Autobiography

//The Life of Roberto Clemente// August 18, 1934 marks the day I was brought into this world. I was born to Luisa Walker and Melchor Clemente in a small rural hospital in Carolina, Puerto Rico. I am the youngest in my family with six older siblings. My father was a dedicated, hardworking man who worked as a sugar crop foreman to support my family while my mother stayed home to raise us all. Whenever I was old enough, my father sent me out into the fields to start working and to help contribute to our family, earning a dollar a day. Throughout my younger years I had a passion for all sports, but especially for baseball and track. I was a stellar athlete at the javelin; however, baseball was my favorite sport and I devoted all of my free time to perfecting the game I loved. I got my first real taste of professional baseball when I was offered a $5,000 contract from the Santurce Crabbers, a team in the Puerto Rican professional baseball league. I continued my career with this team until the Brooklyn Dodgers acquired me in 1953. I was sent to their top minor-league team, the Montreal Royals. However, since I was being paid what a major league ball player was earning, regulations stated I must be on a major league roster. The Dodgers did not act quickly enough and that is when the Pittsburgh Pirates acquired me. I made my first Major League Baseball start for the Pirates on April 17th, 1955. During the winter in the offseason I would return home to Puerto Rico to play baseball and to help support my family. 1960 was my most memorable year in baseball; I made the National League All-Star team and the Pirates also went on to win the World Series, knocking off perennial power, the New York Yankees. In 1963 I met the girl of my dreams, Vera Zabula, at a local drugstore. I remember telling her on our first “real” date that I was going to marry her, and that’s how things ended up. Vera and I exchanged vowels on November 14, 1964. We had three sons together: Roberto Jr., Luis Roberto, and Enrique Roberto. The Pirates continued to have success during the 1960’s and I managed to win a total of 12 Gold Gloves for my excellent play. We ended up going on to win the World Series again in 1971 beating the heavily favored Baltimore Orioles. During this series against the Orioles I managed to hit .414 and hit a home run in the seventh game to wrap up the win. I went on to be named the Most Valuable Player of the 1971 World Series. In 1972 I got injured early in the season, but still managed to have a successful year. On September 30, 1972 I hit a double against the New York Mets to record my 3,000th hit. That night I became the first Latin baseball player to reach that milestone.


 * On December 23, 1972 a devastating earthquake hit Managua, Nicaragua. Clemente organized a relief fun to donate items to victims of the earthquake. Then on December 31, 1972 Clemente decided to fly on the charted flight to distribute items to quake survivors, however, his plane crashed into the Atlantic ocean shortly after take-off killing all five members aboard.

Click below to hear a story about Roberto Clemete's baseball career:

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