the Clementes were consumed: Ints. Vera Clemente, Osvaldo Gil; Air Accident File, Delgado-Cintron deposition. U.S. District Court trial testimony, Vera Zabala de Clemente, November 1975.
The Clementes were met at the dock: Int. Vera Clemente; San Juan Star, December 30, 1972.
Roberto placed a call: Ints. Carolyn Rauch, Carol Brezovec (Bass), Vera Clemente.
Back at the airport: NTSB Air Accident File, Delgado-Cintron, Matias depositions.
15: DECEMBER 31
Vera Clemente stood in the kitchen: Int. Vera Clemente; lyrics of song by Trio Vegabajeño.
Jerry Hill, the pilot Arthur River recruited: Transcript of crash trial, testimony Delgado-Cintron, Matias, Vera Clemente; NTSB Air Accident File depositions.
The aircraft was already full: cargo manifest filed with FAA, San Juan, NTSB Air Accident File, Pangia archive.
Clemente was at home: Ints. Vera Clemente, Cristobal Colón; testimony, transcript, Vera Clemente, United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico, civil numbers 778–73, 779–73, 999–73, 1000–73, 1096–73.
At 5:30 P.M., according to FAA records: Air Accident File, History of Flight; Pangia Memo, Pangia archive; transcript, George E. Mattern testimony, U.S. District Court.
Clemente handed him: NTSB, Statement of Interview with Rafael Delgado-Cintron. The mechanic was likely the last person outside the plane to see Clemente alive. “The stairs were already on the way [out] but he put it back and said good-bye to everybody and . . . Mr. Clemente asked for a favor to call his wife and gave me the telephone [number]. Did you see where he was seated? Yes, he was seated on the bunk forward of the cargo.”
“San Juan tower, Douglas”: NTSB Air Accident File, Transcript of Air Traffic Control, December 31, 1972.
The plane didn’t seem: NTSB Air Accident File, Statement of Witness—Juan Reyes, Gilberto Quiles, Antonio Ríos, Rafael Delgado-Cintron, Dennis A. McHale, Gary Cleaveland.
The Rauches were delighted: Ints. Carolyn Rauch, Carol Brezovec (Bass), Vera Clemente.
Matino woke his father: Int. Matino Clemente, Carolyn Rauch, Carol Brezovec (Bass), Vera Clemente; testimony transcript, George E. Mattern, United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico, civil numbers 778–73, 779–73, 999–73, 1000–73, 1096–73.
“It was quiet and sad”: Reaction to news of the crash drawn from Ints. Orlando Cepeda, Osvaldo Gil, Cristobal Colón, Juan Pizarro, Enrique Zorrilla, Diana Zorrilla, Eduardo Valero, Luis Olmo, Vic Power, Chuck Goggin, Steve Blass, Joe L. Brown, José Pagán, Ann Ranalli, Richard Santry, Nancy Golding, Bev Couric, Vera Clemente, Luis Clemente.
16: OUT OF THE SEA
a sequence of twenty telephone calls: Facility Accident Notification Record, January 1, 1973, Aircraft Ident N500AENTSB Air Accident File; Department of Transportation, U.S. Coast Guard Telecommunications Center, Sitrep 1, January 1, 1973.
“That night on which Roberto Clemente”: Elliott Castro, Home: A Celebration of Roberto Clemente’s Spirit and Passion, Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico.
Vera wavered between: Ints. Vera Clemente, Osvaldo Gil, Carolyn Rauch.
The effort that day was slowed: U.S. Coast Guard sitrep, January 1–2, 1973; AP, January 1, 1973; San Juan Star, El Nuevo Día, January 1–3, 1973; Ints. John Parker, Vincent Bogucki, Fernando González, Vera Clemente.
It was not mythmaking: Newsday, AP, Pittsburgh Press, Chicago Tribune, New York Post, January 3–4, 1973.
President Nixon mentioned: Account of the White House and Roberto Clemente drawn from President Nixon’s Daily Diary, Nixon Presidential Papers, NARA, Statement About the Death of Roberto Clemente; Memorandum for the President from: Richard A. Moore, January 3, 1973; Memorandum for H. R. Haldeman from Richard A. Moore, January 3, 1973; Richard Reeves, President Nixon: Alone at the White House.
By that hour in the choppy Atlantic: Instituto de Medicina Legal, Centro Medico Hospital, Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico, Autopsy No. 31-ML-73.
Early the next morning: Ints. Richie Hebner, Al Oliver, Preston Pearson, Les Banos, Steve Blass, Vera Clemente, Ramiro Martínez, Eduardo Valero, Fernando González; transcript of press conference drawn from Ramiro Martínez tape collection.
By the end of that weekend: U.S. Coast Guard Telecommunications Center, Sitreps 5–6; NTSB Air Accident File; ints. Osvaldo Gil, Vic Power, Vera Clemente.
Lifetime Record of Roberto Clemente
YR.
CLUB
CLASS
G
AB
H
1954
Montreal
AAA
87
148
38
1955
Pittsburgh
NL
124
474
121
1956
Pittsburgh
NL
147
543
169
1957
Pittsburgh
NL
111
451
114
1958
Pittsburgh
NL
140
519
150
1959
Pittsburgh
NL
105
432
128
1960
Pittsburgh
NL
144
570
179
1961
Pittsburgh
NL
146
572
201
1962
Pittsburgh
NL
144
538
168
1963
Pittsburgh
NL
152
600
192
1964
Pittsburgh
NL
155
622
211
1965
NL
152
589
194
1966
Pittsburgh
NL
154
638
202
1967
Pittsburgh
NL
147
585
209
1968
Pittsburgh
NL
132
502
146
1969
Pittsburgh
NL
138
507
175
1970
Pittsburgh
NL
108
412
145
1971
Pittsburgh
NL
132
522
178
1972
Pittsburgh
NL
102
378
118
18 YRS
ML. TOTALS
2433
9454
3000
YR.
CLUB
2B
3B
HR
RBI
AVG.
1954
Montreal
5
3
2
12
.257
1955
Pittsburgh
23
11
5
47
.255
1956
Pittsburgh
30
7
7
60
.311
1957
Pittsburgh
17
7
4
30
.253
1958
Pittsburgh
24
10
6
50
.289
1959
Pittsburgh
&n
bsp; 17
7
4
50
.296
1960
Pittsburgh
22
6
16
94
.314
1961
Pittsburgh
30
10
23
89
.351
1962
Pittsburgh
28
9
10
74
.312
1963
Pittsburgh
23
8
17
76
.320
1964
Pittsburgh
40
7
12
87
.339
1965
Pittsburgh
21
14
10
65
.329
1966
Pittsburgh
31
11
29
119
.317
1967
Pittsburgh
26
10
23
110
.357
1968
Pittsburgh
18
12
18
57
.291
1969
Pittsburgh
20
12
19
91
.345
1970
Pittsburgh
22
10
14
60
.352
1971
Pittsburgh
29
8
13
86
.341
1972
Pittsburgh
19
7
10
60
.312
18 YRS
ML. TOTALS
440
166
240
1305
.317
National League Batting Champion: 1961, 1964, 1965, 1967
Puerto Rico Winter League Batting Champion: 1956–57, .396
National League MVP: 1966
World Series MVP: 1971
National League Outfield Assist Leader: 1958 (22); 1960 (19); 1961 (27); 1966 (17); 1967 (17)
National League All-Star: 1960–67, 1969–71
Gold Glove: 1961–72
Selected Bibliography
The sourcebook I turned to more than any other was an old battered green copy of The Baseball Encyclopedia: The Complete and Official Record of Major League Baseball, published by Macmillan and edited by David Biesel, Audra Chastain, Lawrence S. Graver, Jane Herman, Fred Honig, Casey-Kwang-Chong Lee, Fred C. Richardson, and Eleanor Widdoes, with Joseph L. Reichler as the special editorial consultant. This encyclopedia was my primary source of statistics for every major league ballplayer ranging from Roberto Clemente to Mose J. (Chief) Yellowhorse. It has been revised many times since, but I used the 1976 edition, which was sufficient for all the players in Clemente’s life. Every time I reached for this heavy book it was with anticipation and a certain measure of delight, although it hurt like crazy when it fell on my foot.
It was Clemente’s nature to honor those who paved the way before him, and in that spirit I would like to make special mention of Bruce Markesun, a true baseball man, for his earlier book, Roberto Clemente: The Great One, and to Kal Wagenheim, whose love and deep knowledge of Puerto Rico and baseball shines through in his many books about the island and in his Clemente! I also benefited from the Clemente works of Phil Musick, Bill Christine, and Jim O’Brien. The most beautiful and in many ways most penetrating publication on Clemente is Home: A Celebration of Roberto Clemente’s Spirit and Passion, which accompanied an extraordinary exhibit at the Puerto Rico Museum of Art.
Information posted on the Internet must be considered with caution, but over the course of my research I found there were three absolutely reliable and first-rate sources only a click away. The Baseball Almanac (base-ball-almanac.com) is a bountiful source of accurate schedules and box scores. The Baseball Library (baseballLibrary.com) supplies accurate mini-biographies and day-by-day chronologies. In addition, the famed Society for American Baseball Research, home to the sport’s insatiable band of intellectuals, has graciously made more and more of its reports available on the Web.
BOOKS
Baldassaro, Lawrence, The American Game, Carbondale, Ill.: Southern Illinois University Press, 2002.
Barretto, Nestor and Jorge Carbonell, Home: A Celebration of Roberto Clemente’s Spirit and Passion, San Juan: Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, 2002.
Brosnan, Jim, The Long Season, New York: Harper & Row, 1960.
Carrion, Arturo Morales, Puerto Rico: A Political and Cultural History, New York: Norton, 1983.
Chamorro, Pedro, Richter 7, Managua, Nicaragua: Ediciones El Pez y la Serpenta, 1981.
Christine, Bill, Roberto! Pittsburgh: Stadia Sports Publishing, 1973.
Cope, Myron, Broken Cigars, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1968.
———, Double Yoi!, Pittsburgh: Sports Publishing LLC, 2002.
Cruz Baez, Angel David, Atlas Puerto Rico, Miami: Cuban American National Council, 1997.
Einstein, Charles, Willie’s Time, New York: Lippincott, 1979.
Gonzalez Echevarria, Roberto, The Pride of Havana, New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.
Halberstam, David, October 1964, New York: Villard Books, 1994.
Kerrane, Kevin, Dollar Sign on the Muscle, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1984.
Lorant, Stefan, Pittsburgh: The Story of an American City, Derrydale Press, 1999.
Mann, Arthur, Branch Rickey: American in Action, New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1957.
Markesun, Bruce, Roberto Clemente: The Great One, Pittsburgh: Sports Publishing LLC, 2001.
Marsh, Irving T., Best Sports Stories of 1961, New York: Dutton, 1961.
Morales Carrion, Arturo, Puerto Rico: A Political and Cultural History, New York: Norton, 1983.
Musick, Phil, Reflections on Roberto, Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh Associates, 1994.
———, Who Was Roberto? Garden City, N.Y.: Associated Features, 1974.
O’Brien, Jim, Remember Roberto, Pittsburgh: James O’Brien Publishing, 1994.
Pittsburgh Pirates 1956, New York: Big League Books, 1956.
Pittsburgh Pirates 1957, New York: Big League Books, 1957.
Pittsburgh Pirates 1958, New York: Big League Books, 1958.
Pittsburgh Pirates 1959, New York: Big League Books, 1959.
Rickey, Branch, and John J. Monteleone, Branch Rickey’s Little Blue Book, New York: Macmillan, 1995.
Robinson, Jackie, I Never Had It Made, New York: Putnam, 1972.
Rodriguez-Mayoral, Luis, Aun Eschucha Las Ovaciones, Carolina, P.R.: Ciudad Deportiva, 1987.
Shribman, David, Sports Town, Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 2004.
Speiser, Stuart M., Lawsuit, New York: Horizon Press, 1980.
Thomas, Clarke M., Front-Page Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2005.
Van Hyning, Thomas E., The Santurce Crabbers, Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Company, 1999.
Wagenheim, Kal, Clemente! New York: Praeger, 1973.
———, Puerto Rico: A Profile, New York: Praeger, 1970.
Wendel, Tim, The New Face of Baseball, New York: HarperCollins, 2003.
MAGAZINE ARTICLES
Caceres, M. I., The Unforgettable Roberto Clemente, Reader’s Digest, July 1973, 113–117.
Cohn, Howard, Roberto Clemente’s Problem, Sport, May 1962, 54–56.
Cope, Myron, Aches and Pains and Three Batting Titles, Sports Illustrated, March 7, 1966, 76–80.
Feldman, Jay, Clemente Went to Bat for All Latino Players, Smithsonian, September 1993, 128–136.
Mazeroski, Bill, My 16 Years with Roberto Clemente, Sport, November 1971, 60–63.
Milagros González, Lydia, Este Silencio, San Juan: Instituto Cultura Puertorriqueña, 1998.
Sanguillen, Manny, Manny Sanguillen Remembers Roberto Clemente, Baseball Digest, May 1973, 40–42.
Ways, C. R., Nobody Does Anything Better than Me in Baseball, Says Roberto Clemente, New York Times Magazine, April 9, 1972, 38–48.
Steve Wulf, Arriba Roberto, Sports Illustrated, December 29, 1992, 114–128.
Index
Aaron, Henry, 2, 79, 92, 97, 100, 139, 155, 207, 226, 236, 258, 278
Abrams, Al, 67, 69, 70, 118, 156–57, 159, 178, 179, 191–93
Achenbach, Hart, 303
Adcock, Joe, 92, 100
All-Star games, 107, 155–57, 177–79, 227, 236–37, 242, 258, 276–77, 346
Allen, Mel, 134
Allen, Richie, 217, 230
Alley, Gene, 209, 226
Alomar, Sandy, 184
Alou, Felipe, 77, 100, 184
Alou, Jesus, 77, 184
Alou, Matty, 77, 172, 184, 206, 209, 226, 238
Alston, Walter, 42, 44, 177
Altman, George, 155
Alvis, Max, 228, 232
American League, 33, 36, 56, 96, 97, 105, 111, 145, 153–55, 157, 160, 177–78, 229, 242
Amor, Vicente, 57
Amoros, Sandy, 38, 42–43, 45–48, 50–51, 363n
Angell, Roger, 264
Anson, Cap, 278
Aparicio, Luis, 177
Aponte Martínez, Archbishop Luis, 349
Arroyo, Luis, 118, 122, 143, 160, 161, 361n
Ashburn, Richie, 106
Atlanta Braves, 229, 236, 237, 305
Avilés, Libertario, 195
Ayala, José, 332
Baker, Gene, 96–97, 116, 136, 147, 252, 367n
Baltimore Orioles, 210, 228, 229, 233, 241–51, 253–63
Banks, Ernie, 79, 97, 140, 226
Banos, Les, 214, 216, 221, 305, 350
Barretto, Nestor, 353
Bartirome, Tony, 64, 176, 213–16, 223, 236, 240, 250, 259–60, 350, 373n
Baseball Writers’ Association of America, 79, 342–43
Bavasi, Buzzie, 37, 44, 51
Belanger, Mark, 245, 260, 262
Belcore, Ralph, 109
Beltran, Carlos, 354
Benack, Benny, 93, 102, 109, 125
Bench, Johnny, 284