"Tired of hearing that Pittsburgh's Roberto Clemente was baseball's best, Aaron went on the rampage against the Pirates Sunday and fired the Braves to a 7-2 victory with a pair of two-run homers and two singles in a perfect day at the plate. "When you're second best, you have to try harder," Aaron quipped after his hitting outburst. [...] "I'm not mad. People can say whatever they want about who is the best player." [...] Aaron had been needled by Walker's public praise of Clemente, who the Pirate manager said was a better player than Aaron. The Atlanta right fielder hit the roof when Atlanta announcer Milo Hamilton introduced Clemente at a luncheon as the man who beat out Aaron for the right field job in the All-Star game. "I got more votes than Clemente," Aaron said. "I played center field because Walter Alston asked me to." Aaron and Hamilton ironed out their differences at a clubhouse meeting, but the 33-year-old slugger was determined to prove his point. He was particularly elated about throwing out Clemente when the Pittsburgh standout tried to take third on a long hit to right field. "Sure, that made me feel good. But I feel good when I throw anyone out." Aaron just laughed when a teammate said that, from now on, he's going to say before every game, "Clemente's better than Aaron.""
Roberto Clemente

January 1, 1970