Roberto Clemente Facts
Roberto Clemente Facts
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| Interesting Roberto Clemente Facts: |
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| Roberto Clemente was the youngest child of seven born to his parents Luisa and Don Melchor Clemente. |
| As a teenager Roberto played for the Santurce Cangrejeros, also known as the Crabbers. |
| In 1952 Roberto Clemente was signed to play for a Montreal Triple A team the Royals. |
| In 1954 Roberto Clemente was discovered by a scout for the Pittsburgh Pirates who had been there to watch Joe Black. That same year Roberto Clemente was chosen by the Pirates as their first selection of the rookie draft. |
| In Roberto Clemente's first professional game (against the Brooklyn Dodgers) he scored a run, and scored another in the second game that day. Both games of the double-header were lost by the Pirates. |
| During his rookie season Roberto Clemente was in a car accident and suffered a lower back injury that caused him to miss several games. He still managed to play in 124 games, finishing the season with an average of .255. |
| During his rookie season Roberto Clemente wore the number 13. After the Pirates' player Earl Smith left the team in 1955 Roberto Clemente took his No. 21. |
| Roberto Clemente became the only player to hit a walk-off-inside-the-park grand slam, on July 25th, 1956, in a game against the Cubs. The Pirates won 9-8 that day. |
| In 1958 Roberto Clemente enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve. He spent six months on active duty in South Carolina and North Carolina. |
| During his career, many people tried to give Roberto the name 'Bob' but he didn't like it and always went by Roberto. |
| In every year during the 1960s Roberto Clemente was named to the National League All-Star Team. He batted over .300 every year in the 1960s (except in 1968). |
| Beginning in 1961 Roberto Clemente won a Golden Glove award each year until 1972. Willie Mays and Roberto Clemente share the record for most Golden Glove awards - at 12 each. |
| Roberto Clemente was the first Hispanic player to be named a major league team MVP, first Hispanic to be named World Series MVP, and first to win a World Series (as a starter). |
| Roberto Clemente finished his career with 3000 hits in 1972. |
| Roberto Clemente was involved in humanitarian efforts. In 1972 he was on a flight from Isla Verde to Nicaragua when his chartered plane crashed. He was killed along with four other people. |
| Roberto was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1973, becoming the first player to have the five year wait waived. He was also awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor in 1973. |
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