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Strategies & Market Trends : VOLTAIRE'S PORCH-MODERATED -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: techguerrilla who wrote (4156)	9/28/2000 12:53:35 AM
From: Sully-	Respond to of 65232

Roberto Clemente was a baseball star well-loved by Puerto Ricans. As a right-fielder for the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1955 to 1972, he won four National League batting titles, twelve Golden Glove awards, and was named the National League's Most Valuable Player in 1966. He was a proud man who demanded more respect for Hispanic players. His lifelong dream was to build a youth sports facility in Puerto Rico for poor children. In 1972, while flying relief supplies to earthquake victims in Nicaragua, his plane went down off the coast of Puerto Rico. In 1960, however, Clemente began to make his presence known on the field. He hit .314 with 16 home runs and 94 runs batted in. He helped lead the Pirates to win both the National League pennant and the World Series. Over the next twelve seasons, Clemente was a dominant force in professional baseball. He was famous for his incredible fielding skills, swift running, and powerful throwing. He thrilled fans by throwing out runners from remote spots in the outfield. Many times he threw strikes to home plate from more than four hundred feet in the outfield. He was fearless in pursuit of the ball, diving into the grass and crashing into the wall. Clemente's batting statistics were impressive as well. He trained to become a "spray hitter," scattering line-drive doubles and triples into the gaps between fielders. He was only the eleventh player in major league history to collect 3,000 hits in a career. His lifetime batting average was .317. For his heroics in the field and at the plate he was elected to the National League All-Star team twelve times. After leading the Pirates to victory in the 1971 World Series, he was honored with the series's outstanding player award. Dreams Cut Short Clemente's dream was to build a sports complex to give Puerto Rican children opportunities to learn and to grow. At the end of the 1972 baseball season, he contemplated retiring from baseball to work full-time to develop his hometown sports camp for kids. Late that year, he was distracted from his decision by a massive earthquake that caused widespread disaster in Nicaragua. After organizing relief efforts from Puerto Rico, he went along to deliver the supplies in person. On December 31, 1972, Clemente died in the crash near San Juan, Puerto Rico, in a cargo plane that was carrying food to Nicaragua. The world mourned the death of the great athlete and humanitarian. The Baseball Hall of Fame waived its five-year waiting period after a player's retirement and immediately elected Clemente to membership. His family continues to work on his Sports City in Carolina, Puerto Rico. The 304-acre complex provides children with baseball, basketball, swimming, and track training. Future plans include programs in drama, music, dance and folklore. gale.com Ö¿Ö