Synopses & Reviews
On New Year's Eve 1972, following eighteen magnificent seasons in the major leagues, Roberto Clemente died a hero's death, killed in a plane crash as he attempted to deliver food and medical supplies to Nicaragua after a devastating earthquake. David Maraniss now brings the great baseball player brilliantly back to life in
Clemente: The Passion and Grace of Baseball's Last Hero, a book destined to become a modern classic. Much like his acclaimed biography of Vince Lombardi,
When Pride Still Mattered, Maraniss uses his narrative sweep and meticulous detail to capture the myth and a real man.
Anyone who saw Clemente, as he played with a beautiful fury, will never forget him. He was a work of art in a game too often defined by statistics. During his career with the Pittsburgh Pirates, he won four batting titles and led his team to championships in 1960 and 1971, getting a hit in all fourteen World Series games in which he played. His career ended with three-thousand hits, the magical three-thousandth coming in his final at-bat, and he and the immortal Lou Gehrig are the only players to have the five-year waiting period waived so they could be enshrined in the Hall of Fame immediately after their deaths.
There is delightful baseball here, including thrilling accounts of the two World Series victories of Clemente's underdog Pittsburgh Pirates, but this is far more than just another baseball book. Roberto Clemente was that rare athlete who rose above sports to become a symbol of larger themes. Born near the canebrakes of rural Carolina, Puerto Rico, on August 18, 1934, at a time when there were no blacks or Puerto Ricans playing organized ball in the United States, Clemente went on to become the greatest Latino player in the major leagues. He was, in a sense, the Jackie Robinson of the Spanish-speaking world, a ballplayer of determination, grace, and dignity who paved the way and set the highest standard for waves of Latino players who followed in later generations and who now dominate the game.
The Clemente that Maraniss evokes was an idiosyncratic character who, unlike so many modern athletes, insisted that his responsibilities extended beyond the playing field. In his final years, his motto was that if you have a chance to help others and fail to do so, you are wasting your time on this earth. Here, in the final chapters, after capturing Clemente's life and times, Maraniss retraces his final days, from the earthquake to the accident, using newly uncovered documents to reveal the corruption and negligence that led the unwitting hero on a mission of mercy toward his untimely death as an uninspected, overloaded plane plunged into the sea.
Review
"A baseball-savvy book sensitive to the social context that made Clemente, a black Puerto Rican, a leading indicator of baseball's future....Thanks to Maraniss, Clemente's legacy is suitably defined and explained." George F. Will, The New York Times Book Review
Review
"A skilled athlete who was seemingly taken for granted, Clemente became an iconic figure for Latin America and world baseball." Library Journal
Review
"A nuanced, expertly written life of much more than a sports hero." Kirkus Reviews
Synopsis
From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of When Pride Still Mattered comes a book destined to become a modern classic a full-scale biography of great baseball player and humanitarian Roberto Clemente, who lived, played, and died with enduring passion and grace. of photos.
Synopsis
The story of baseball's first Latino superstar--with photographs throughout
With a swift bat and fierce athleticism, he intimidated major league pitchers for eighteen seasons, compiling 3,000 hits. His legs were among the quickest of his era. His throwing arm was one of the strongest, gunning down base runners from right field with incredible frequency. He would spend a career fighting for respect, and finally achieve it after a historic World Series performance and a second half of a career that would have him mentioned with greats like Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle.
But what Puerto Rican-born Pittsburgh Pirate outfielder Roberto Clemente did off the field made him the greatest combination of athlete and humanitarian that ever lived. One of the first athletes who understood how the power of sports could be used to transform not just a handful of lives but many thousands of them, he would die following his heart and conscience by helping others. Clemente was on an aircraft loaded with supplies for an earthquake-stricken Nicaragua when the plane crashed in the Atlantic Ocean.
Forty years after that tragic day, the widow and sons of this regal athlete and consummate humanitarian open up for the first time about the husband and father they lost. Featuring an extensive array of rare and never-before-seen photos of Roberto Clemente on the field and off, the powerful memoir tells his story from the voice of those who knew him best.
Includes Photographs Throughout
Synopsis
Baseball great, family man, humanitarianthe life and enduring legacy of Roberto Clemente, as told by his family.
With a swift bat and fierce athleticism, Roberto Clemente intimidated major league pitchers for eighteen seasons, compiling three thousand hits. His legs were among the quickest of his era. His throwing arm was one of the strongest, gunning down base runners from right field with incredible frequency. He would spend a career fighting for respect and finally achieve it after a historic World Series performance and a second half of a career that would have him mentioned with greats like Jackie Robinson, Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, and Mickey Mantle.
But what Roberto Clemente did off the field made him an equally great humanitarian. One of the first athletes who understood how the power of sports could be used to transform not just a handful of lives but many thousands of them, he would die following his heart and conscience by helping others. Clemente was on an aircraft loaded with supplies for an earthquake-stricken Nicaragua when the plane crashed in the Atlantic Ocean.
Forty years after that tragic day, the widow and sons of this regal athlete and consummate humanitarian open up for the first time about the husband and father they lost. Featuring an extensive array of rare and never-before-seen photos of Clemente on the field and off, this powerful memoir tells his inspiring story from the voices of those who knew him best.
INCLUDES PHOTOS
About the Author
David Maraniss is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author. As a reporter for the Washington Post he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting for his stories about the life and career of candidate Bill Clinton in the 1992 campaign for the U.S. presidency.
Maraniss and wife Linda live in Washington, D.C. and Madison, Wisconsin.
Table of Contents
ContentsMemory and Myth
1. Something That Never Ends
2. Where Momen Came From
3. Dream of Deeds
4. The Residue of Design
5. ¡Arriba! ¡Arriba!
6. Alone at the Miracle
7. Pride and Prejudice
8. Fever
9. Passion
10. A Circular Stage
11. El Día Más Grande
12. Tip of the Cap
13. Temblor
14. Cockroach Corner
15. December 31
16. Out of the Sea
Myth and Memory
Acknowledgments
Notes
Appendix
Selected Bibliography
Index