Baseball’s Humanitarian
The man won a World Series. He had exactly 3000 hits. He played in 15 All-Star Games and won one National League MVP. But what he will always be remembered for is the way he loved people and died trying to serve them.
Roberto Clemente Walker was born in Carolina, Puerto Rico on August 18, 1934. By the time he was 16 he had joined Puerto Rico’s amateur baseball league. He came to the Majors in 1955 at the age of 20, just seven years after Jackie Robinson had broken baseball’s color barrier.
His 18-year career at Pittsburgh was nothing less than phenomenal. During that time he would bat .317, hit 240 home runs, 440 doubles, bat in 1305 runs, maintained an on-base percentage of .359 and won 12 Gold Gloves; an all-time career record for outfielders shared with the great Willie Mays.
But none of this came close to what he did off the field. Roberto’s off-seasons were field with charity work all over the globe. Often times he would take food, water, school supplies and other needed things to children who were in need.
On December 31, 1972 Roberto climbed aboard an overloaded, poorly maintained aircraft in Isla Verde, Puerto Rico. He was headed to Nicaragua to deliver aid to the citizens of Managua, the capital city, following a devastating earthquake. Just after take off the plane crashed and his body was never recovered.
To this day MLB gives away the Roberto Clemente award in honor of the games most humanitarian focused player.
Links
- Biography – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roberto_Clemente
- Stats – http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/clemero01.shtml
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