by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

Today is the 42nd anniversary of the great Roberto Clemente. On Dec. 31, 1972, Major League baseball player Roberto Clemente, 38, was killed when a plane he’d chartered and was traveling onto bringing relief supplies to earthquake stricken Nicaraguan’s disappeared north of the coast of San Juan, Puerto Rico. Clemente chartered a DC-3 with some friends and was taking all kinds of medicines to the many suffering in Managua, Nicaragua after a devastating earthquake. Clemente’s body was never found, buried at sea with the plane he chartered.

Clemente was inducted posthumously to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1973, becoming the first Latin American to be enshrined. His death established the precedent that as an alternate to the five year retirement period, a player deceased for at least 6 months is eligible for entry into the Hall of Fame.

Clemente is the first Latino player to win a World Series as a starter (1960), to receive a National League MVP Award (1966), and to receive a World Series MVP Award (1971). He also won the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and was honored by the United States Postal Service with a first class stamp.

Born in Carolina, Puerto Rico(also called El Cometa de Carolina/The Carolina Comet)originally signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers as amateur Free Agent in 1954. Made his debut at the age of 20 on April 17, 1955 with the Pittsburgh Pirates and played 18 years, until 1972. His last game was on October 3, 1972, In 18 seasons with the Pirates Clemente played in 2,433 games, hit 240 home runs, drove in 1,305 runs and ended with a .317 batting average. Won the most(tied with Willie Mays) Gold Gloves by an outfielder with 12.

He is a member of the “3,000 Club”. Thought he had hit #3,000 on September 29, 1972, as he safely beat out a ball that never left the infield at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. But the official scorer rules that Mets second baseman Ken Boswell erred on the play and Clemente went hit-less the rest of the game. Clemente’s, historic hit was the next day as the was the key in a fourth inning Pirate rally with a double against the left field wall off Met pitcher Jon Matlack.

As history will have it, that double, his 3,000 hits was his final at bat of the season, and tragically, the last of his career. His defensive prowess in right field was well documented, his style of play was always 100 percent. The language barrier did him no favors, as he was often miss-quoted, and also suffered discrimination. I was writing for El Mundo News of Oakland during his last year in the Major Leagues,(1972) and as I covered a game at Candlestick Park between the Giants and the Pirates after Clemente struck out, a Pittsburgh writer in loud voice said “send him back in a banana boat!”. I would always remember that. To this day Major League Baseball Roberto Clemente’s Humanitarian Award is given to a player.

Roberto Clemente was a very talented baseball player, maybe the best “bad pitch hitter” ever, with the best arm ever seen from right field, a quiet, proud, and very disciplined gentleman, he was A Man for All Ages.

Roberto Clemente’s 3,000th Hit
Date: September 30, 1972 Location: Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh
Club: Pittsburgh (NL) Opponent: New York (NL)
Pitcher: John Matlack Hit: Double
Total career hits: 3,000

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the vice president of the Major League Baseball Hispanic Heritage Museum and does News and Commentary each week for http://www.sportsradioservice.com