Clemente: The Passion And Grace Of Baseball's Last Hero Part 12

David Maraniss is an a.s.sociate editor at the Was.h.i.+ngton Post and the author of the critically acclaimed and bestselling books They Marched into Sunlight, When Pride Still Mattered, and First in His Cla.s.s. He won the 1993 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting and has been a Pulitzer finalist three other times. He lives in Was.h.i.+ngton, D.C., and Madison, Wisconsin, with his wife, Linda. They have two grown children.

Also by David Maraniss They Marched Into Sunlight: War and Peace, Vietnam and America, October 1967 When Pride Still Mattered: A Life of Vince Lombardi First in His Cla.s.s: A Biography of Bill Clinton The Clinton Enigma The Prince of Tennessee: Al Gore Meets His Fate (with Ellen Nakas.h.i.+ma) "Tell Newt to Shut Up!" (with Michael Weisskopf) We hope you enjoyed reading this Simon & Schuster eBook.

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Notes.

The Library of Congress might seem an unlikely place to conduct research for a book on a baseball player, but it was invaluable in the hunt for information on Roberto Clemente. Using its occasionally cranky microfilm machines but incomparable collection of newspapers, I was able to pore over old copies of a geographically and sociologically diverse group of papers that covered Clemente at various times, including the San Juan Star, Montreal Gazette, New York Times, New York Herald Tribune, San Francisco Chronicle, Milwaukee Journal, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph, and Pittsburgh Courier, the influential black weekly that opened up a fascinating new world to me by writing about Clemente and major league baseball from a detailed and uniquely black perspective. In addition, the papers of Branch Rickey Jr. are archived at the Ma.n.u.script Division of the Library of Congress. The historic patina of those papers comes from Rickey's key role in integrating baseball by bringing Jackie Robinson to the Brooklyn Dodgers, but he moved on to the Pittsburgh Pirates after that and ran the club when Clemente arrived as a rookie in 1955. Rickey was a meticulous note keeper, and his papers and records were of enormous help in providing the feel of baseball, the Pirates, and Clemente during that era.

Other important research sources included the National Baseball Hall of Fame, which maintains file cabinets of clippings, photographs, and archival material on Clemente; the National Archives at College Park, which houses the presidential papers of Richard Nixon and other materials related to the Nicaraguan earthquake that led Clemente to his death; the Harvey S. Firestone Memorial Library at Princeton University, for its collection of African American newspapers; the Carimar Design and Research studio in Old San Juan, for its special archive on the art and mythology of Clemente; Darby Dan farm in Columbus, Ohio, for the personal archives of former Pirates owner John W. Galbreath and his son, former team president Dan Galbreath; public libraries in Pittsburgh, Managua, and Fort Myers; the newsroom morgues at San Juan's El Nuevo Da, the Was.h.i.+ngton Post, Chicago Tribune, and New York Daily News; and the personal collections of Ramiro Martnez, the family of Pedrin Zorrilla, Duane Rieder, Caguitas Coln, Les Banos, Roy McHugh, and most of all, the home files and memorabilia of Clemente's widow, Vera.

Tracking down records related to the fatal plane crash at times seemed like a futile effort-only the sparest doc.u.ments were available at the Federal Aviation Administration and in the dockets of various courts that heard the ensuing lawsuit. Then, one day in March 2004, I visited the office of aviation lawyer Michael Pangia, who had worked for the U.S. Department of Justice in the 1970s and represented the government in the case. After talking with Pangia for several hours, he took me downstairs to a closet and hauled out two large boxes marked "Clemente"-and inside were copies of all the depositions and transcripts from the trial as well as the internal reports from the FAA and National Transportation Safety Board. Gold mine, as reporters like to say.

Along with the doc.u.mentary record, scores of individuals were interviewed for this book. They include: Vera Clemente, Roberto Clemente Jr., Luis Clemente, Matino Clemente, Osvaldo Gil, Caguitas Coln, Vic Power (Victor Pellot), Juan Pizarro, Luis Olmo, Enrique Zorrilla, Diana Zorrilla, Rosa Semprit, Fernando Gonzlez, Orlando Cepeda, Tony Taylor, Eduardo Valero, Ramiro Martnez, Roy McHugh, Myron Cope, Bill Nunn Jr., George Kiseda, Joe L. Brown, Steve Bla.s.s, Richie Hebner, Al Oliver, Bob Veale, Donn Clendenon, Nelson Briles, Jose Pagn, Don Leppert, Tony Bartirome, Les Banos, Chuck Goggin, Gene Garber, Harding Peterson, Bob Friend, d.i.c.k Schofield, Nick Koback, Gene Freese, Ferguson Jenkins, Juan Marichal, Earl Weaver, Paul Blair, Sparky Anderson, g.a.y.l.o.r.d Perry, Monte Irvin, Don Zimmer, Preston Pearson, Joan Whitman, Chico Fernndez, Glenn c.o.x, Len Harsh, John Yarborough, Pat McCutcheon, Ann Ra.n.a.lli King, Bruce Laurie, Howard Fineman, Juliet Schor, Richard Santry, Richard Moss, Carolyn Rauch, Squire Galbreath, Carol Ba.s.s, Anthony Jilek, Maurice J. Williams, Frederick Zugibe, Hart Achenbach, Nancy Golding, Jorge Carbonell, Nestor Barretto, Bernard h.e.l.ler, John h.e.l.ler, Bev Couric, Chico Azocar, Juanita Modale, Stuart Speiser, Jon Hoffman, Gary Czabot, John Parker, Mike Pangia, Vincent Bogucki, Paul Kutch, Chuck Tomasco, Duane Rieder, Eliezer Rodriguez, George Shamoon, and Rex Bradley.

1: SOMETHING THAT NEVER ENDS.

It was long past midnight: Ints. Osvaldo Gil, Vera Clemente, Juan Pizarro.

In one bad dream: Int. Vera Clemente. During their years together, Roberto and Vera often talked about dreams, and decades later she could remember the discussions vividly, as well as some of her own long-ago dreams, including one about the monkey they brought back from Nicaragua.

So much had happened since Gil: Int. Osvaldo Gil.

Martn the Crazy is not that crazy: Int. Matino Clemente.

Not only Clemente and his ballplayers: La Prensa, November 10, 1972; Program, XX Campeonato Mundial de Beisbol Aficionado.

Hughes occupied the entire: Glenn Garvin, Reason, March 2000; Jay Mallin, The Great Managua Earthquake, Broadway: New York, 1972; Drosnin, Citizen Hughes, Henry Holt: New York, 1985; ints. Osvaldo Gil, Vic Power.

On the fifteenth: Int. Osvaldo Gil; UPI, November 15, 1972; Novedades, November 16, 1972; La Prensa, November 16, 1972. The Novedades account read as though Somoza's publicist had written it, which was essentially the case: "Thousands of Nicaraguans saw once more General Somoza surrounded in the middle of his people, confirming with his presence the love that the public has for him . . ."

Clemente took to the people: Ints. Vera Clemente, Vic Power, Osvaldo Gil; Do You Remember? Clemente in Nicaragua with San Juan Senators in 1964, Edgard Tijerino, La Prensa. Tijerino wrote of the San Juan team that year: "The lineup that Puerto Rico presented could not be more impressive: Horace Clarke on second, Jose Pagn at short, Clemente in right field, Julio LaBoy and Orlando Cepeda alternating in left, Reynaldo Oliver and Marical Allen patrolling center . . . and a strong staff headed by Juan Pizarro, Luis Arroyo, Palillo Santiago, and Warren Hacker."

This trip went no better: San Juan Star, November 1630, 1972; ints. Vic Power, Osvaldo Gil.

With outfielder Julio Cesar Roubert: Int. Osvaldo Gil.

His longtime friend from Puerto Rico: Int. Vic Power.

One morning, reading La Prensa: Ints. Osvaldo Gil, Vic Power; Edgard Tijerino, La Prensa, "Standing Up, Clemente Bats."

Tijerino was now "oh for two": Edgard Tijerino, The Last Interview; int. Osvaldo Gil.

There he met a wheelchair-bound: Ints. Osvaldo Gil, Vera Clemente.

One day in the old city: Int. Vera Clemente.

Clemente flew back to Puerto Rico: Ints. Vic Power, Osvaldo Gil, Vera Clemente.

All seemed well back home: Ints. Vera Clemente, Luis Clemente, Vic Power.

2: WHERE MOMEN CAME FROM.

This was the summer of 1934: Ints. Matino Clemente, Vera Clemente.

The story has been told: Int. Vera Clemente.

Runaway slaves, known as cimarrones: Este Silencio, Lydia Milagros Gonzlez, Inst.i.tuto Cultura Puertorriquea, 1998; Home: A Celebration of Roberto Clemente's Spirit and Pa.s.sion, San Juan, 2003.

Sugar was then nearing the end: Economic Existence, Sugar and Labor: 19281930s. 35th Annual Report of the governor of Puerto Rico; Farr's Manual of Sugar Companies. Department of Labor 1934, Report on Sugar Industry.

By the standards of Depression-era Carolina: Ints. Matino Clemente, Vera Clemente.

Momen was his nickname: Int. Matino Clemente.

"When I was a little kid": "A Conversation with Roberto Clemente," Sam Nover, WIIC-TV, October 8, 1972. For all his confrontations with reporters, Clemente got along well with Nover. "Well, I tell you one thing, I tell you the truth, I don't like lots of writers," Clemente told Nover. "I think if I was a writer, one thing I would try to do is have a good relations.h.i.+p with the players. I never criticize a writer that I think is sincere in what he is writing. But a lot of these writers, they go to you, and they put the interview in a way that they sound like and you don't exactly say that, see?"; Ints. Matino Clemente, Rosa Semprit.

Melchor was a regular figure: Ints. Matino Clemente, Orlando Cepeda, Vera Clemente, Rosa Semprit.

The Cangrejeros were grittier: Ints. Enrique Zorrilla, Juan Pizarro, Diana Zorrilla, Matino Clemente; Thomas E. Van Hyning, The Santurce Crabbers.

Irvin said later that he enjoyed: Int. Monte Irvin.

When he could, Momen caught the bus: Conversation with Clemente; Ints. Matino Clemente, Juan Pizarro, Monte Irvin.

Cceres developed a friends.h.i.+p: Cceres, Reader's Digest, July 1973.

Zorrilla scribbled the name: Ints. Enrique Zorrilla, Diana Zorrilla.

When Campanis filled out: Zorrilla family sc.r.a.pbooks, Clemente family collection.

The Three Kings, in a sense: Chicago Tribune, El Imparcial, San Juan Star, El Nuevo Da, Pittsburgh Courier, Sporting News; Ints. Eduardo Valero, Ramiro Martnez, Osvaldo Gil, Luis Olmo, Vic Power.

Five major league teams expressed: Zorrilla family archives, Vera Clemente family sc.r.a.pbooks; ints. Diana Zorrilla, Luis Olmo, Matino Clemente.

His first bats were variations: Hillerich & Bradsby records maintained by Rex Bradley.

3: DREAM OF DEEDS.

Before Momen left home: Int. Matino Clemente. It was a family ritual every spring that his brothers Matino and Andres would drive Roberto to the airport for his flight to Florida.

It is hard to imagine: Montreal Gazette, Canadian Press dispatch, April 1, 1954.

Momen was the youngest player: Montreal Gazette: Int. Chico Fernndez.

The International Baseball League lived up: Montreal Gazette, April 15, 1954, International League to Open with two New Teams April 20; Playing the Field, d.i.n.k Carroll, Montreal Gazette, April 20, 1954. Carroll wrote of the Sugar Kings: "The big name in Cuban baseball today is Roberto Maduro, president of the Sugar Kings. We met him at the Baseball Writers Dinner in New York in February and noted that he spoke English without any trace of an accent." "I should." He smiled. "I graduated from Cornell University." Tom Meany, Collier's, July 1954.

"made some sparkling": Lou Miller, Montreal Gazette, May 1, 1954.

There was talk: The discussion began in New York and made its way to Montreal in a May 5 column by d.i.n.k Carroll. If Amoros made the club, Carroll wrote, "the Dodgers would have five Negroes in the lineup on a day that Don Newcombe or Joe Black was pitching. The suggestion was that this was one too many . . ."

The rooming house offered beds: Ints. Chico Fernndez, Joan Whitman, Glenn c.o.x.

At night, Clemente would pour out: Int. Chico Fernndez.

Havana was not home for Momen: Ints. Ramiro Martnez, Chico Fernndez; Montreal Gazette.

Andy High visited Montreal: Montreal Gazette; int. Chico Fernndez.

Rickey sent Haak up to Montreal: Int. Howie Haak; Kevin Kerrane, Dollar Sign on the Muscle; ints. Chico Fernndez, Glenn c.o.x.

Even the batboy: Ints. Don Zimmer, Orlando Cepeda; Zorrilla family archive.

Foreigners: make s.p.a.ce: Enrique Zorrilla, "Dream of Deeds"; Zorrilla family archives.

Mays was embraced joyously: Tom Meany, "Seor Mays. .h.i.t in San Juan," Collier's, January 7, 1955; Zorrilla family archive; int. Don Zimmer.

Clemente admired Mays: Ints. Orlando Cepeda, Enrique Zorrilla, Vic Power, Eduardo Valero, Monte Irvin, Luis Olmo; Zorrilla family archive.

At eleven on the Monday morning of November 22: Notice No. 29, Office of the Commissioner, October 29, 1954; C-41-54, National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, Warren C. Giles President, November 3, 1954; UP, November 22, 1954; UP November 23, 1954. "The Puerto Rican Negro batted only .257 in eighty-six games at Montreal last season, where he was used chiefly for defensive purposes, but impressed the Pirates and several other teams with his brilliant play this fall in the Puerto Rican winter league."

Herman Franks's lineup card: Ints. Don Zimmer, Orlando Cepeda, Enrique Zorrilla, Zorrilla family archives; Thomas E. Van Hyning, The Santurce Crabbers.

When the road trip was over: Ints. Matino Clemente, Vera Clemente. Luis was a schoolteacher. His wife, Victoria Carrasquillo, was fearful of the operation and tried to talk him out of it. He was buried at the Cementerio Munic.i.p.al de Rio Grande.

4: THE RESIDUE OF DESIGN.

All of this was overseen by: Branch Rickey Papers, Ma.n.u.script Division, Library of Congress, Was.h.i.+ngton, D.C. (LCMD); Arthur Mann, Branch Rickey, American in Action; Branch Rickey's Little Blue Book; Galbreath Collection, Darby Dan.

With aide-de-camp Blackburn: Memorandum of Game, January 18, 1955. Following Game in Havana, Cuba, Between Cienfuegos and Havana, Branch Rickey Papers, LCMD.

He kept his own scorecard: Ruben Gomez pitched that day, and Clemente was bracketed in the lineup by Don Zimmer batting second and Buster Clarkson at cleanup. Harry Chiti was behind the plate. Rickey, in characteristic acerbic fas.h.i.+on, was not impressed: "Had no life, looked slow in his physical actions, and I could not help thinking that he was somewhat indifferent about his work."

it appears that this was the first time: Memorandum of Game Between Santurce and Ponce at San Juan, Puerto Rico, on January 25, 1955, Branch Rickey Papers, LCMD.

"The other is Ron Necciai": Branch Rickey Papers, LCMD. According to Branch Rickey's Little Blue Book Necciai once struck out twenty-seven opponents in an Appalachian League game.

On his way back to Pittsburgh: "Mack, Rickey Meet at Terry Park," Fort Myers News-Press, January 29, 1955; int. Len Harsh. The News-Press was published seven days a week. "I was the whole sports department," Harsh recalled a half-century later. "And filled in covering the police beat on Sunday nights."

Clemente and other black prospects: Ints. Len Harsh, John Yarborough, Pat McCutcheon, Bob Veale.

to young Clemente the prevailing culture: Sam Nover, "A Conversation with RC," 1972; ints. Vic Power, Ramiro Martnez, Len Harsh.

It is not clear where: Fort Myers News-Press, January 15, 1955, to April 1, 1955; int. Len Harsh. "He was such a great ballplayer that they respected him," Harsh said of south Florida fans. "He may have done a few things that people thought was hot dog but he was so doggone good it came natural to him. He was as respected as any of them."

" 'Roberto, you better'": Sam Nover, "A Conversation with RC," 1972.

filed regular dispatches: Pittsburgh Courier, Pittsburgh weekly edition, February 15, 1955, to April 1, 1955.

old man Rickey remained uncertain: Observations in the game between the Chicago White Sox and the Pittsburgh Pirates, March 23, 1955, Fort Myers, Florida, Branch Rickey Papers, LCMD.

Roberts was another: Pittsburgh Courier, March 1955; Ronald Barlow, "A True Hometown Hero," Beaumont News (Pineland, Texas); Baseball Almanac; Rich Shrum, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 25, 2004; Joe Monaco, Beaumont Enterprise, May 2, 2004.

only a lost battle: Ric Roberts, Pittsburgh Courier, April 14, 1955. In the column it was noted: "If Jackie Robinson had remained with the Kansas City Monarchs all the years since he joined them back in 1945, he would have earned no more than $35,000. At Brooklyn his income has certainly aggregated more than $252,000! He is the leader in a glittering procession . . ."

Rickey was feeling the harsh sting: Confidential letter to Mr. Joe Bradis of the AP from Branch Rickey, Branch Rickey Papers, July 30, 1954, LCMD.

Freese liked to tease Clemente: Int. Gene Freese.

On stationery with a Bing Crosby/Hollywood logo: Before reaching Rickey's desk, Crosby's note was read by the Mahatma's friend and aide Ken Blackburn, who added this handwritten message: "Mr. Sisler has already written Mr. Crosby re these boys and their clippings . . . Ed McCarrick is also following and will again contact these boys when he returns home, K.B."

The fibergla.s.s and plastic batting helmet: Supplementary Financial Information, American Baseball Cap Inc., Branch Rickey Papers, June 30, 1962, LCMD.

Two weeks later, after another hot streak: Bill Nunn Jr, Pittsburgh Courier, June 16, 1955; int. Bill Nunn Jr.

"he speaks only a little broken English": Pittsburgh Courier, June 16, 1955; ints. Bill Nunn Jr., George Kiseda, Roy McHugh, Nick Koback.