THE SPECIAL ROBERTO CLEMENTE

This past weekend marked an anniversary of a special athlete in the game of baseball,  Roberto Clemente.  It was 40 years ago this past Sunday that Clemente recorded his 3,000 major league hit.  That in itself was special.  Months later, we'd find out....how special.

Clemente was an extraordinary player.  He played 18 major league season all with the Pittsburgh Pirates.  He was what many people would call a 5-tool player.  He could hit for power, he could throw, he could run, he could field and he could hit for average.  And he did them all with a class that places him among the all-time greats.  If you equate him with a player of today, see Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels and you might get an idea of just how good he was.  Here are but a few of his accomplishments:

15-time All-Star
2-time World Series Champion (1960, 1971)
12-time Gold Glove Winner (1961-1972)
4-time National League Batting Champion (1961, 1964, 1965, 1967)
National League Most Valuable Player (1966)
World Series Most Valuable Player  (1971)
He is the only player in major league history to hit a walk-off inside-the-park Grand Slam

Roberto Clemente......something Special

But as great as Clemente was on the field, he might have been of  bigger significance off it. "During the off-season, Clemente was involved in charity work.  When Managua, the capital city of Nicaragua, was affected by a massive earthquake in 1972, Clemente, who had been visiting Managua three weeks before the quake, arranged relief flights to help the local residents.  Clemente soon learned, that the aid packages on the first three flights had been diverted by corrupt officials of the Somoza government, never reaching the victims of the quake.  

Clemente was incensed, so much that he decided to accompany the fourth relief flight, hoping that his presence would ensure that the aid would be delivered to the rightful source.  The airplane he chartered for a New Year's Eve flight, a Douglas DC-7, had  a history of mechanical problems and sub-par flight personnel and it was overloaded by some 4,000 pounds.  It crashed into the ocean off the coast of Isla Verde, Puerto Rico, immediately after takeoff.  An empty flight case belonging to Clemente was the only personal item recovered from the plane. Clemente's teammate and close friend, Manny Sanguillen, was the only member of the Pirates not to attend his memorial service.  He chose instead to dive into the waters where Clemente's plane crashed in an effort to find his teammate.  His body was never found."

In March of 1973, the Baseball Writers of America held a special election for his admittance into the Hall of Fame.  They decided to waive the 5-year waiting period and voted him in posthumously.   Major League Baseball presents the Roberto Clemente Award every year to the player who best follows his example of humanitarian work.  In 193, Clemente was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal and the First Presidential Citizens Medal.  In 2002, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

In their USA Today Magazine article titled, "Saluting Pittsburgh's Finest", Richard E. Vatz and Lee S. Weinberg said Clemente was "arguably the best in the history of the game" and stated that "understanding the magnitude of Roberto Clemente requires an appreciation of the gestalt of his presence, which was greater than the sum of his statistics".

Now, that's something special.

Thanks for reading,

John