KDKA CBS 2 Pittsburgh file photo: Pittsburgh Pirates catcher Manny Sanguillen (left) and rightfielder Roberto Clemente (right) pose for a photo in the glory days of the 1970s their best years in Pittsburgh

Exclusive Interview with Manny Sanguillen

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

Back in the 1970’s when he was catching for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Manny Sanguillen, Roberto Clemente and Willie Stargell walked into a Howard Johnson and could not get service, They were a couple of hours late to Spring Training that day in Ft Myers, Florida.

This is one of the many stories told to me by a man born in Colón, Panamá, an excellent catcher for 12 seasons in the major leagues, 11 of those with the Pirates and one, in 1977 with the Oakland Athletics. He ended his excellent career with a solid .296 batting average (something not common these days) especially for a catcher,  Sanguillen was selected to three All Star games and won the 1971 World Series when the Pirates defeated the Baltimore Orioles.

Sanguillen was one of the best catchers in major league baseball during the 1970’s his lifetime average was higher that Hall of Fame catcher Johnny Bench. The Pirates catcher was a contact hitter and an integral part of the success by the Pittsburgh teams of that time.

As a contemporary of Manny Sanguillen, I remember interviewing him when he played for the Athletics in 1977, he always had a kind smile great attitude and very proud of his Panamanian roots. Living now in Boynton Beach, Florida, he was very gracious and courteous when I called to talk to him. “I had my friends in Oakland when I played there, like Vida Blue and Billy North” he said. My friends in the media that also covered Sanguillen, all tell me he was very good with the media in the bay area.

Sanguillen, like many other Latino players suffered discrimination and humiliation, when I asked him about the years in Pittsburgh where Clemente and the media did not get along, as he would complain of being misquoted by newspapers, Sanguillen told me “Yes, that was true, they just didn’t like him because some were racist” The 76-year old catcher told me about himself and his career in Pittsburgh “they wanted me fired, there were always rumors that I was going to be traded, at that time there were very few Latino catchers”. (He paused) other catchers like Eliseo Rodríguez and Paul Casanova”

About the story that he was going to Managua, Nicaragua, with Roberto Clemente on that DC-3 chartered plane Clemente was taking a loaded plane with help for the victims of that earthquake, he said that was not true. But he did talk to Roberto before he left from San Juan, Puerto Rico, but Sanguillen tells me he was not planning to go, Clemente had a lot of friends with him, he was always surrounded by people. He learned about the plane crash from Luis Mayoral, a veteran sports journalist and broadcaster born in Puerto Rico.

Manny Sanguillen “Clemente told me once, if we make it to a World Series, I will take care of everything”. He did, in 1971 Clemente hit .411 won the World Series MVP like Bill Blass, who pitched a complete game seven to clinch it for the Pirates said after the game about Roberto: “Clemente did it all”.

He talks about his three All Star Games, like the one in Atlanta in 1972 when he was hitting behind Billy Williams: “I got a single to centerfield against pitcher Wilbur Wood advancing Williams to third.” His memory is sharp as a tack. He has not played since the late 70’s but he remembers stuff like it was last year.

Like many Latino players he had to handle the discrimination that did not go away after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in 1947. He played in the 1970’s and still, like former A’s outfielder Tony Armas once told me “for us Latino players, we have to be twice as good as a white player to prove ourselves here.”

I asked Sanguillen about what Armas told me back then and he told me Armas was correct. Orlando Cepeda once told me that when he arrived in the major leagues, there was a pecking order; the White players, then the African-American players and then the Latino players, we were at the bottom of the totem pole, not only because of skin color, but also the language barrier”.

Born in Panamá, he is friends with three of the most famous athletes in that country – three institutions. “I talk to Rod Carew with frequency, saw him in Miami, as far as Mariano Rivera he lives in Panamá and I do not see him as often, Roberto Durán, yes I see him”

Manny Sanguillen is part of the great tradition of Latin American ballplayers in the major leagues. Manny is an Evangelical Christian and although he only played with the A’s for one season he left many good memories and friends here in the Bay Area, during a time where the number of Latino players was not as it is today, which is close 30 percent of all players.

Sanguillen was inducted into The Hispanic Heritage Baseball Museum and Hall of Fame/ His good friend Roberto Clemente not only has a statue at PNC Park, but also a bridge in Pittsburgh named the Roberto Clemente bridge. Not many superstars have a bridge with his name on it.

Muchas gracias a Manny Sanguillen por la entrevista, espero que siga bien con su buen humor, muy positivo con esa gran sonrisa tan contagiosa.

Thanks to Manny Sanguillen for the interview, hope he stays well, with his good humor his positivism and that great contagious smile.

Stay well and stay tuned.

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