Comments on: There is hope.

By: Ex-Pat Pittsburgh Girl

Ex-Pat Pittsburgh Girl — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 16:57:44 +0000

@bucdaddy — I believe your depiction is pretty accurate. Clemente was a very proud individual. He would usually comment in Spanish in interview (directed to his parents, family and countrymen in Puerto Rico) and felt he did not get the recognition he deserved. This is reflected in many articles and books about him. One instance came about when Dick Groat was named baseball’s MVP in 1960. Clemente felt he should have won the award that season. I think he did win it the next year.

It is important to remember that the era in which he broke into the league was oftentimes even less welcoming to those who were black and hispanic it was to blacks. Context is very important.

My Grandparents were friends with the Clementes and to this day, my 91 year old Grandmother still speaks about how strikingly handsome she found Roberto to be. In many of the photos I’ve seen with the four of them, her school girl crush seems to shine through the picture.

By: bucdaddy

bucdaddy — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 15:04:13 +0000

Classy, sure, but humble? I dunno. He had the arrogance of royalty, and I do not mean that in a bad way. I mean he was intensely proud of himself and his heritage.

Everybody claims they always loved Roberto now, but IIRC his pride came through to some white folks of the time as uppityness*, cause believe it or not, it wasn’t all sweetness and light and hippiehappiness in the ’60s, for those of you who weren’t there.

Roberto had the reputation of being somewhat a hypochondriac (look it up, he missed a lot of games with various injuries), and there was one incident when he bunted in the ninth inning of a game the Pirates trailed and later said, “I no feel like a home run,” which helped to get him labeled by some critics as being, amazingly, if you ever saw him play, lazy. Because, amazingly, there was a time when many white people thought most black people were.

I certainly don’t side with those people, I’m just saying I think there’s a little bit of selective memory involved when people get all “everybody loved Roberto” misty-eyed.

*–Or maybe that was just my coal miner grandfather talking.

By: cmd_45

cmd_45 — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 12:26:57 +0000

Roberto was my dad’s childhood hero. I actually thought the song was a great touch. It really brought home how much Roberto was to his family, to Pittsburgh and to his home. All that and still a classy, humble gentleman. Hope he is resting in peace.

By: bucdaddy

bucdaddy — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 02:59:15 +0000

That was a terrible weekend all around. First, my aunt drove me to another aunt and uncle’s home in Cleveland to watch the Stillers play the Dolphins in the playoffs. (Because games were blacked out on local TV in those days. And IIRC, this was a week after the Immaculate Reception, no?) Larry Seiple faked a punt and ran about 286 yards with it to seal the Steelers’ defeat. Then on the drive home the next day, the news on the radio about Clemente. That was a pretty sucky time for my 14-year-old self.

Talk about your wild weeks in sports.

By: KGC

KGC — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 21:51:52 +0000

No one can ever compare to Roberto Clemente. Never Ever. What an arm. What a special person.

I grew up in WV in the 60′s listening to Pirates games on a small transistor radio. Clemente was my hero. Only got to see him play once, a doubleheader against the Dodgers at Forbes Field, since it wasn’t easy to get to Pittsburgh those days.

I will say I had the distinct pleasure of meeting Roberto, Jr. and Luis, his two sons, when they were in Pittsburgh one summer (early 80′s). They came over to Chatham Park Apartments (now Carriage Park) and played basketball with us on many occasions. Class individuals.. just like their Father was.