By: Jameson Young
Roberto Clemente was a great man and a great baseball player. From August 16, 1934-December 31 1972, he inspired people to do all sorts of things. Standing at five foot eleven born in Puerto Rico, Clemente had many challenges to face, his biggest one was he was black. Yes, Jackie Robinson did break the color barrier on April 18, 1946 but there was still a lot of discrimination. As if a strange language and a new culture were not challenging enough, Clemente also met racism in their crudest forms. He quickly became an active defender of his rights and the rights of others. There were many many challenges that he faced from the second he held the bat on his first game to the second his plane crashed, but Roberto stayed strong.
Even though Roberto had some hardships he still came out with a whopping 3,000 hits and a batting average of .317 over his season. Another one of his great accomplishments was off the field. During the off season, Roberto would donate baseball equipment and food to those in need. There is no doubt that Roberto was a great role model.
Roberto Clemente Walker was born on August 18, 1934, in Barrio San Anton, Carolina, Puerto Rico. He was the youngest of seven children and his parents' names were Melchor and Luisa Clemente. His father was a foreman on a sugarcane plantation and his mother had a lot of different jobs so Roberto would often have a job of his own and they were usually odd. Growing up Roberto also played baseball, track, and field. He won medals for the javelin throw and short distance races. Throwing the javelin strengthened his arm for throwing a baseball.
In October 1952, he was given a contract by Pedrin Zorilla, which marked the beginning of his professional career in baseball. He played for the Cangrejeros de Santurce which was a winter league team in the Puerto Rican Professional Baseball League. In 1954, he started playing with the Brooklyn Dodgers which was the team he had signed a contract with. It was not until the next year that he started playing for the Pittsburgh Pirates. As the years passed, Roberto became one of the best baseball players of the country. Having won the NL batting title four times, he was also known for having one of the most dangerous arms ever witnessed in baseball. He led the league during the early 1960s with a batting average of .353. He also had runs batted in 25 out of a total of 27 games. His batting average always stayed above the .300 mark.
Roberto was a great player but his off field actions were truly amazing. In the off season, Roberto would often return to his home country to play in the Puerto Rican League. While he was there he would also do clinics for young players. He also headed out for relief efforts after a massive earthquake hit Nicaragua in late December. Later Clemente heard that the Nicaraguan army had stolen the relief supplies that were meant for the people so Roberto decided to accompany the next supply plane. Sadly, shortly after takeoff from the airport, the plane crashed killing Clemente.
December 31, 1972 was the day he died. His death brought great sadness to America because he was such a great role model and player. Usually it must be five years after you die or retire in order to be inducted into the Hall of Fame but Clemente was an exception. He was inducted in the same year he died and 92.69% of the people voted for him. In today’s world, role models are YouTubers and Instagramers. These people are seen as role models for creating prank videos, music videos, and Try Not To Laugh Challenges but really kids and others of all ages should be looking up to people like Roberto who not only are talented but also donate[d] time, money, and most importantly effort to good causes.