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August 18, 2012
It may not seem like it, but Roberto Clemente's final season was 40 years ago.
The longtime right fielder for the Pittsburgh Pirates had a decent 1972, despite playing in only 104 games because of injury. He batted .312, not far off his .317 lifetime average, and hit 10 home runs, his 13th straight year in double digits.
And on Sept. 30, he hit a double at Three Rivers Stadium for his 3,000th career hit, becoming just the 11th player to do so.
His season – and as it turned out, his career – came to a crashing halt on the afternoon of Oct. 11, when the late Bob Moose threw a wild pitch that allowed the Cincinnati Reds to score and beat the Pirates in the deciding game of the National League Championship Series.
On Dec. 31, 1972, Clemente was aboard a cargo plane leaving San Juan, Puerto Rico, to carry supplies to earthquake-ravaged Nicaragua. The four-engined DC-7 piston-powered plane crashed moments after takeoff.
Today would have been his 78th birthday. And according to former Pirate and Upper St. Clair resident Steve Blass, speaking on 93.7-FM this morning about his longtime teammate:
"He would've been the governor of Puerto Rico at this point, if not more."
Following his death were three days of mourning throughout the U.S. territory, where he was the most popular sports figure in the island's history, and continues to be to this day.
He had been the leader of Puerto Rican efforts to aid the Nicaraguan victims and was aboard the ill-fated plane because he suspected that relief supplies were falling into the hands of profiteers.
Clemente played his entire 18-year with the Pirates, winning four batting titles and being voted the National League Most Valuable Player in 1966, when he set career highs in home runs (29) and runs batted in (119). He led the league in hits twice on his way to racking up exactly 3,000.
A 2011 New York Times article recalls the occasion:
The night before, Clemente had reached base against Tom Seaver with a chopper that bounced off an infielder’s glove. The scoreboard flashed hit, but the official scorer ruled it an error, keeping Clemente on the verge of history. Yet the Pittsburgh fans were largely oblivious.
The next day was an overcast Saturday, with televised college football perhaps a more appealing entertainment option. Just 13,117 fans went to the ballpark, and even the Mets’ starter was unaware of what could happen.
"I was a 22-year-old rookie that had absolutely no clue this baseball icon was sitting on 2,999 when I went out to pitch that game," Jon Matlack said. "None."
The article continues:
The author David Maraniss, who wrote the definitive biography of Clemente in 2006, said that the emerging Steelers were drawing fans from the Pirates, and that Three Rivers Stadium was not an appealing place. But those were not the only reasons for the apathy.
“A lot of it had to do with the social mores of that time and place,” Maraniss wrote in an e-mail. “Pittsburgh was the quintessential white working-class steel town, and the Pirates were seen as 'too black.' Only the year before, they had fielded the first all-black and Latino team in major league history.
“After Clemente died, he was martyred in Pittsburgh and everyone said they loved him, but that was not the case when he was alive. He had to overcome a lot in terms of race and language in Pittsburgh, and did not really win the city over completely until he died.”
The longtime right fielder for the Pittsburgh Pirates had a decent 1972, despite playing in only 104 games because of injury. He batted .312, not far off his .317 lifetime average, and hit 10 home runs, his 13th straight year in double digits.
And on Sept. 30, he hit a double at Three Rivers Stadium for his 3,000th career hit, becoming just the 11th player to do so.
His season – and as it turned out, his career – came to a crashing halt on the afternoon of Oct. 11, when the late Bob Moose threw a wild pitch that allowed the Cincinnati Reds to score and beat the Pirates in the deciding game of the National League Championship Series.
On Dec. 31, 1972, Clemente was aboard a cargo plane leaving San Juan, Puerto Rico, to carry supplies to earthquake-ravaged Nicaragua. The four-engined DC-7 piston-powered plane crashed moments after takeoff.
Today would have been his 78th birthday. And according to former Pirate and Upper St. Clair resident Steve Blass, speaking on 93.7-FM this morning about his longtime teammate:
"He would've been the governor of Puerto Rico at this point, if not more."
Following his death were three days of mourning throughout the U.S. territory, where he was the most popular sports figure in the island's history, and continues to be to this day.
He had been the leader of Puerto Rican efforts to aid the Nicaraguan victims and was aboard the ill-fated plane because he suspected that relief supplies were falling into the hands of profiteers.
Clemente played his entire 18-year with the Pirates, winning four batting titles and being voted the National League Most Valuable Player in 1966, when he set career highs in home runs (29) and runs batted in (119). He led the league in hits twice on his way to racking up exactly 3,000.
A 2011 New York Times article recalls the occasion:
The night before, Clemente had reached base against Tom Seaver with a chopper that bounced off an infielder’s glove. The scoreboard flashed hit, but the official scorer ruled it an error, keeping Clemente on the verge of history. Yet the Pittsburgh fans were largely oblivious.
The next day was an overcast Saturday, with televised college football perhaps a more appealing entertainment option. Just 13,117 fans went to the ballpark, and even the Mets’ starter was unaware of what could happen.
"I was a 22-year-old rookie that had absolutely no clue this baseball icon was sitting on 2,999 when I went out to pitch that game," Jon Matlack said. "None."
The article continues:
The author David Maraniss, who wrote the definitive biography of Clemente in 2006, said that the emerging Steelers were drawing fans from the Pirates, and that Three Rivers Stadium was not an appealing place. But those were not the only reasons for the apathy.
“A lot of it had to do with the social mores of that time and place,” Maraniss wrote in an e-mail. “Pittsburgh was the quintessential white working-class steel town, and the Pirates were seen as 'too black.' Only the year before, they had fielded the first all-black and Latino team in major league history.
“After Clemente died, he was martyred in Pittsburgh and everyone said they loved him, but that was not the case when he was alive. He had to overcome a lot in terms of race and language in Pittsburgh, and did not really win the city over completely until he died.”
Today, Clemente is immortalized with a statue outside of PNC Park, and his No. 21 jersey, retired by the Pirates, continues to be a top seller among the team's fans.
He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1973, with the voters waiving the usual five-year waiting period, the only time that has occurred.
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