Athletes - Roberto Clemente

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	Athletes - Roberto Clemente

Roberto Clemente Walker (August 18, 1934 – December 31, 1972) was a Major League Baseball right fielder and right-handed batter. He was elected to the Hall of Fame posthumously in 1973, being the first Hispanic American to be selected, and the only exception to the mandatory five-year post-retirement waiting period since it was instituted in 1954. Clemente was born in Carolina, Puerto Rico, the youngest of seven children. He played 18 seasons in the majors from 1955 to 1972, all with the Pittsburgh Pirates, winning the National League MVP Award in 1966.

Baseball accomplishments

Clemente was a 4-time NL batting champion, finishing in the top ten in batting average thirteen times. He could throw a runner out from his knees. He finished his career with exactly 3,000 hits. He was the 11th player in history to reach this number. He also had one of the most powerful throwing arms of any outfielder in baseball history, which contributed to him winning 12 Gold Glove Awards for his outstanding defense. Perhaps Clemente's greatest feat was leading the Pittsburgh Pirates to a seven-game World Series victory over the Baltimore Orioles in 1971. He played in two World Series (1960 and 1971) and got a hit in every game in which he played. He compiled a lifetime batting average of .317 and batted .300 or better thirteen times, hitting 240 home runs and gathering 1305 runs batted in. He also collected 166 triples, finishing in the top five of the league eleven times, and had 266 outfield assists. He is one of only four players (as of the end of the 2005 season) to have 10 or more Gold Gloves and a .300+ lifetime batting average.

Early career

A rising star was on the lookout of many MLB scouts. He had everything that a coach would want. Hitting, fielding and a tremendous arm. Clemente first caught the eye of major league scouts while playing with the Santurce Crabbers (alongside Willie Mays) in the Puerto Rican Winter League. At the age of 18, he hit .356 for Santurce in the winter of 1952-1953. Scout Al Campanis signed Clemente for the Brooklyn Dodgers with a $10,000 bonus later in 1953. His new team, however, was unable to fit him into a star-studded outfield featuring 1953 National League All-Stars Carl Furillo, Duke Snider, and Jackie Robinson. Aware of a rule that would make Clemente available in a minor league draft (the predecessor of today's Rule 5 Draft) after the 1954 season, the Dodgers tried to hide him with their minor league affiliate, the Montreal Royals. He hit only .257 and did not distinguish himself with the bat.

Despite the Dodgers' efforts, Pittsburgh Pirates president Branch Rickey drafted Clemente with the first selection in the post-season draft. Pittsburgh at the time was a fixture at the bottom of the National League and had lost 100 games in each of the three previous seasons. With little to lose, the Pirates installed Clemente in place of incumbent right fielder Sid Gordon early in the 1955 season. Although Clemente's skill with the glove was immediately apparent, he was less impressive at the plate; he batted .255 with 5 home runs and 47 RBI in his first full season in 1955. In 1956, though, he hit his stride, producing a .311 batting average (third in the league) at the age of 21. It was the first of thirteen seasons in which Clemente would hit above .300.

The 1960s

While Clemente had begun to fulfill his potential, the Pirates continued to struggle through the 1950s, although they did manage their first winning season since 1948 in 1959. In 1960, however, the team broke through to a 95-59 record, a National League pennant, and a thrilling seven-game World Series victory over the Mantle-Maris New York Yankees. Clemente batted .310 in the series, hitting safely at least once in every game. His .314 batting average, 16 home runs, and stellar defense earned him his first trip to the All-Star game. Through the rest of the decade, Clemente firmly established himself as one of the premier players in baseball. For the rest of his career, he batted over .300 in every year save 1968, when he hit .291; he was selected to every All-Star game; and he was given a Gold Glove after every season from 1961 onwards. He led the National League in batting average four times (1961, 1964, 1965, and 1967), led the NL in hits twice (1964 and 1967), and won the MVP award for his 1966 season, when he hit .317 while setting career highs in home runs (29) and RBI (119).

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Athletes - Roberto Clemente

Baseball accomplishments

Early career

The 1960s

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