By Evan Jurkovic

 Was born in Carolina, Puerto Rico  The youngest of seven siblings  Had to work to earn money by delivering milk  Took interest in baseball early on and often played  Was recruited by Roberto Marin to play with the Sello Room team, a Puerto Rican team

 Offered a contract with the Santurce Crabbers  Was on starting lineup his second season  Moved to Montreal to play for The Montreal Royals  During playing for The Royals a scout for the Pirates saw him on the bench and discussed drafting him

 Started with the Pirates, April 17, 1955  Did not have the best experience at first because of his race  Was in a car accident that injured his lower back, this caused him to miss several games

 Was against the New York Yankees  The series went into 7 games  Roberto batted a.314  The Pirates won the world series  He felt he carried the team  Dick Groat won MVP

 Clemente served for the Marines  The training made him stronger and fixed his back problems  He led the league in RBI’s and batting average  In August he was inactive for 5 games due to a chin injury and had persistence pain in his back and arm  In 1961, he got his 1,000 hit

 Met his future wife in a drugstore  Wife: Vera Zabala  Had 3 children, all boys: Enrique, Roberto,Jr., Luis

 December 1972, a major earthquake hits Nicaragua  Roberto attempts to aid the survivors  Hired an old prop driven airplane for transportation of supplies  December 31, 1972 the airplane crashed into the sea, his body was never recovered  “Roberto died serving his fellow man. Our youth lose an idol. Our people lose one of they’re glories.”- Rafael Hernandez Colon, Governor of Puerto Rico

 12× All-Star selection (1960, 1961, 1962, 1963,1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972)  2× World Series champion (1960, 1971)  12× Gold Gloves Award winner (1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972)  1966 National League MVP  1971 World Series MVP  1971 Babe Ruth Award  Pittsburgh Pirates #21retired