Roberto Clemente

Roberto Clemente Walker played eighteen seasons for the Pittsburgh Pirates and never once did anything halfway. His career batting average was .317. He won twelve consecutive Gold Gloves in right field, from 1961 through 1972. He collected exactly 3,000 hits. He threw out runners from right field with a cannon arm that made baserunners reconsider their life choices. He played every game like it was personal.

Scouted and Signed

Born in Carolina, Puerto Rico, Clemente signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1954 but was left unprotected on the Dodgers' minor league roster. The Pittsburgh Pirates selected him in the Rule 5 draft. The Dodgers' loss became Pittsburgh's defining acquisition. Clemente spent every remaining season of his career in a Pirates uniform.

The 1971 World Series

Clemente had been an All-Star for years, but the 1971 World Series was his national introduction. Against the heavily favored Baltimore Orioles, Clemente hit .414 with two home runs, played flawless defense, and carried the Pirates to a seven-game upset. He was named World Series MVP. After the final out, he spoke to a national television audience in Spanish, thanking his parents. It was one of the first times a player had done so on a major American broadcast.

Beyond the Field

Clemente spent his offseasons doing charitable work throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. He dreamed of building a "Sports City" for underprivileged children in Puerto Rico, a facility where kids could learn athletics regardless of their family's income. He did not live to see it built, but the Ciudad Deportiva Roberto Clemente was eventually completed in his memory.

He died on December 31, 1972, when a cargo plane carrying earthquake relief supplies to Nicaragua crashed into the Atlantic Ocean shortly after takeoff from San Juan. He was 38 years old.