Roberto Clemente was far more than simply a baseball player.
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Look at the Clemente statue, and you’ll see his finger is worn bright from the uncountable number of people who take a moment to touch a great man.
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People remember the exact time and place where they experienced news of an important event. This was one of those events for me.
(Interesting Clemente anecdote. At the beginning of his career, he was referred to as, "Bob Clemente", because it didn't sound Hispanic.)
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Retiring Roberto Clemente's number is a fitting honor to his exceptional play and humanitarian efforts. The excuses for not doing so by Major League Baseball are lame and hollow. Were Jackie Robinson alive, I believe he'd welcome the idea of Clemente joining his 'retired number club'.
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Amen to that; there are quite a few past greats to be
held in reverence; but no Ty Cobb types, please
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"Clemente: The Passion and Grace of Baseball's Last Hero" by David Maraniss is an excellent book. I recommend it to anyone interested in understanding more about this man, his life and his baseball prowess.
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21 was great. Maybe a better player than 42.
But without 42 there may have been no 21.
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Eventually all numbers under 100 will be retired.
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As time goes on, there will be an increasing number of "great" players, "heroic" players, and players who have a special sentimental meaning to fans for any number of reasons.
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When someone is passed over, and their number is not retired - it creates a bad feeling among his fans which in turn fosters animostiy among fans.
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I don't see a solution.
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@HH In nearly 150 years of professional baseball there has been one number universally retired. At that rate, I think we're not in any real danger of having to slap three digits on players' backs anytime soon. Robinson and Clemente were exceptional humans, the likes of which just don't come around that frequently -- sadly. If baseball was so fortunate to have a surplus of these individuals, that's a problem to be welcomed.
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As the base of his statue outside of PNC Park is engraved, Roberto Clemente is indeed "the great one" in many ways...
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I'm not against retiring Clemente's #21, but todays Baseball Players need to take a stand about Curt Flood. Flood put it on the line for every player today to reap the rewards except flood.
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The commissioner’s lame excuse reminds me of the NFL’s tone deaf attitudes toward racism. Manfred is a white guy representing white owners who unsurprisingly makes up a lame excuse for not retiring the number of a pioneering player not only for Latinos but for the league. Leave it to white privilege to blow a decision that’s too easy to make.
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@AlNewman The players have taken it into their own hands. That is a better solution, isn't it, since white owners of a white league must be so corrupt it would be inauthentic anyway, right?
You have to be careful with this.
Jackie Robinson's #42 was not retired because he was black. It was retired because it helped end an ugly era in America of segregation or worse.
If you follow Clemente's followers then what is next, retiring Babe Ruth's number because he was the greatest white player by far or retiring some Asian player because he was the greatest Asian player?
The point being although Clemente was one of the best players in baseball and a great humanitarian, he did not help end a monumental original sin like Jackie did, neither did Babe Ruth.
If a hispanic player doesn't want to wear the number that is fine, but don't institutionalized it and play the race/ethnic card.
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@Paul I agree---it's a slippery slope. Hispanic/Latino is not a race. Clemente was of African descent and faced discrimination for that reason along with being an immigrant. There were players of Latino/Hispanic ancestry, most of whom were white, in the majors going back to the early 20th century. Jackie Robinson broke a racial barrier that did not exist for Hispanic players, unless, like Clemente, they were black. If we really want to drill down on it and look at the real history of ethnicity in baseball, we will find that many groups, e.g., Italians, Jews, etc. faced discrimination, even though there was never a formal ban to their entry into the sport. So, you could be retiring many numbers, if you looked at it with complete and total honesty---which will never happen, of course!
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@GC-Agreed, although baseball was never totally inclusive, since 1950 it is, we should celebrate inclusivity and not racial/ethnic/religious differences. If we did we would have to retire just about every number up to 100.
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@Paul
Different topic, but as a baseball fan I wanted to respond.
Nearly everyone considers Ruth the GOAT just as all consider Jordan GOAT not taking FIBA into account or historically great players, i.e. Sabonis, from the USSR who regularly beat NBA pros in the 1970s and 1980s. We say Gretzy and Howe are the GOAT though USSR/Canada beat up and destroyed us (Minus 1980)
And, Negro League stats are nowhere near complete and exhibitioms of MLB v Negro Leagues in the 1930s were exhibitions where players such as Ruth, Feller, etc always praised Gibson, Paige, Charleston, etc but stated they didn't put their best foot forward all the time (I'm sure all will disagree. Check the historical record). And, yes Paige, Banks, Bankhead, Doby, Black, Robinson, Irvin, Mays, Aaron, Campanella, Newcombe and Frank Robinson were/are All-Stars and/or HoFers but there stats from the Negro Leagues are all small sized and incomplete and like the example below most of the League was considered AAAA (4A)
And, Sadarho Oh, while hitting 868hrs, played in a league to this day known to inferior to the MLB, even by Japan where other than the transendant stars, the everyday players are considered AAAA (4A).
I'm well aware identity politics and race and gender and sex and age and disability have to be involved in everything discussed or we're not fully woke, however (and a liberal D. Not that should matter--and I'll be bashed anyway, oh well---) one should at least know their history of the/a sport.
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I'm a middle aged housewife who grew up in Chicago. Not a huge baseball fan, but even I know what a great player and man he was.
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From the article and Carlos Correa:
“No Puerto Ricans will use the number [21] because of Roberto Clemente,” Carlos Correa, 24, the Puerto Rican superstar shortstop of the Houston Astros who uses No. 1, said in Spanish. “The way I see it: Roberto Clemente is a figure for Latinos just like Jackie Robinson was for African-Americans. Clemente didn’t just break barriers but inspired other Latinos to get into baseball.”
I 'say':
Jackie Robinson is universally due the greatest regard and recognition, and so is Roberto Clemente.
(Thanks to Dad, I saw both playing in the same game @ Ebbets Field; Dodgers-Pirates, 1956.)
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Good article, but.... “in Spanish”? I could care less what language the interviewee used. It’s more important what they said than what language they used.
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Roberto Clemente was a joy to behold in the field, at the plate, on the bases. I first recall seeing him play in the 1960 World Series, and I became a fan for life.
And yet, his greatest contribution was as a humanitarian. That he died serving the needs of others is a role model desperately needed by all of us, and not just in sport.
Retiring his number, celebrating his life both off and on the field, is certainly warranted.
Viva Arriba!
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In Pittsburgh, we treasure and remember Roberto as a humanitarian and as an extraordinarily gifted athlete in his 18 seasons with the Pirates.
When Clemente died, all of Pittsburgh mourned.
It is time for MLB to do the right thing and retire 21.
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I had no idea Latinos were refusing to wear 21 in honor of Clemente. That's a wonderful tribute and representative of the reverence for that special and selfless individual. I don't think Manford's argument is valid. The Roberto Clemente award is recognition of off-the-field excellence. Universally retiring 21 and displaying that number in ever stadium would be something entirely different, a constant reminder of Clemente's legacy. And it shouldn't be missed that Clemente suffered significant prejudice during his playing days, too. He was constantly mocked by the Pittsburgh and national media. He was portrayed as lazy and selfish and his quotes were often constructed in a phonetic manner to mock his accent, despite the fact that most of the reporters quoting him couldn't speak a lick of Spanish. It's truly time for MLB to honor his legacy. He was a role model, as Robinson, not just for members of his ethnic background, but for everyone who plays or watches the game.
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@Number23
Excellent in all respects … and in all but one 'detail.' (The Roberto Clemente Award is NOT just for on-field excellence.)
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@Number23 And yet, the city, its sportswriters and broadcasters, including the Gunner himself, all grieved when Roberto died.
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@Dave Kerr Of course. But you touch a sore spot with your reference to The Gunner. Bob Prince insisted on calling him "Bobby," despite Clemente's objections. It doesn't get much more paternalistic (to be nice) than that.
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