Roberto Clemente: What If?

                           The Dodgers have lost several players in the rule 5 draft over the years. But none ever reached the heights of one Roberto Enrique Clemente Walker.  Born August 18th, 1934, in Barrio San Anton, Puerto Rico. He was the son of Melchor Clemente and Luisa Walker de Clemente. He was the youngest of seven children. His father worked as a supervisor of sugar cane cutters; he also used his truck to help deliver sand and gravel to building sites. Luisa was a laundress and worked different jobs to assist the workers at the sugar cane plantation. 

                           Roberto contributed to the family by helping his dad load shovels for the construction sites, he also did odd jobs for his neighbors like picking up their milk at the local store. He used his money to buy a bike and a rubber ball. He liked to squeeze the balls to strengthen his hands. People would comment on the size of his hands; he had strong hands and at an early age it was obvious that he had athletic ability.

                          He not only had athletic ability, but he had also a deep love of sports, especially baseball. He attended games in the winter and watched the stars from American baseball. One of his favorites was Monte Irvin. Irvin played for the Newark Eagles of the Negro National League in the summer and the San Juan Senadores of the Puerto Rican League in the winter. Irvin remembers kids hanging around the stadium and the players would give them their bags so they could get in for free.

                       It wasn’t until years later when both were in the Majors that Clemente told Irvin that he was one of those kids. Clemente also told Irvin he was impressed with his throwing arm. “I had the best throwing arm in Puerto Rico” Irvin said. “He loved to see me throw. He found that he would practice and learn how to throw like I did”. Clemente began playing baseball himself and kept a journal in which he would write about his love of the game and some of his exploits and experiences on the muddy fields on which he played. He once hit 10 homers in a game that began at 11 A.M. and finished at 6 P.M. Of course it was only about 150 feet to the trees. 

                       At the age of 14, Roberto joined a softball team organized by Roberto Marin. Marin would become very influential to the young Clemente. He noticed his strong throwing arm and began using him at shortstop. Eventually he moved him to the outfield. No matter where he played, Roberto was sensational. He became known for his great throws and his long hits to right field. Everyone had their eyes on the young man. Pedr

                       He also participated in the high jump, and the javelin throw in high school. It was thought that he could represent Puerto Rico in the Olympics. Throwing a javelin strengthened his arm. The footwork, release and mechanics of throwing a javelin are in line with the skills needed to throw a baseball properly. We see that in today’s game with Dodgers pitcher, Yoshi Yamamoto, who also throws a javelin in his workouts. The more Roberto threw the javelin, the more accurate and stronger his throws from the outfield became. 

                      He decided to focus on baseball, and he joined a very strong amateur team, the Juncos Mules. In 1952, Roberto attended a tryout camp attended by Dodger scout Al Campanis. Campanis was impressed by the youngsters’ skills. The Dodgers did not sign him right then, but Campanis kept him in mind. Also in 1952, he caught the eye of Pedrin Zorrilla, the owner of the Santurce Crabbers of the Puerto Rican League. The Juncos were playing a game against Manati in Manati where Zorrilla had a house. Marin advised Zorrilla to attend the game. After the game, Zorrilla offered Clemente a contract.

                    He was barely 18 when he joined the Crabbers. As a young and still developing player, he was brought along slowly by the team’s manager, Buzz Clarkson. Clarkson had an outstanding career in the Negro Leagues and had played many winters in the Puerto Rican League. He was past his prime when he finally got a chance to play in the majors. Two other former Negro Leaguers, Willard Brown, and Bob Thurman, both outfielders, were on the Santurce team when Clemente joined in the winter of 52-53. 

                   Roberto looked up to Thurman. He even PH for him once getting a double that won the game. Thurman congratulated him, but he still did not play much that winter. The following year, 53-54, he began to play more. He even made the league’s All-Star game, the star of which was one Henry Aaron who had four hits, two of them homers. By midseason you would see Clemente’s name up there with Aaron as one of the league’s batting leaders. When the season finished, Clemente hit .288, good enough for sixth in the league. 

                   The Dodgers remembered Clemente from Campanis’s report. Buzzie Bavasi, the Dodgers GM, was told by a scout in Puerto Rico that the Dodgers could sign him. Other teams were also after him, including the New York Giants. The Dodgers outbid the Giants and Clemente agreed to sign. The Braves also made an offer, which was reported to be higher than Brooklyn’s. Clemente stuck with his decision and on February 19th, 1954, he signed a contract with the Dodgers. Brooklyn now had to decide what to do with him. He had a reported salary of 5,000 plus a 10,000-dollar bonus. 

                  According to the rules of the time, any player receiving more than 4,000, had to be kept on the major league roster for two years, or the team would risk losing him in the winter draft. Bavasi rolled the dice, and the Dodgers sent Clemente to AAA Montreal for the 1954 season. There has over the years been much discussion about whether or not the Dodgers were trying to hide Clemente by not playing him very much in Montreal. 

                   Bavasi told a reporter in Pittsburgh in 1955 that the only reason the Dodgers’ signed Clemente was to keep him away from the Giants. I think that is pure hogwash. Many have said there was a racial quota in place, as a matter-of-fact Clemente’s biographer, Kal Wagenheim wrote that the Dodgers would never play all five of their black players at the same time. Box scores proved that to be false.

                  Max Macon was Roberto’s manager in Montreal. The team used six different outfielders during the 54 season. Cimoli and Jack Cassini played the most games. Amoros was sent down from Brooklyn for a while playing in 68 games. The others were Clemente, Dick Whitman and Don Thompson. Clemente, just 19 years old, did not see much action the first three months of the season. He ended up playing in 87 games, hitting .257 with 2 homers and 12 driven in. Towards the end of the year, Macon was using him against all LH pitchers. Macon denied he was under orders to hide Clemente, “my only orders were to win games and draw big crowds”. 

                   Through June and July, Roberto went long stretches without getting into a game, but on the 25th of July in a game against the Havana Sugar Kings, he came in during the 9th inning of the first game of a doubleheader. The game was tied and went into the 10th. With one out in the bottom of the 10th, he homered to win the game for the Royals. Macon decided to start him in the second game. It was his first start in nearly three weeks. For the rest of the season, he would start whenever a lefty started. 

                 He had a couple more highlights. Near the end of July, Montreal was playing in Toronto, he doubled in the top of the 9th and scored as the Royals won, 2-0. Then he helped them win another way when they were again in Toronto. Leading the Leafs 8-7, Toronto had a chance to tie the score in the bottom of the 9th, but he threw a runner out at home to preserve the win. By the end of the season it became clear that other teams were going to be interested in Clemente. 

                 Bavasi was not ready to give up. He knew that the Pirates who had the worst record in the majors in 54, would get the first pick in the winter draft. Bavasi knew if he could get the Pirates to choose a different player from Montreal, the Dodgers would be able to keep Clemente since each minor league team could only lose one player. Bavasi went to Branch Rickey, who had run the Dodgers before being bought out and basically forced out by O’Malley. Bavasi had declined to go to the Pirates with Rickey, but Rickey had told him if he ever needed help at any time, just pick up the phone. Bavasi used that offer to get Rickey to agree to take a different player, pitcher, Johnny Rutherford. 

              Two days later, Bavasi learned that Rickey and O’Malley had gotten into a heated argument and Walter had called Rickey every name in the book, so the deal was off, and the Pirates were going to draft Clemente. That argument altered the futures of both teams. On can only imagine how an outfield with Snider, Clemente and Furillo would have performed. When he was drafted by the Pirates, Roberto was playing for the Santurce Cangrejeros and having his best winter season ever. Thurman was on the team with him, but the new addition was Willie Mays, who had just helped the Giants win the World Series. That outfield ranked as one of the best ever in Puerto Rico, by midseason, manager Herman Franks was saying Clemente was the best player in the league except for Willie Mays.

            While he was enjoying success on the ball field, things at home did not go so well. On New Years Eve, his brother Luis died of a brain tumor. Shortly before that, Clemente was in a car accident that damaged some of his spinal discs. The injury hampered him for the rest of his baseball career. Santurce won the Puerto Rican League title and advanced to the Caribbean Series. The series was played in Caracas, Venezuela. Cuba, Venezuela, Puerto Rico and Panama were represented. Santurce won their first two games and then faced Venezuela. The game went into extra innings. In the bottom of the 11th, Clemente singled and Mays homered for the win.

          They beat Cuba in their fourth game, and then Panama to win the championship. It was their second title in three years. Clemente had been on the 1953 squad but did not play. This time he was an important piece of the team. Santurce SS, Don Zimmer, who was voted the MVP, said it might have been the best winter team ever assembled. No long afterwards, Clemente was in spring training with the Pirates hoping to win a spot on the major league roster. Rickey said he could do everything, but that he needed seasoning because he was a rough diamond.

             The Pirates were loaded with outfielders, so the young man was going to have a lot of competition for a job. His cause was aided when Frank Thomas, the Pirates best outfielder, held out for more money. He then got sick and missed even more time. Roberto took advantage and made the team. Fred Haney, the Pirates manager, said he has some tools, and he takes instruction readily. He has some faults, so we will just have to wait and see.

            Clemente’s first start in the majors came against the Dodgers in Pittsburgh on April 17th, 1955. At the time, he was wearing #13. He would later switch to 21. The reason, his full name had 21 letters in it. Roberto came to bat with two-outs in the bottom of the first inning against Dodger lefty, Johnny Podres. He hit a ground ball to Reese at short that he could not handle and Clemente had his first hit. He would then score on a triple by Thomas who then scored on an error by Reese on a grounder by Gordon. Brooklyn would win, 10-3. He also started the second game against Labine and doubled starting the Pirates 2 run rally in the 8th inning, closing the gap to 3-2. Brooklyn still won the game. 

            For Pirates fans, the kid was a breath of fresh air and one of the most exciting players in the league. He ran the bases with abandon. He was not a base stealer he only had 2 all year and was caught 5 times, but he would stretch singles into doubles. But it was his fielding and arm that had fans excited. He made several great catches. He had learned all the angles and caroms that would come off of the right field fence at Forbes. A third of the way though the season, he already had 10 assists. He would finish his rookie season leading the league in assists with 18. He batted .255 with 5 homers and 47 driven in. If the kid had a fault, it was his inability to lay off of bad pitches. 

          In 1956 he began to show what kind of a hitter he would become as a major leaguer. He batted .311/7/60. Quite an improvement for the 21-year-old.  The team had a new manager, Bobby Bragan. In the second game of the season, Roberto missed a bunt sign and Bragan fined him. Bragan also fined Dale Long. It served as a wake-up call for the team and they began fighting for first place. Long had a stretch where he hit homers in 8 straight games. An 8-game losing streak in June dropped them into fifth place, and essentially ended their pennant hopes. Despite that, they avoided last place for the first time since 1951. Clemente hit .311, good enough for 3rd in the league.

       His back was still an issue and bothered him enough to where he only played in 111 games in 57. It also led to rumors that he was not really injured. His BA sunk to .253. In 1958, the Pirates had another new manager, Danny Murtaugh. He would lead the Pirates to a second-place finish behind the Braves.  Clemente lifted his BA to .289 and had 22 assists from right field. Runners were beginning to realize that running on Clemente could cost you. 

         Clemente did not play winter ball that year, he instead fulfilled a six-month commitment to the United States Marine Corps Reserve. He was stationed at Parris Island and then Camp Lejune. The training helped him physically. He gained 10 pounds and said his back was no longer bothering him. He reported to spring training though complaining of a sore elbow. It was made worse when he had to make a diving catch. He played just 105 games and hit .296. The Pirates fell to fourth place. But better things were coming for the Bucs.

          In 1960, the Pirates reversed their bad fortunes over the years and stormed to the National League pennant. They had to fight off the Giants, Braves and Cardinals, but ended up winning by 7 games over the Braves. They faced off with the New York Yankees. Clemente hit .314 with 16 homers, doubling his previous high. He made the All-Star team for the first time. The Yankees pounded Pirate pitching for 44 runs in the first six games, but the series was tied 3-3. 

          Game seven was played in Pittsburgh at Forbes Field. The Yankees came back from an early 4-0 hole to lead the game 7-4 into the bottom of the 8th. The Pirates rallied and took a 9-7 lead into the top of the 9th when Hal Smith hit a 3-run homer. The Yankees scored 2 in the top of the 9th tying the game. Bill Mazeroski then hit a leadoff homer off of Ralph Terry to make the Pirates World Champs for the first time since 1925. Clemente had a hit in each of the seven games.

         After 1960 though, it was back to the second division for the Pirates. In the last year before the league expanded to 10 teams, they finished 6th. It would be 1970 before they would see post season baseball again, and that was after the league split into divisions with the expansion to Montreal and San Diego. Roberto though continued to play at a high level despite where the Pirates might be in the standings. 

        1961:.351/23/89. His first NL batting title, he also won his first gold glove and was an All-Star. 1962: .312/10/74/ AS-GG. As in 61, he played in both All-Star games that year. 1963: .320/17/76 AS-GG. 1964: .339/12/87 NL batting champ, led the league in hits with 211, AS-GG. 1965: .329/10/65 NL batting champ AS-GG. 1966: .317/29/119. NL MVP-AS-GG. 1967: .357/23/110 NL batting champ AS-GG. This would be his last batting championship. He also led the league in hits with 209. 

        1968: 291/18/57. GG. For the first time in eight years, he did not make the All-Star team nor did he get any MVP votes. 1969: .345/19/91 AS-GG. He led the league in triples with 12. Now 34-years old, he was playing in fewer games, and not many of the Pirates games at that point in time were meaningful. 1969 was also the first year of the NL being split into divisions. Pittsburgh was in the NL East and finished 3rd, 12 games back of the Miracle Mets.

         1970: .352/14/60 AS-GG. Pirates finished first in the East then lost the NLCS to the Reds in 3 games. Roberto was 3-14 in the series. 1971: .314/13/86 AS-GG. The Pirates won the east and played the NLCS against the Giants. They won the series 3 games to 1. Clemente was 6-18 with 4 runs driven in. They advanced to the World Series to face the Baltimore Orioles.  They would win the series, 4 games to 3. Clemente was the MVP batting .414 against Oriole pitching with 2 homers and 4 driven in. 1972: .310/12/60 AS-GG. At 37 he only played in 102 games. He got his 3000th career hit on September 30th in his final at bat.

          He went home and managed that winter instead of playing. The Puerto Rican team played in the Caribbean series in Nicaragua and finished 3rd. He went back home and then Managua was hit with a massive earthquake on the 23rd of December. He had gotten to know some of the people there during the series and he wanted to help. He got very busy forming committees to get items such as food and medicine to be sent to Managua. He worked through Christmas and decided that he would go down there with one of the planes.

       On New Years Eve, a little after 9 P.M., the plane took off with five people on board. Almost immediately after taking off the plane had problems, and the pilot tried to return to San Juan airport. It would crash into the Atlantic Ocean about a mile from the coast. All five people on board, including Clemente were killed. The baseball world was shocked as were many fans. His body was never recovered. There were several reasons cited for the crash. Poor maintenance, inadequate crew, overloading, and engine failure.

        The five-year waiting period for Hall of Fame induction was waived. He was inducted into the Hall in 1973, the first Latin-American player so honored. An award that had been established in 1971 to reward on and off the field accomplishments was renamed the Clemente award. The same award Mookie Betts was nominated for this season. Clemente finished with a .317/240/1305 line. He had a career WAR of 95.0. The only Pirate with a higher career WAR is Honus Wagner. He finished with exactly 3000 hits and a career OPS of .834. He did not walk much, striking out twice as many times as he walked. 

      Roberto’s career was not all roses and wine; he had his moments. He stood up for his fellow Latin players, often speaking out on injustices he saw. He approached those times with the same kind of passion with which he played the game, sometimes with anger, which drove him on and off the field. Much of the anger was justified. Much of this was racial, just as with the black players of the times. Latins were often accused of being lazy or faking an injury if they missed a game or two being ill or injured. Roberto knew of this personally as he was often accused of it. 

      But the bottom line is that he was an extremely talented baseball player. Had he played for the Dodgers or Yankees, he may well have reached a much higher profile than he did. He was not a big power guy like May or Aaron, his contemporary’s, but he had a cannon for an arm that raked up 269 assists during his career. He was a humanitarian and before his death he was hoping to open a baseball academy in Puerto Rico for the youth of that country. He is still revered by his countrymen to this day. Many have called for his #21 to be retired across the league like Jackie’s #42. I think this would be a fitting tribute to the first and one of the biggest Latin stars.