Roberto Clemente

Roberto dreaming

My hero is Roberto Clemente. He is my hero because he was a great baseball player and one of the most generous people I have ever heard of. He was the eleventh major league baseball player to get three thousand hits. Getting three thousand hits is amazing! He was generous because he helped the people of Nicaragua when they had a huge earthquake! Roberto Clemente was born August 18, 1934 in Carolina, Puerto Rico.

Getting ready to hit

A hero to me must have two important qualities, determination and generosity and Roberto had them both. The way Roberto had determination was because when he was little he loved baseball and would not stop playing. He would even skip meals just to play baseball before it got too dark to play. He made a bat out of wood from a guava plant, the bases made of empty coffee sacks, and the ball was made of rags. Even when Roberto wasn’t playing baseball he would squeeze a hard rubber hand ball to strengthen his throwing arm and hand. Roberto's playing baseball often got on his mother’s nerves. One time as a punishment his mother tried burning his bat, but he was quick enough to grab it before it burned.

Roberto was so good that he actually got on a major league baseball team, the Pirates. His batting average was .255 (one hit for every four at bats). The Pirates weren’t doing so well. They came in last in their division for four years in a row. Roberto wasn’t doing too well either off the field; no friends, new city, and he spoke very little English. Even though there were several African American and Latin MLB ball players by this time, there was still segregation, which means separation between blacks and whites. Lots of people in his time were racist but not him. Roberto said, “I do not believe in color.”

Roberto and his buddies

In his early years, Roberto missed a lot of games because of injuries, first to his back and then his elbow. His drive was so fierce that even when he was injured he could still get 2 or 3 hits in a game. In his second year his batting average improved to .311 and fans began to appreciate the effect he had on the team. In 1954 the Pirates came in second place in the National League. In 1961 he was so good at batting he won the national league batting title, and in 1966 he won the MVP (most valuable player) award. The team was doing so well that they made it into the World Series against the New York Yankees. The pirates won 10-9 overall.

Roberto's statue

An example of Roberto Clemente's generosity was when he helped out the people of Nicaragua. In 1972 the country of Nicaragua was hit by a devastating earthquake! Clemente ordered the relief efforts, 14 hours a day. He made plans to go to Nicaragua himself. Roberto and his son both dreamed of their plane crashing into the sea but Roberto still had to go. Sadly, on December 31, Roberto left to Nicaragua with supplies and never made it there! His plane had crashed shortly after takeoff! But now in his honor they have made a statue of him, and as everybody would say, “We’ll never forget you Roberto Clemente.”