Hispanic Heritage Month 2020: Roberto Clemente

Photo Source: Biography.com

 

Roberto Clemente played with the Brooklyn Dodgers’ minor league team before making his major league debut with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1955. He led the National League in batting four times during the 1960s and starred in the 1971 World Series. He died in a plane crash to deliver goods to Nicaragua in 1972.

Roberto Enrique Clemente Walker was born on August 18, 1934, in Carolina, Puerto Rico. The son of a sugarcane worker, Clemente began his professional baseball career just after finishing high school. He signed a deal with the Brooklyn Dodgers and played with their minor league team, the Montreal Royals, for a season. The next year he went to play for the Pittsburgh Pirates and made his major league debut in 1955.

Off the field, Clemente was described as a quiet gentleman. He was proud of his Puerto Rican heritage and stood up for minority rights. Clemente married Vera Zabala in 1963, and they had three sons. Renowned for his humanitarian work, he died in a plane crash on December 31, 1972, en route to bringing much-needed supplies to survivors of an earthquake in Nicaragua. The next year he was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. He became the first Latino inducted into the Hall.

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Source: Biography.com