[4yearlurker]

My wife and brother in law grew up just south of Pittsburgh. My BIL told me his dad took him to a game in old Forbes Field and saw Clemente catch a ball in the outfield and then throw a runner out at home plate.

[sneakers]

I still remember where I was when I heard Clemente died.

Hard to believe it’s been so long.

RIP Roberto.

[stylin19a]

What Roberto Clemente’s Death Still Says To Us 45 Years Later

get a better plane ?

Semper Fi, Roberto.

[WriteRight]

Actually, that was Roberto's final regular season at bat. The final hit of his career came in Game 5 of the 1972 NL playoff at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati, a game won by the Reds when George Foster scored on a wild pitch by Pirate pitcher Bob Moose.

[Buckeye McFrog]

With the felonious misbehavior by players that fills the sports page today, it is good to reflect on at least one superstar who died doing a totally selfless act.

[Varda]

Clemente was my favorite player. What a fabulous dominating performance in the 1971 World Series. As a kid I was perplexed by how common it was for people in western PA to bad-mouth him. After he died trying to help others, I rarely heard the negativity again. The area basically canonized him.

[VietVet876]

I grew up in the sticks west of Philly and played organized baseball from age 8 to age 20. I was a Phillies fan and saw Clemente play several times at Connie Mack Stadium when the Pirates were in town. Roberto was my hitting hero since he liked to tee off on high outside pitches. For some reason, those were the only pitches I could really drive and every time I came up to bat by the time I played varsity in high school and American Legion, I would visualize him hitting before I stepped into the box.

[OrangeHoof]

What it tells me is that a man with everything to live for risked his life to bring aid to fellow latinos who were suffering and paid the ultimate price for it. Take nothing away from his baseball career but baseball wasn’t what this was all about.

The greatness of Roberto Clemente was that he sacrificed himself for total strangers in need and it cost him his life. There are soldiers among us who made the same sacrifice and there are aid workers and missionaries whose belief in a cause was greater than themselves.

Those should be our true heroes whom are mostly 180-degrees out of place in our pop culture society.

[Lisbon1940]

He was called Bob Clemente by Topps.

[Eric Pode of Croydon]

As a kid going to Wrigley Field, there were two opposing players I always wanted to see when they came to town.

Clemente, to see the outfield played as if by a super hero.

Bob Gibson, to see the best combination of arm and attitude ever. Terrifying.

[Buckeye Battle Cry]

I will NEVER forget that New Years Day. We were watching the news reports of his passing when an Army officer and Chaplin knocked on our door and told my parents that my sister had been murdered on the Army base in Wiesbaden West Germany.

Sixteen weeks later my father was killed by a drunk driver.

Then the Reds lost to the Mets in the playoffs.

1973 sucked for me.

[mjp]

He can be spoken of in the same breath as Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays and had the pedigree and championships to back it up.

Total Baseball says not even close. sheesh

[Some Fat Guy in L.A.]

My favorite all-time player. If he had played in a big media market, he would be considered one of the all-time greatest. If he had played most of his career someplace other than Forbes Field he would have a lot more career homers.

I can still picture him, twitching in the far back of the batter’s box like he’s about to fall apart, then roping a low outside pitch into the gap. Also sliding into a catch in right field, popping up and firing a laser to home.