most satisfying homer was hit by the ‘birthday boy,’ Willie Mays, who reached the age of 29 with an off-field shot in the sixth inning off shell-shocked Pirate pitching ace, Vernon Law. The line drive just eluded the acrobatic leap of Roberto Clemente, hit the top of the right field barrier and bounced high over the fence. “That was the first (censored) hit I ever got on my birthday. But that second one I hit (which Clemente caught) was the hardest one I hit. I’m a better hitter when I go to right, but I haven’t hit a good one to left center, where my real power is, since I played in this park.” The lost balls were belted, in order, by Willie McCovey (a 410-foot liner to right center), Willie Kirkland (a 430-foot job that bounced into the right field parking lot), Mays’ birthday hit, and then the biggest shot of them all, and that one belonged to Roberto Clemente. Roberto’s blow traveled 410 feet, but it was hit into the treacherous cross-wind in left center. Pittsburgh manager Danny Murtaugh said afterward that he’d ‘like to see Clemente’s hit on a clear day with no wind and see how far it really would go.’”"

"A few will wonder out loud, or in print, why Roberto Clemente wasn't included. The late Pirate super star belongs but he is of such recent vintage, I decided to keep to the old timers list players who haven't been around for at least 20 years [specifically, George Sisler, Rogers Hornsby, Pie Traynor, Honus Wagner, Ty Cobb, Joe DiMaggio, Babe Ruth, Mickey Cochrane, Lefty Grove and Walter Johnson ]. As a matter of fact, it was Clemente who triggered off the above column. I asked a Pirate official, who will go nameless, what he thought the Great One would be worth salary-wise compared with the 10 named above, now playing [i.e. Dick Allen, Joe Morgan, Brooks Robinson, Luis Aparicio, Carl Yastrzemski, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Johnny Bench, Steve Carlton and Bob Gibson ]. His answer: "He was worth in all-around ability more than any one of them. He belongs with your old-timers.""

"If there's one player who appears to be capturing the fancy of the fans, it must be Clemente. They cheer him when he comes to bat and scream when he responds with a hit. In the field, they watch every move he makes. When he turns in a good catch or makes a fine throw, they hold the major share of their applause until Clemente returns to the bench. They really like the kid and like his actions."

"Roberto Clemente recently added up his dependents and found them to be 13. It was at that point that the great Pirate right fielder decided that he could not afford to retire from baseball, even if his right shoulder gives him pain. Therefore, Clemente will continue to earn his $100,000 during the summer for having occasional evenings like last night when he hit two home runs to help Bob Veale and Pittsburgh beat the New York Mets, 6-0. [...] The most valuable player in the National League in 1966 was batting only .276 going into last night’s game. But he drilled a homer deep into the right field bullpen off Tom Seaver to break a scoreless tie in the fourth inning and give him 1,000 runs batted in during his major league career. (This homer was also the 1,000th off Met pitching in almost seven seasons.) Two more runs batted in for Clemente came two innings later after ’s single had made the score 3-0 in the fifth. led off the sixth with a double and Clemente whacked a homer over the center-field fence."

"Speaking of books, one news wire service will soon come out with four of them on Roberto Clemente.... Frank Eck, New York Associated Press sports writer, says he has the only real book on Clemente ... composed of taped interviews."

"Clemente couldn't properly celebrate his 21st birthday yesterday because there was no game but he did it tonight, two singles and a 450-foot homer. Viva Puerto Rico!"

"There was one more or less historic moment in yesterday's second game when Hershell Freeman walked Roberto Clemente on a 3-1 count in the eighth inning. It happened to be Clemente's first base on balls since June 7, covering a period of 50 games during which he went to bat 192 times. If this isn't a record, it should be."

"We were in Cooperstown (NY) a few years ago. Baseball's Hall of Fame Museum was full of visitors on a sunny morning. Among them were Pirates and Tigers players in baseball uniforms, sans spikes. They were to meet in an exhibition game an hour later. Roberto Clemente had a small camera whirring every few minutes. He was taking pictures of the enshrined plaques and other mementos of yesteryear's super stars ... Honus Wagner, Ty Cobb, Christy Mathewson, Tris Speaker, Grover Alexander ... to name a few. A Pittsburgher said to Roberto, "This is where you belong. Some day they will be taking pictures of your shrine here." "Thank you," he replied. "I guess a fellow like me has to die to get voted in by the writers.""

"Although Roman Mejias is the outfielder the Pirates are trying to make look attractive in a deal with the Braves, Mejias isn't the outfielder the Braves want. The outfielder the World Champions want is Roberto Clemente and they make no secret of it. [...] The Bucs tried to substitute Mejias for Clemente but the Braves wouldn't use the same trading bait. They feel they may have the same kind of outfielders on their bench as Mejias but they know what Clemente can do. It is reported the Braves are willing to offer two pitchers and a choice of one other player for Clemente, on the assumption the Bucs are desperate for pitching strength. One of the pitchers in believed to be Bob Buhl, an 18-game winner the past two seasons. The other would be a relief pitcher and the infielder-outfielder would be one of the reserves now riding the Milwaukee bench. However, the Pirates naturally don't feel this is strong enough trading material for a player with all the skills of Clemente. [...] No matter what the Braves may offer in the way of trading material, it's doubtful if the Pirates would part with Clemente. He's on the doorstep of greatness now and there's no telling how high he can go. The Pirates need players of Clemente's ability more than other teams and it would be foolish to let him get away."

"Hank Aaron is making himself look foolish by going around in a pout every time some white athlete wins an award. His latest tantrum involves Babe Ruth being named No. 1 athlete of all time, over Muhammad Ali. A man's mind has to be pretty mixed up to believe Babe Ruth is overrated because he was white ... If Hank really wants to be upset, let him protest the fact that, in the same poll, Jackie Robinson finished 50th to Henry Aaron's 15th, Jack Dempsey finished in a 34th-place tie with , Roberto Clemente was 111th to 's 21st, and Jack Johnson was shut out completely on the 150-name list."

"Roberto Clemente's book, which will be co-authored by Frank Eck of the New York Associated Press office, is expected to net $50,000 from the publisher. I have heard some of the tapes and read a couple of the chapters. The book will offer excellent reading when it comes out in six months."