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85 years ago today Roberto Clemente de Walker was born. As a teen he qualified f/ the Helsinki Olympics as a triple jumper. A year later, the Dodgers tried to hide him in Montreal
When he was around 31, Clemente was kidnapped on the way back fr. buying some bird, road trip Padres. The men, who spoke Spanish, were to rob him. He told them he was a very important pelotero, & he'd give them cash. They released him.
Once he & Vera stopped by the NY World's Fair before a trip to Europe. They visited a furniture showroom, asked to see the high end merch. Clerk refused, showed them discount stuff. Clemente flashed a wad, salesperson said he thought they were just avg. P.R., the couple left
Clemente taped a PSA in Spanish cautioning youth to avoid narcotics. Director said they were done- "Now I have to find somebody to do it in English". Clemente said "I can do it in English". And he did
When Clemente first peeped Vera in a pharmacy he couldn't ask her out because culture. He asked around about who knew her fam. One of his h.s teachers did, & his sister. The teacher approached Vera & said Roberto wants to invite you to a game. Vera didn't really know who he was
Even into the mid-'60's, bubble gum cards anglicized Clemente's first name as "Bob", and play-by-play announcers called him "Bobby". He only really allowed one person to do the latter. He also hated journos who quoted him phonetically in print, exaggerating
When Roberto was a kid his idol was Monte Irvin. Later he played in a Santurce OF w/ Mays. But he didn't get the basket catch from Willie.
Once a reporter asked Clemente who was the best player in the game. He said "To me, I am the best", which is an English way of saying something that in Spanish, doesn't translate quite the same. Media made a huge stink of it, as if he was putting down Mays & Aaron
Clemente approached the premier Puerto Rican athletes in each sport, about building a place called Cuidad Deportiva, where kids could do schoolwork and train in their respective sports after school, under the ideal tutelage
Neil Simon's shooting "The Odd Couple". Mets-Pirates. Needs a player to hit into a triple play that Oscar misses by talking. Asks Clemente. Clemente "Is this picture gonna be dubbed in Spanish & shown in Latin Amer?" "Yes". "I can't do that. My fans would never"
