I would like to study Roberto Clemente because he is a baseball player like me. We both came from Puerto Rico. He was the first Hispanic player to reach 3,080 hits, including 240 home runs. He was proud of his Puerto Rican heritage and he stood up for minority rights. 

If you want more information about Roberto Clemente, visit THIS WEBSITE 

Listen to An Interview with Roberto Clemente 

Roberto Clemente

 http://www.puertorico-herald.org/images/2003/01-clemente.jpg

What American is famous because he had 242 homeruns, 3,000 hits, won 12 gold gloves, and was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame? If you said Roberto Clemente, you are right.

Roberto Clemente was born in 1934 in Barrio San Anton, Carolina, Puerto Rico. His parents were Luisa and Melchor Clemente. They both worked at a sugarcane plantation. Roberto said he never heard his parents say angry words to each other. When Roberto was 14 years old in Puerto Rico, he played for a team called Juncos.  His dream and inspiration was baseball. He loved baseball so much he played for hours in a muddy field with trees on it. Once, his mom threw his bat in the fire.  Later, she recognized that he was a good boy and she supported his interest in baseball.  His family didn’t have enough money to buy bats for Roberto. He went to a high school called Vizcarondo.  He was a good student, but he was more interested in baseball than school. He spent a lot of time helping his family. He delivered milk and did other odd jobs. Roberto ALWAYS listened to the radio when he wasn’t playing baseball.          

     In 1954 he played for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Clemente remembered how difficult and lonely it was in his new country. In the field he experienced prejudice. In 1960, the Pirates won the World Series against the New York Yankees.  In 1963 Roberto was glad that he went back to the winter leagues.  In 1972 Roberto died in an airplane crash on December 1^st while bringing goods to people from an earthquake.  Today, a statue of Roberto Clemente still stands in the Pittsburg Pirates Stadium. Roberto Clemente married a woman called Vera Zabala. Roberto and Zabala had a Chaperone in their first date.

Roberto Clemente

 http://www.puertorico-herald.org/images/2003/01-clemente.jpg

Frachino, Vicky Roberto Clemente, Ann Arbor, Michigan: Cherry Lake Publishing, 2008.

“Roberto Clemente Biography