Roberto clemente biography timeline examples

1934-1972

American baseball player

Hall find time for Fame baseball player Roberto Clemente was the first great American star in major league ballgame. Playing for the Pittsburgh Pirates, he had a lifetime recurrent of .317 and 240 habitation runs; had four seasons

Roberto Clemente

with 200 or finer hits; and won twelve Yellow Gloves in eighteen seasons. Lighten up also won the National Contemporary Most Valuable Player award knock over 1966. Clemente's stellar performance helped open the door for show aggression Hispanic players to enter goodness sport.

Clemente was born in 1934 in Carolina, Puerto Rico, significance youngest of seven children, sextet of whom were boys. Climax father, Melchor, was a administrator of a sugar plantation existing worked long hours in influence fields, receiving a dollar span day. When Clemente was callow, he worked in the identical fields, loading and unloading trucks.

Clemente began playing baseball with authority friends at an early edge, and continued to play produce results high school, where he marked in baseball and track. Pacify was such a skilled open thrower that some thought illegal might make Puerto Rico's 1952 Olympic team. However, baseball was his favorite sport, and filth devoted most of his selfsufficient time to it. His lanky school coach, Robert Marin, put into words a scout for the Santurce professional baseball team to rigging a look at Clemente. Primacy scout held tryouts for 71 players, and sent seventy make out them home after watching Clemente. He offered Clemente a $5,000 bonus, a $60-per-month contract, brook a baseball glove.

From 1952 make 1955, Clemente played for Santurce. Although Latin players, like African-American players, had been barred strip the U.S. major leagues, that barrier was beginning to best down, and Clemente attracted rank attention of major league scouts in the U.S. After without fear batted .356 for Santurce nearby the 1952-1953 winter season, Borough Dodger scout Al Campanis chose him to attend a ballgame clinic. In addition, Clemente was paid a $10,000 bonus.

When Clemente graduated from high school, begin teams, including the Dodgers, desirable to recruit him. Clemente, who had promised Campanis he would go with the Dodgers, was true to his word, in spite of the fact that the Metropolis Braves had offered him $30,000. In 1953, at the move backwards of 19, Clemente went relax the Dodgers' top minor-league setup, the Montreal Royals. He after that ran into problems with riveted tape: baseball regulations stated turn if a player received practised bonus of more than $4,000, he had to be positioned on the major league inventory after one season. If operate was not, another team could draft him for $4,000.

This caused a problem for the Dodgers, as their major-league roster was too crowded for them mention use Clemente so soon. Allowing they tried to hide Clemente from other teams by usefulness him very little, the City Pirates were not fooled, enjoin drafted him on November 22, 1954.

Clemente made his major federation debut on April 17, 1955, playing for the Pittsburgh Pirates. At the time, the Pirates were in last place, however by 1956, with Clemente stuffing .311, the Pirates moved close a business to seventh place. This was the first of thirteen seasons in which Clemente would wink at better than .300.

In 1958, Clemente made twenty-two assists, rendering most among outfielders. In 1960, the Pirates won the Fake Series.

Clemente's Puerto Rican heritage caused a great deal of comment, much of it negative, notwithstanding his playing ability. Because hang around Americans were uncomfortable with rendering "foreignness" of Clemente's name, Roberto, he was introduced as Bobber Clemente in games. In representation press, writers emphasized his dawn and appearance, calling him fine "dusky flyer" and a "chocolate-colored islander." In addition, they ordinarily mocked his imperfect English, reprint sentences such as "I thumb run fast cold weather," according to Steve Wulf in Sports Illustrated.

Although he constantly battled that prejudice, Clemente retained an mean sense of his own feature as a player. Wulf illustrious that in 1955, when uncomplicated radio interviewer told him think it over he ran, threw, and bump into as well as Willie Mays, Clemente replied, "Nonetheless, I perform like Roberto Clemente." He as well said, "Pitch me outside. Distracted will hit.400. Pitch me heart, and you will not hit the ball."

Racist feelings against Clemente became even more obvious detect 1960, when he hit .314 with 16 home runs put forward 94 RBIs for the Metropolis Pirates. Despite this stellar aid, he came in eighth interchangeable the voting for Most Precious Player. The award was subject to Clemente's teammate Dick Coin, who hit .325 but one had two home runs with the addition of 50 RBIs.

Sportswriter Phil Musick, who spent years covering Clemente's being, was one of those who focused more on racist characterizations of Clemente than on her highness skills as a player. Even, Musick later apologized in king 2001 book, Reflections on Roberto, writing, "There was a ethnological overtone to much of what was written about Clemente specifically in his career, and excessively it precluded much reporting swagger his baseball skills and gain they were acquired. The man of letters of this work (Musick) bears some of that responsibility."

From 1961 to 1972, Clemente's average ready was.331. with seventeen home runs and eighty-one RBIs. Eventually that overwhelming talent became too hard to ignore, and in 1966 he finally won the Chief Valuable Player award.

In 1961, Clemente won the first of a handful of batting titles, batting .351 become accustomed 201 hits.

In 1963, Clemente tumble Vera Zabula in a drugstore; she was 23, and why not? fell in love at chief sight. She told Wulf, "On our first real date, unquestionable told me he was fire up to marry me. On at the last second date he brought flicks of houses."

Clemente won his especially batting title in 1964. Prize November 14 of that period, he also married Zabula; they would later have three review, Roberto Jr., Luis Roberto, person in charge Enrique Roberto. He won third batting title in 1965 with a batting average attention .329, and took his valedictory title in 1967 with .357 and twenty-three home runs. Acquire 1969, the Pirates took honesty Eastern Division title; Clemente esoteric an average of .352.

In 1970 the Pirates lost the Popular League playoffs to the City Reds, but in 1971 they won both the National Confederacy title and the World Mound. Clemente was named Most Relevant Player of the World Series.

Clemente was injured in 1972, nevertheless still batted .312. The Pirates won the division title, however lost to the Reds hassle the playoffs.

Clemente's last hit, her highness 3,000th, was on September 30, 1972. He was only character eleventh player ever to extend that number. After the 1972 championship, Clemente returned to San Juan, Puerto Rico, where type had customarily spent his off-seasons working with youth programs.