My own hero was Roberto Clemente. A great baseball player able to throw a runner out at home from deep right field. Golden gloves, golden arm, golden bat, golden heart. His race? Gold! Died in a plane crash flying relief aid to Nicarauquan earthquake victims.
But one reason I've always liked him, a secret reason til now -- your insight gave me to realise what had been there in my own thoughts for a long time -- is because a lot of sportswriters down-talked him. Because he always complained about his joint pain and soreness. They labeled him a complainer.
The sports writers felt there was no way he could be having those pains and aches, given his athletic greatness. So to some degree during his career, during his lfetime, Clemente's legend never got that big. It was blocked for his being labeled a whiner.
The circumstance of his death initiated a closer re-examination of Clemente's record and life. His personal greatness -- a man of gold! -- shown through.
I think the primary reasons Clemente did not get the props due him until after his death were two-fold. He had a heavy accent which made him a poor interview subject on tv/radio. I saw first-hand the same experience with Jose Cruz, another great player (though not as great as Clemente) whose English was difficult to understand. If the media can't use you, they aren't going to sing your praises. The second thing holding back Clemente was that he played in Pittsburgh, not New York or Los Angeles. Had Clemente played for New York and Willie Mays played for the Pirates, you'd have seen Clemente lauded the way Mays was.
Your whole post is almost perfect.
I'm 57 and have lived in Pittsburgh 52 of those years. I have been a Pirate fan for 50+ years. I played some professional ball too, so here goes.
Clemente did have continual problems with his back and neck. But, many of his early problems with the media were caused by his inablity to speak English. Much of what he was trying to say was misunderstood, and there were alot of bad feelings back and forth between him, management (Murtaugh was particularly harsh to him), and the media folks. When the local writers got on him for his supposed "malingering" they were very wrong, but he couldn't communicate it, and it hurt him terribly. At times he got defensive and went into a shell. It was very tough for him in a country where we could hardly communicate.
His lack of recognition early in his career was also largely because he was playing in a small market city, and because the Pirates (The Rickey Dinks) stunk when he came up. Willie Mays was the fans choice at that time, and back then the treatment was different toward an American black versus a fellow from the Islands.
Another thing. His bad back inadvertently made him a greater hitter. Because of the back problems, he lost some power, his ability to pull the ball with power, so therefore he started to wait, and hit the ball "the other way", to the opposite field. When a hitter waits longer, they usually become a much better percentage hitter. I'd go see him alot as a young kid, and it was his calling card to hit bullets through the right side of the infield and shots up the right-center gap. So the injuries helped him in a way, but I'm sure, given a choice, he would rather have not had the problem.
Roberto Clemente was an elegant baseball player and a more elegant man. You are so right to honor him. He was a real hero.
p.s. I used to see him walking in Oakland (where Forbes Field was in Pittsburgh) from time to time at night after the games. He often could not sleep because of the pain, so he'd take a walk. He was always very nice, but a little shy. He was a beautiful, beautiful MAN.
That New Year's morning when I awoke, turned on the radio and found out he had been killed ......... was the worst.