All language subtitles for Clemente.2024.1080p.WEB.h264-EDITH33

ANNOUNCER:
Everybody's standing,

and they want Bobby to get
that hit number 3,000.

Matlack on the 0-1.

Bobby hits the ball into
the gap in left center field.

There she is.

They respond.
Everybody's standing.

A double for Roberto.

This week, the week
that Roberto Clemente

got his 3,000 hit,

and joined the most elite circle
of baseball players in history,

Joe Namath appeared on the cover
of Sports Illustrated.

The article on Roberto Clemente
amounted to one line

or I think two sentences

on page 45 or 50
or something like that

in the magazine.

And it really
graphically portrays

what you have talked about
for 18 years.

You don't get
the kind of exposure

that the other athletes do.

ANNOUNCER: Pittsburgh,
they call him the great one.

I always have a goal in my life,

and I always try to bring
the name of Puerto Rico up.

You know,
he was a very proud man.

And to him,
his people were first.

[speaking Spanish]

The greatest right fielder
in the game of baseball,

Roberto Clemente.

Once told by a reporter

that he threw and ran
like Willie Mays,

Clemente retorted,

nonetheless, I play
like Roberto Clemente.

Here's that Clemente swing
once again,

hitting off the front foot,
now a trademark.

He just played at another level.

You were just kind of in awe
of the skill set.

However it is caught
by Clemente

with a tremendous
running, sliding catch.

He was so stylish,
so unmistakable.

If he wore a generic uniform,
you would still know who he was.

I remember him, like,
throwing fools out.

His arm was supernatural.

Oh.

I'd never seen a throw
like that in my life.

Man, the grace,
and with a body.

Like, cool,
just cool as [s...].

[speaking Spanish]

Clemente set the bar
for Latino players.

You cannot only
be a good player.

You gotta be a great person
off the field as well.

He wanted to represent
not only our people,

but every person out there
that was suffering injustice.

His heart was with the people
that were suffering.

[speaking Spanish]

On an island only 100 miles long
and 35 miles wide,

what Puerto Rico lacks in size

it more than makes up for
in the energy of its people.

Puerto Rico, we are special.

And I'm telling you,
don't mess with Puerto Ricans.

Comprende, mi amigo?

[laughs]

My father was born in San
Antonio, Carolina, Puerto Rico,

August 18, 1934.

My memories of Puerto Rico
are paradisiacal.

I remember my mom and I

going to a local creek
to do the laundry,

where we scrubbed
the clothing on rocks,

and so did a bunch of ladies.

And they yelled to each other
and laughed and sing songs.

It was almost a cliche.

Dad was the baby of the family.

There were six before him.

Anairis
was already five years old

when my father was born,

but Anairis used to ask
my grandfather

for a baby brother

and continue, continue
to ask for a baby brother.

Hence, that's how
my father was born.

Roberto was born in 1934
during the Depression,

which was a depression
in Puerto Rico

as well as the United States.

It was rural.

Dad's family was not poor.

It was right below middle class,
if you will,

right at that middle.

They had enough money
to put food on the table

and put clothes
on the children's back.

But the parents didn't have
a lot of money for luxuries.

My grandfather was a foreman
of the sugar plantation,

and my grandmother
would fix lunch

for the sugar cane
plantation workers.

[speaking Spanish]

My dad's older sister,
she was playing outside,

and a spark
got to her silk dress,

and the dress went up in flames.

[speaking Spanish]

That tragedy played out
again and again in his mind.

Roberto would talk about
dreaming about Anairis

being at his side at various
times during his life.

She would approach him,
grab his hand,

open his hand,
and would give three coins.

The number three is a very
mystical number in his life.

He had three sons,

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,
home of Three Rivers Stadium,

where he played in.

And then you end up
with exactly 3,000 hits.

Threes everywhere you look.

My father was brought up
to be a hard worker,

but any time
he had an opportunity,

a chance to go to that empty lot
to play ball,

that's what he did.

Puerto Rico was very rich

when it came
to the game of baseball.

Santurce Crabbers,

the Senators of San Juan,

Ponce Lions.

Puerto Ricans
have been playing baseball

since the island existed.

Every kid here in Puerto Rico
played baseball.

There was nothing else to do.

There was nothing,

either go to a movie
or play baseball.

Those were the only two things
that we had in Puerto Rico.

The thing was to play.

It didn't matter how,
the thing was to play ball.

We'd take the shopping bags,

and that's what we put
on our hands.

We didn't have no gloves.
[laughs]

It was a way of forgetting
about challenges

that were going on at the time,

and baseball united everyone.

It still does.

Dad would take the train
down to San Juan.

That is where
the Negro Leaguers played.

American ballplayers,
especially Black players,

came here to develop their game.

When they came down here,

they didn't feel at all
any segregation.

This was a very hard league.

You had Major League
pitching here,

you had Major League batting,
you had Major League everything.

If you came down here
and you excelled,

next season you're gonna be up
in the big leagues.

Dad's idol was Monte Irvin.

One day he was roaming around

and waiting for the players
to come in,

and Monte saw him
and recognized him.

So Monte opens his bag
and hands my father a glove.

Now my father has

his first, like,
real glove from Monte Irvin.

[speaking Spanish]

Dad says he got
a lot of his talent

from my grandmother

because she was very fast.

If you have so many kids

and you can get to your kids
at that age,

you're an athlete.

It was funny how dad would say
he got a great arm from her.

She would get a chancaleta
and just throw it

and had a great arm.

[speaking Spanish]

Since he was a young boy,

he would do things

that no one at his age
would even think about.

[speaking Spanish]

REPORTER:
We asked Mr. Branch Rickey, Sr.

what he looked for
in a young ballplayer,

and this was his reply.

That's a whale of a question.

Can he throw hard?

And can he run fast?

Does he like to play?

Branch Rickey is one of the more
important sociological figures

in the 20th century.

He was the general manager
of the Brooklyn Dodgers

in the 1940s when he decided

that it was the time
to integrate the game,

to break the color line.

He chose Jackie Robinson
for that purpose

and really changed
not just baseball,

but American society
through that.

He was fairly conservative

and certainly had
his own prejudices.

Boy, when you read
all of his scouting reports

about different players,
you can see that in evidence.

And yet he believed
in integrated society

and not in discrimination
in that larger sense.

At first,
Dad was playing softball.

A scout for
the Santurce Grabbers

saw him playing shortstop
at a softball game.

Santurce was the powerhouse
of the Puerto Rican league.

They were the New York Yankees
of that league,

and they signed him because
he was that good of a player.

You know, the Grabbers
would bring major players

from the states
to play Winter Ball.

So you have this young kid,
20 years old,

and next to him is Willie Mays.

Imagine that.

Branch Rickey sees Roberto
playing down in Puerto Rico,

playing next to Willie Mays,
and they're not that different.

And so he knows he's good.

And he's telling his scouts,
let's keep our eye on this guy.

Now, there were actually other
teams that wanted him, too.

He was pretty hotly
sought after.

The New York Giants
made him an offer.

The Milwaukee Braves
made him an offer.

So he had at least
three solid offers.

But he ended up
going with the Dodgers,

who gave him a large bonus
of more than $4,000,

which was a really large bonus
for that time period.

The Dodgers have no room for Dad
in their major league roster,

so they sent him to AAA
up in Montreal

until they had space for Dad
in the major leagues.

Roberto was in Montreal playing,

and every time
that he would get a hit,

they would take him
out of the lineup

because they didn't want him
to be in the media.

He was unprotected
at the end of the season,

and they couldn't move Roberto
to Brooklyn.

They had no room for him
on the roster

because the Brooklyn Dodgers
were the best team in baseball.

And they didn't need him,
but they wanted to keep him.

So he was hanging there
like low-hanging fruit.

You know, there are almost
no photographs of my father

in a Montreal uniform
because he never played.

I mean,
he was always on the bench.

By 1955,
Branch Rickey had moved on

from the Dodgers to the Pirates,

and Rickey,
he knew all about Clemente.

[speaking Spanish]

The valley of steel mills
and factories.

In spite
of its industrial smoke,

which made life and breath
treacherous for its citizens,

Pittsburgh was often
picturesquely described

by 19th-century writers
as resembling Vulcan,

the mythical god of fire.

Needless to say,
these writers didn't live there.

It was a shock.

It was a dirty, smoggy city.

When my mother and I
came to America,

Puerto Rican culture
was deeply maligned.

I remember being called
terrible names

on my way to school.

I was in deep shock
and very scared.

Think of Pittsburgh in 1955.

There weren't many Latinos,
if at all.

Certainly there are not
a lot of Latinos in baseball.

So Roberto literally was alone.

Occasionally
you would hear from older guys

talking about sports,
the name Clemente would come up.

Great. He's a great player.

But, you know,
blah, blah, blah, blah.

There was always the "but,"

like, an unspoken "but"
in italics,

you know, dot, dot, dot.

And I distinctly remember
someone said,

I hear he carries a knife.

And to me, I'm going,
he's, like, one of my heroes.

And I go, you know,
kind of inside my head,

I'm thinking, what's that mean?

Is he a bad man?

As I get older and I think,

I'm a black Puerto Rican
in Pittsburgh in the sixties,

I might carry a knife.

Dad often called himself
a double [n.....].

From the white class,
he was black.

On the Black side,
he was Latino.

He was not part of them either.

He was right in the middle,

and there was no middle
at the time.

[speaking Spanish]

There was a lot
of racial tension.

If you looked like
you weren't white or black,

people want to know
what you were.

Roberto had people thinking

he couldn't speak English
very well.

He could speak English
perfectly.

I said,
well, why do you pretend

that you can't speak English
that well?

And he said, because you can
find out how the person feels.

Because thinking
you can't understand them,

they will say anything,

and you'll remember
what they say.

Clemente is joining a team
that is A, not very good,

and B, has a lot of faces
that don't look like him.

You think of any ballplayer
who's Black or Latino

playing baseball
throughout the 1950s,

into the early to mid-1960s,

they are faced with Jim Crow
segregation at its worst.

The names that we got called
playing the game

was just unbelievable.

They call us LBJ Boys.

The N-word
or "send them back to Africa."

We're at the ballpark,

and there's this guy
walking through the stands,

and he's handing out
these flyers and leaflets,

and here it was.

It was an application
to join the Klan.

I'm saying, whoa!

Roberto rolls into
spring training

and doesn't know
what's about to hit him.

So imagine this.

You end the game.

Now you're starving.

You expect to go eat,
but that place, that restaurant,

does not accept you.

You're in a bus for
whatever time they spend there.

You're sitting there
waiting to be brought food

like you're an animal
or something.

I don't know.

Dad did not accept that.

He had to step forward
and really go against the grain.

That's when he actually decided
to talk to management

and say, we need
a station wagon or a vehicle

to go on our own

where we can actually sit down
and eat as human beings.

That station wagon,
it became a symbol

of we don't need to abide
by those rules.

Please, come on.

Absolutely not.

The Pirates of the early fifties
were a pretty hapless crowd.

It was a combination of players
who were on the fringes

or very young or very old.

And pretty boring.

And really no definition
to them.

From 1955
through the '59 season,

he wasn't living up
to what he wanted to be.

He definitely struggled
through the fifties.

He's taken a while
to get his footing.

He's hitting into
some double plays.

He's frustrated.

He's cracking
his batting helmets,

where they start fining him
for doing that.

In '57, he had an injury.

But in '58, he gets drafted
into the Marines.

He spends the whole winter,

instead of playing Winter Ball
back in Puerto Rico,

he goes to the Marines where
they work out and they drill

and that's all they do.

NEWSREEL ANNOUNCER:
They are taught footwork

and basic bayonet
attack movements by experts.

He comes out of boot camp

and jumps into spring training
with the team.

He's in great shape,

and that's when his career
really starts off.

ANNOUNCER:
Roberto Clemente comes to bat.

He's finally hitting over .300
for the whole season,

driving in runs,
playing great right field,

winning ballgames
with game-winning hits.

Roberto played with an abandon,
I felt like.

When he would run the bases,
you could tell he ran full out.

And when he would throw it,
he was so accurate and so fast.

It was seeing something
that you've never seen before.

He could catch a ball
running away or into the ivy.

He was a weapon.

It just would be so exciting

if a runner tried
to outrun Roberto's arm.

I would almost take
personal offense.

You didn't test
Roberto Clemente's arm.

He was one of the most vicious
hitters to the opposite field

that ever played.

And everything he did
was unorthodox.

Dad was known for his unique way
of catching the ball,

called the basket catch.

ANNOUNCER:
Caught by Clemente.

When he was growing up,
he would lay in bed,

throw the ball against the wall
above his head

and catch the ball.

So he would throw and catch,
throw and catch.

ANNOUNCER: Tremendous
running, sliding catch.

He did things

and you start to break it down
from a player standpoint,

like, how did he do that?

ANNOUNCER: Here's that
Clemente swing once again,

hitting off the front foot.

Look at that right foot.

And his feet are in the air,

and yet the ball
is still going very far.

That's some athleticism
that you can't be taught.

At the plate, Roberto
wasn't looking to walk.

He was a notorious
bad ball hitter.

Trying to pitch around him,
he might reach out

and hit the ball
off the right field wall.

I never laughed so much
when he's running.

I mean, he's so funny
running the bases.

[J....],
is he really running like that?

All legs and arms
and all that.

The way he played,
it was very electric.

He was very coordinated,

but looked very wild.

He still looked like
he could throw the ball

anywhere on the field
and you're was like, what?

He was so beautiful.

Man, the grace.

And I can never tell
if he was aware

of how [f......] cool he looked.

You know what I mean?

Did he know
he looked that cool?

Do you think the fact
that you are like you are

in facial expression makes you
sometimes unapproachable?

A reporter comes in
and sees Clemente,

perhaps stalking
around the clubhouse

with that particular expression
on his face

and says, oh, my goodness,

how can I go near
the great Roberto Clemente

when he doesn't look happy?

The press
did not like my father.

One of the problems
that Dad had with the media

was the way that
they would quote him.

He would say "hit"
like "heat."

So they would spell H-E-E-T,

and that really bothered him.

That's where that contentious
relationship started to evolve

because he's saying, you know
what I'm trying to say,

but you're trying to make me
look like I'm not educated.

Sports writers in Pittsburgh
were old school white guys,

part of sort of
a clubby atmosphere.

There was always
this sort of tension

from this beautiful, proud,
talented Puerto Rican,

and these older sports writers
who didn't know Spanish

and didn't know
how to connect with him.

His name was Roberto,
and yet a lot of people

would refer to him
or would call him...

ANNOUNCER:
[echoing] Bobby...

Bob.

They would try
to Americanize him.

Dad was a very proud
Puerto Rican.

That was his pride.

His pride and joy
where he grew up,

where his people were,
his food, his culture.

He did not want to lose that

and wanted to make sure
that people understood

that his name was not Bob.

His name was Roberto.

He was born in Puerto Rico.

NEWSREEL ANNOUNCER:
Fans who waited 33 years

since the home team's
last pennant

swarm into
Pittsburgh's Forbes Field

as the Pirates open
against the New York Yankees.

What a great contrast

between the two teams
in the World Series.

The Pittsburgh Pirates,
a secondary market

versus the New York Yankees,

the Bronx Bombers

of Mickey Mantle
and Yogi Berra and Roger Maris.

The Yankees
were in the World Series

every year in the 1950s

except for 1954 and '59.

The Pirates had not even
been in the World Series

since they were swept
by the Yankees in 1927.

The Yankees were clearly
the better team.

The Pirates are a good team,

but they're given
little to no chance

of even being competitive
in the series.

When the Yankees win,
they're blowouts.

ANNOUNCER:
The Yankees roar back

to a shattering 16-3 victory,

and the fans go wild!

When the Pirates win,

they squeak out the victory

by one or two or three runs.

ANNOUNCER: And Clemente hits
a soft dribbler towards Scowron

and nobody's gonna get over.

Bases loaded.

Clemente gets a hit
in every game.

He's playing
a brilliant right field.

He's really
at the center of the action.

Dad hit .310.

He had nine hits
in 29 at bats.

I mean, he did it all
on the field as well.

No errors.
He was perfect.

The Yankees and Pirates,

they end up playing even
through the first six games.

ANNOUNCER:
Forbes Field in Pittsburgh,

the seventh game
of the 1960 World Series.

That sets up
this incredible game seven.

The Yankees were my team

and my mother wanted me
to go to school

and my father said,
no, he'll remember this

longer than he'll remember
what happened at school.

So many swings in momentum.

Times where it looked like
the Yankees were gonna win.

Times where it looked like
the Pirates were gonna win.

It ends up being tied.

Mazeroski comes up
leading off for the Pirates.

ANNOUNCER: Sudden death now,
last of the ninth.

9-9.

Ball one outside.

There's a drive
into deep left field.

Look out now.

That ball is going...

[cheering]

Bill Mazeroski

hits it over the left field
fence for a home run!

The Pirates win it 10-9
and win the World Series!

Over the left field fence.

Yogi Berra watches it fly out
of Forbes Field.

It's one of the most dramatic
endings to a World Series,

and it's one of the most
dramatic game sevens

in the history
of the Fall Classic.

The heart of the team,
under-recognized,

was their most talented player

who was finally
reaching his potential,

and that was Roberto Clemente
in right field.

I was crestfallen.

I vowed not to speak,
which for me was quite a thing.

Not only has my team lost,

but they're not
supposed to lose.

I'm eight years old.

Baseball is all
I really care about.

Clemente is part
of my eight-year-old pain.

Clemente left the locker room.

They were gonna try to do
some champagne and stuff

in the locker room and hang out,
and he snuck out on his own.

He just felt his people
were outside,

and so he went out
into the streets

and hung out with fans.

How cool was that?

So for the fans,
it was pretty awesome.

I was coming home
from St. Malachy School.

My brother,
he was jumping up and down

and yelling, they won,
the Pirates won!

The Buccos won!

It was so thrilling.

Roberto was from the Caribbean.

Roberto was from Puerto Rico.

It was a big, bloody deal.

He's greeted in Puerto Rico
as this conquering hero,

this migrant worker went up
to the mainland and prevailed.

But then he gets a call about
the Most Valuable Player Award.

Clemente didn't finish second,
third, fourth,

fifth, sixth, or seventh.

He finished eighth in the voting
and that hurt him.

His teammate, Dick Groat,
ends up winning the MVP.

Groat was an All American
basketball player at Duke,

and sort of
an all-American stereotype.

Clemente had no resentment
toward Groat,

and he didn't want it
to be perceived

that he was trying to say
that he was better than Groat.

His whole argument, though,

was I should have been voted
higher than eighth.

He was behind a pitcher,
Lindy McDaniel,

who was a relief pitcher
for the Cardinals.

It doesn't even make any sense.

The stats with Dick Groat
and Dad were very comparable.

For him to see those stats
and come in eighth,

that in itself
is, like, are you kidding me?

I mean, why?

He was furious,
absolutely furious.

He knew the reason why
he was eighth in the voting

is because of how he looked.

I look at that winter
and that denial,

that rejection
as the fuel that flamed him

for the rest of that decade
as this unstoppable ball player.

ANNOUNCER: Lines a drive
down the right field line.

From that point on,
he was Clemente the Great One.

ANNOUNCER: And what
a magnificent performance

from Pittsburgh's right fielder,
the great Roberto Clemente.

You'll see what I do.

My name
will be across this nation.

My mother, she was born
in Carolina, Puerto Rico,

same town as my father.

[speaking Spanish]

You know, Carolina,
it's a small town.

And one day in particular,

my mother is going
to the pharmacy

to pick up some meds
for my grandmother.

When she walks
into the pharmacy,

she was surprised
to see my father

sitting in front of the counter
reading the paper.

She said when she saw him,
her heart skipped, you know.

[laughs]

[speaking Spanish]

When he got home,
he told his mother,

I met the girl
I'm gonna marry.

And my grandma was, like,
but who is she?

He said, I don't know,
but I'm marrying her.

That's the one I'm marrying.

[speaking Spanish]

Dad was in Major League Baseball
for 10 years.

He was a bachelor
in Major League Baseball,

making money, good-looking.

He could have had any woman
out there to be his wife.

And it's a very shy,
gorgeous woman to grab him.

[speaking Spanish]

My parents go to a game,
and the game was rained out.

And he goes,
well, let's go to lunch.

And my mother goes, no,

my father is listening
to the game on the radio.

I must go home right now.

There's no game.
I'm going home.

The very next day,
he went to see my grandfather.

He said, you're going
to see my daughter.

You have two hours
two or three days a week

to be able to go see her.

And that was it.

That's how
the courtship started.

[speaking Spanish]

[thunder]

Sometimes there are just
these eerie coincidences

and connections in life.

As it turned out,

the person who brought
the news of Anairis' death,

Roberto's sister,
to the Clementes

was the man
who would be the father

of Vera Zabala Clemente,
Roberto's wife,

long before there was any other
connection of the families.

Roberto would tell Vera
about Anairis being at his side

at various times
during his life.

So it was sort of a motif of his

perhaps playing into his sense
of destiny and fatalism

of being haunted by this sister
he'd never really got to know.

He would say things like,
I see her.

She's at my side.

I think it was
pushing him forward

to accomplish things

that his sister
would never be able to see.

[bell chimes]

[speaking Spanish]

Many years. [laughs]

Many years.

And they are old.

Aye-yi-yi.

Dad was really excited
to have children.

When it was time,

Dad said, Vera,
you're flying to Puerto Rico

because my children are going
to be born in Puerto Rico.

So mom had to fly back
to Puerto Rico.

And then you had Ramiro Martinez

with a recorder
in the delivery room

to record my first cry

so he can play that
after the game

over the phone to my father.

[speaking Spanish]

When he was at the house,
he would be playing with us.

He would be playing music.

You know,
he played the harmonica.

Oh, all the memories.
It was awesome.

[speaking Spanish]

Dad told mom quite a few times,
Vera, come sit down.

I want you to learn
what I'm doing

because I'm going to die young.

[speaking Spanish]

That connection with his sister

had a lot to do
with the way he lived his life.

Understanding
that it's not promised

that you're gonna be here.

At any moment, you can be gone.

After the '60 World Series
and the MVP,

he was mad, he was upset.

He just was, like,
I will show you.

My ability
is gonna prove to you

that you can't deny me
being MVP.

Clemente came out in '61,
he was a man on fire.

He was the kind of guy

that if you motivated him
by irritating him,

he would get better.

He was out to prove something,
out to play hard

and show the world, you know,
what a great player he was.

ANNOUNCER:
And what a hitter.

So he came out in '61,
he wins his first batting title.

ANNOUNCER: There's a rap
to right that Clemente comes on.

The ball hangs up for him.

He wins his first Gold Glove.

ANNOUNCER:
Clemente lines a drive

deep to right field.

Henry Aaron
goes back, back, back

and you can kiss it goodbye.

It's gone for a home run
for Roberto.

In '64, he wins
the batting title,

In '65,
he wins the batting title.

ANNOUNCER:
If Roberto can reach the ball,

he'll swing at it.

He went on a tear.

He was unstoppable.

He really went on a mission
to show who he was.

ANNOUNCER:
Roberto Clemente,

one of the outstanding
baseball players

in the game today.

He had one great season
after another.

He played great right field,

won the Gold Glove
almost every year.

In 1966,
everything comes together.

Everything just really meshed,

and it was a major, major year.

In '66, he wins the MVP.

He finally accomplished

exactly what
he wanted to accomplish.

For once, I'm recognized,

and there's no buts
about this one.

That gave him some hope

that he would be looked at
through the media the right way.

I can't leave the show

unless we talk about something
you touched upon,

and that's your health,

because that has been the area
of Roberto Clemente

that's been the most criticized.

People have called you
a hypochondriac.

[speaking Spanish]

He felt that
if you asked him a question,

how are you feeling today?

He thought
you were being serious

in what you were asking.

He felt that
in his neck and back.

To me it wasn't fake.
He felt that.

[speaking Spanish]

Constantly
he needed to be massaged

you know, to deal with
all those pains.

Mom would do it at home.

The truth is that Roberto
was a hypochondriac.

Please, come on.

It was not in his head.
It was for real.

And the other truth is
he was an artist

who had a very sensitive feeling
for his body.

His body was his work of art.

He used to tell me,
Mako, go to the top of my head.

And I used to squeeze his neck
like this

because he said that that
makes him look better,

brighter.

I don't know.

Clemente went to L.A.

and told Tony Bartirome,
get some goat milk.

Has anybody said this?

No. Get some goat milk.

Rub me down with some goat milk.

And Tony said, what the hell
are you talking about?

Went out and got
some goat milk.

Rubbed him down.
Got four hits.

Gets some goat milk
the next day.

He had eight hits in L.A.

So, [C.....], I went up to Tony

and said, give me a gallon
of that goat milk.

I'm in a slump.

No. [laughs]

Oh, you know about the punch.

Yeah, I'll tell you
about the punch, yeah.

He put like 12 eggs
in that blender.

Pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop,
pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop.

And then I recall
it was grape juice.

And I drank some of it,

and he went, ooh, with his.

How was it?

I couldn't break his heart
because of what he put into it.

So I said,
man, that was great.

That was the best.

I lied to him.
I really didn't like it.

He would always make fun of
players that took hot showers.

And you see steam
coming out of their head.

He would ask them,
how do you pluck chickens?

And make them think,

well, if I'm taking
a hot shower,

I can be losing my hair.

Yeah, absolutely.

Dad would say,
I don't drink anything

after eating for an hour
because he always ate rice.

What happens with rice
when you put water to it?

It expands.

That's why
he had a size 30 waist.

Clemente was as human
as we all are.

And I never pretended
to canonize him.

But I believe that being human

gives you space
to have your ups and downs.

Dad was hot tempered.

He would get mad.

He fought.
He actually got into fights.

I'll give you some dirt,
all right?

You want some dirt?
I'll give you some dirt.

ANNOUNCER:
Clemente comes up firing.

There was a time
where Bob Gibson struck him out.

And he yelled something
from the mound,

something like, go back
to where you came from

type of deal.

Dad goes back to the dugout
fuming.

He tells Jose Pagan,

he says, next at bat,

I'm going to kill him.

ANNOUNCER:
Here is Roberto Clemente.

So he decides
to just wait for a pitch.

A bullet.

He ended up breaking his leg.

There you go.
You got some dirt on Dad.

He hit Bob Gibson on purpose.

ANNOUNCER: Clemente
keeps Belanger from scoring.

He might have gotten beaten up
by the writers,

and he might have
gotten beaten up

by other managers and players
around the league,

but he played all out
and Pittsburghers loved him.

He was giving you his all.

That was the most
important thing to do.

If someone is willing to spend
their hard-earned money

to watch a baseball game,

you have no idea
what sacrifice that person made

to be in that stadium.

His fondness for Pittsburgh
came from the people,

and the people in the classic
sense of regular people.

Over the course of the years,
he became more and more beloved,

especially by the kids
of Pittsburgh.

Dad thought that was
the most important thing to do,

was to be able to take the time
to give an autograph.

He would not leave the stadium
until he signed every autograph

for every kid standing there.

Sometimes the bus to go
to the airport would leave him.

I was able to see the Pirates

for the first time in person
on a Father's Day.

That day, after the game,

players came out
and there was that excitement.

I saw Roberto, so I just said,

you know,
may I have your autograph?

He wrote "Best Wishes,
Roberto Clemente."

Some people were shouting,
"the bus left for the airport."

And it seemed like they were
all trying to figure out,

like, now what?

Who's gonna get a taxi?

I said, wait a minute,
just stay here.

I'll go get my dad.

And I said,
Dad, come on, hurry up.

We have to go.
I'll tell you the story later.

Just come on with me.
And so we run back.

I just said, Mr. Clemente,

my dad has the car
right outside.

We get into the car.

There's fans jumping on the car

and yelling,
Mr. Clemente, Mr. Clemente.

And my dad says,
in very colorful language,

like, what the F
is happening, you know? [laughs]

I said, well, Dad,
let me introduce you.

This is Mr. Clemente.

He and my dad started talking

and Roberto asked him,
like, you know,

where he was from,
what did he do?

They instantly just, I mean,
they talked, you know,

back and forth
like they had known each other

their whole lives.

I do remember Roberto
asking me, like,

what was I gonna be doing?

What was I, you know,

what was I gonna be doing
in the future?

And I said, I wanted
to maybe join the Peace Corps

And that just thrilled him.

and wanted to help
marginalized children.

We got to the airport.

He gave my dad
two slips of papers,

and one said, "call me collect,"
and he wrote his number

and he asked my dad
for his phone number,

so they did the exchange.

And we said our goodbyes
and he thanked us so much.

My dad and I, you know,
went back to the car.

And driving home,
we just said, oh, my God.

Like, how did this happen?

What was born is a 56-year
friendship of two families.

It's the most incredible
relationship

certainly in my life.

If you look at
all of his best friends

and closest friends,
we were all nobodies.

We were not the celebrities.

We were not the rich,
the famous.

So when we got together,
we felt the warmth.

You felt the connection.

Those are the values

that just seemed to be
in everything he did.

[speaking Spanish]

When he would go back
to his native Puerto Rico

after each season,

he would hold baseball clinics,

and these were for kids
who didn't have any money,

and he would do it for free.

[speaking Spanish]

Dad would gather the kids around

and take them
to different stations

and start talking about life.

He would incorporate
life lessons into the clinic,

and not only for them,
but also for the parents.

[speaking Spanish]

[speaking Spanish]

[Jerry Morales
speaking Spanish]

Dad loved kids,
and I know that it had to do

with experiencing how it felt

to watch Monte Irving
on the field,

understanding that feeling
of being young,

having an idol

and understanding
that he had become someone

that those kids
were looking up to,

making sure that
he gave the time to inspire them

the same way Monte did.

There's one thing
that I didn't like

about Clemente
teaching baseball.

He wants some of the kids
to be like Clemente.

I say, no way.

You can teach 'em baseball,

you can teach 'em how to hit
and all that.

To be like Clemente,
forget it.

There will never be
another Roberto Clemente.

The first half of the sixties,

he was not the leader
of the team.

By '65, '66,

it was evident that he was

more and more every year
from then on.

It partly was a transition
of the team

from a group of players
from the fifties, mostly white,

to a team that was becoming

increasingly Latino
and African American.

Part of it was just

the continued excellence
of his playing

and part of it
was his own confidence

and exuding leadership.

Dad always said,
we as Latinos,

we are treated
as third class citizens.

He thought it was very important

that we elevate
our way of carrying ourselves.

All the eyes are on us,

and we have to work harder
than anyone else

to be successful.

He would check on
the other Latino players

that were up and coming.

He was a voice of knowledge
to them.

For example, Manny Sanguillen,
he took him under his wing.

ANNOUNCER: Number 35.

Roberto said if I had
Manny Sanguillen's smile,

I'd be the most popular person
on earth.

ANNOUNCER: Batting fifth,

catching for Pittsburgh,
Manny Sanguillen.

[laughs]

The house that we lived in
when I was a child

was near Three Rivers Stadium.

One particular Sunday
I went to the Pirate game

and afterwards went home
and got my rubber ball out,

and I was out front throwing
the rubber ball off the wall.

After an hour,
hour and a half,

I looked up
and I saw the green El Dorado

coming down the drive
from the stadium,

and I knew
that was Roberto's car.

So I waved to him
and he beeped.

He got out of the car
and he said, okay,

let's see what you got.

So I started playing catch
with Roberto.

My father, who was
a very hard man to impress,

I remember he came
to the front door

and he was watching us,

and I remember him
calling to my mother,

saying, hey, Sadie,
come look at your kid.

And I think
that was the first time

I ever impressed my father.

My mom was in the midst
of cooking a Sunday dinner

and she comes out
and she says, Roberto, Roberto,

it's such a pleasure
to meet you.

You're Harry's favorite.

Come on, you gotta
come in the house.

You gotta come in,
we're just having dinner.

And he's like,
oh, no, no, no,

I don't want to intrude,
I don't want to intrude.

And my mom's tugging
on his sleeve.

So he's, okay.

He comes in and he sits down

and we had burgers
and crinkle cut fries

and iced teas
and Roberto sat there

and he was just so personable
and just so down to earth.

He just carried himself
so differently

and he spoke differently

and everything about him
was royalty.

I've never had the feeling

that I did
when I met Roberto Clemente,

and I've never met anyone
like him since.

One of the things
Dad always received

was a lot of fan mail,

and they came in in sacks.

As a kid, you want to have some
connection to the ballplayers.

So I would find pictures

in Sports Illustrated
sports magazine,

and I would send them a letter
with the picture,

just asking
for their autograph.

And hardly anyone ever got back.

You know, it didn't,
especially the superstars.

I was just this fourth grader,
you know,

sending, "Dear Mr. Clemente,
you're my favorite player.

I saw this picture,
if you could sign it."

It was always just a needle
in a haystack.

Like, how would this
ever get to him?

Would they really sign it?

But damned if one day
showed up a letter.

It's from the Pirates.

I was, like,
what, the Pirates?

So I open it up carefully.

There's that beautiful picture
of Clemente

behind the batting cage
just looking.

And in the corner,

to Rick, best wishes,
Roberto Clemente.

He's, like, the only superstar
who ever got back.

He would show up
at children's hospitals

and just walk into the hospital
and wanted to go visit kids.

There's not many people
doing as much work.

I'm not saying that guys
didn't go to hospitals,

because they did.

Babe Ruth did. Ted Williams did.
Willie Mays did.

They did it,
but did they do it as much?

And no one knew about it,

because he wouldn't allow
the media to come.

He would tell everybody,
don't tell anyone.

So think of what we do know,
think of what we don't know.

[chanting]
The whole world's watching!

The whole world's watching!

REPORTER:
The demonstrators came.

Their positions on the war,
racial discrimination,

and other political issues
were made known.

Throughout the rally, officers
of the Metropolitan Police

were directed to maintain
a low visibility profile.

It was a period of unease
in America.

The Vietnam War
was still going on.

The Civil Rights Movement

had moved from integration
to Black Power.

You know, there's always
divisiveness in America.

'71 was one of those periods.

It was a funky time,

and those Pirates reflected that
in every way.

ANNOUNCER: Number 21,
Roberto Clemente.

[cheering]

The 1971 Pirates
were a very good team.

You know, just talent
oozing all over the place,

with young stars like
Willie Stargell and Al Oliver,

Manny Sanguillen.

They had a lot of great players,

with Clemente as the leader
and the oldest of the group.

In some ways,
they were almost like

this great boy band of a team.

Like, there's the bad boy
and there's the cute one

and there's the slightly
rough around the edges,

but approachable one.
[laughs]

Yeah, we had a little thing
in the clubhouse

called the Kangaroo Court.

It was set up
to take guys to court

that did things
that were out of the ordinary.

Put it that way.

Put your hat on backwards

or miss a belt loop
in your pants.

Throwing a bat, getting
thrown out of the game.

Not buying someone a beer
after the game.

And you would get tried
in front of your peers.

If you went to a Kangaroo Court,

you were guilty no matter what.

Yeah, you do that
in the big leagues now,

there's a fist fight.

The characters we had,

and Clemente
was right in the mix.

Dave Giusti would scream at him
in Italian,

Clemente would holler back
in Spanish,

and then Manny Sanguillen
would try to interpret.

Now, you would have bought
a ticket to that.

And that was in our clubhouse.

We had a milestone
that happened in baseball

that very few people talk about.

September the 1st, 1971.

September 1st, 1971.

I always got
to the ballpark early

the days I knew
that I was playing.

The lineup had been posted,

and I knew I was in there.

And I remember
our little bat boy,

he makes the comment that
the Homestead Grays are in town.

And I kept saying,

Homestead Grays are
one of the Negro League teams.

And it just
kind of like, pssht,

went right over my shoulders.

Didn't think too much about it.

ANNOUNCER:
And for the Bucs,

who get a fine ovation now

as they come out of the dugout

and head on to the field.

I played third base
that night,

and Rennie played second.

Jackie played short.
Scoop played first.

Clemente was in right.

Gene was in center.
Willie was in left.

And Sanguillen was catching.

I'm out there in center field,

and I'm thinking about
what the bat boy had said.

Then I looked to my left
and there was Stargell.

Then I looked to my right
and there was Clemente.

And then I kind of turned around
and then I start...

I looked at Al.

I said, Al, man,
there's all brothers out here.

And he said,
yeah, I guess you're right.

That day,
the Pittsburgh Pirates

fielded the only
minority starting lineup

in baseball history.

And we did win.

It wasn't about having
nine black and Latino players.

It was about having
a group of guys out there

with the same mindset
of winning.

ANNOUNCER: The Baltimore Orioles
make the World Series scene

for the third straight year.

And they're heavily favored
to win as they did a year ago.

There was a Baltimore newspaper

that ran up a headline
before the series,

predicting that the Orioles

are gonna win the series
in three games.

Of course,
that's impossible to do.

But it was an insult
to the Pirates,

saying
you Pirates have no chance.

The deck appeared
to be stacked once again

against the Pirates in '71.

The Orioles were truly

one of the great teams
in baseball history.

The Pirates, in a World Series
for the first time in 11 years,

start Dock Ellis.

And the Orioles, with a choice
of four 20-game winners,

pick Dave McNally.

Baltimore had four
20-game winners.

Four 20-game winners.

Four 20-game winners.

It's very odd

to have four pitchers
on your team

that each one of them
won 20 games.

Game one,
they didn't give us a chance.

They had a devastating team.

They had Frank Robinson,

the Most Valuable Player
in both leagues.

Boog Powell, 30 home runs.

Brooks Robinson, probably one
of the greatest third basemen

ever to play the game.

ANNOUNCER: Brooks Robinson
goes into his act.

It's beyond
Stargell's desperate leap.

The Orioles lead 4-3.

The impact
sends Sanguillen spinning.

Buford in the fifth.

In so many ways,

the Orioles are reminiscent
of the Yankees

of a generation ago.

Baltimore 5, Pittsburgh 3.

In that World Series,
I mean, I was a nervous wreck.

I was probably shaking
like a leaf,

I'd just put a uniform on it,
I went out there,

and said, here I am
in the big leagues.

ANNOUNCER: Now Willie Stargell,

the home run king of the majors.

And when Oliver
fumbles and falls,

three birds
are sent into orbit.

Guys were mad.

That was embarrassing to us.

Baltimore 11,
Pittsburgh 3.

They kicked our butts
pretty good.

We got pounded, you know,
we got beat.

We were just frustrated
and mad

because we didn't represent
the true Pirates at the time,

and that was embarrassing to us.

They looked like they
didn't belong on the same field.

And a lot of people
gave up on the Pirates

after those first two games.

Now we're coming back
to Three Rivers,

and I know the fans
of Pittsburgh

were starting to panic.

You can't lose the third game

and go down three to nothing
to the Baltimore Orioles,

who had won 100 games
coming into the World Series,

had a 16-game winning streak
coming into game three.

ANNOUNCER:
Game three comes to Pittsburgh's

magnificent
Three Rivers Stadium.

They're down two games to none,

and the Pirates
are in a close one-run game.

They're facing Mike Cuellar,

one of the four 20-game winners
on the Orioles staff.

He threw me
a first-pitch screwball,

and I hit it down
the left field line for a double

to start the game.

ANNOUNCER: Now Clemente.

Clemente's the next hitter.

I want to go back
to one play in particular.

Clemente hits a routine bouncer.

Easy play for Cuellar.

But instead of, you know,
just jogging to first,

assuming it was
gonna be an out,

Clemente busts out
of the batter's box.

ANNOUNCER:
Roberto's 37-year-old legs

beat the relay to first,

and Cash scored.

Every time Clemente
hit a ground ball to anybody,

he was full speed
all the way through first base.

He set the standard,
and we tried to emulate it.

ANNOUNCER: Should have been
over on first base now.

We should have two out.
You nervous a little bit?

Right then,
it was game on, okay?

They knew that we were here
to play some baseball.

Sanguillen's hit
is to right center,

and the smiling Panamanian
dives into second with a double.

In that World Series,

Clemente showed the world
what he could do.

I mean, the way he run,
the way he slid,

the way he caught balls,

the way he threw runners out.

You can go on
and on and on.

ANNOUNCER:
And when the last out is made,

the Orioles win streak
ends at 15,

and the final score,
Pittsburgh 5, Baltimore 1.

Game three
was like a stepping stone.

Like, hey, we got
part of the job done.

We'll take one game at a time
and see what happens.

ANNOUNCER: Game four,
the first night game

in World Series history,

and the tranquility
of the riverboat

belies the excitement
of the occasion.

On the field, Stan Musial
joined by the Misses

and Pittsburgh Vice President
Bing Crosby,

who also has a few hits
to his credit.

And quickly, the Pirates
get back in the ballgame.

And the kangaroo bounce
off the synthetic grass

makes it a two-base hit.

Clemente settles for a single,

a 10th straight series game
in which he's hit safely.

When we needed a hit,

Roberto came through
every time.

As a teammate,
when you see him do that,

we're gonna do it as well.

ANNOUNCER: Now the Bucks call
on Dave Giusti to lock it up,

and Powell's foul pop
tells it all.

The World Series is all tied up.

Clemente said,
we're gonna go home,

we're gonna win this series,

and the other Pirates
believed him.

They thought
that that four 20-game winners

was gonna handle our lineup.

Uh-uh.
You better get more than that.

ANNOUNCER: The Pirates
taking the World Series lead,

holding the Birds to nine hits
in 27 innings,

showing the kind of pitching
and defense

that Baltimore is endowed with,
but has not unveiled so far.

Three games in a row.

What was so clutch about Roberto
in the World Series

was his power.

He showed power that a lot of
people didn't think that he had.

ANNOUNCER: Fans might
want to take a look

at the body of this man.

You can almost put your hands
around his waist.

He weighs about 185.

If you've seen him stripped
from the waist up,

a marvelous chest and shoulders,

long, limber muscles.

I call it almost
the perfect body for an athlete.

Clemente, who tagged Palmer
for a single and double

the first two times
they met up with each other,

improves on that.

I always tell people
that haven't ever had a chance

to see Clemente
play in the field,

watch some of the highlights
of him

from the 1971 World Series.

ANNOUNCER:
Roberto going with the pitch

and sailing it
over Frank Robinson's head.

It's his 11th hit
and first homer of the series.

And the Pirates lead 2-0.

In the ninth, the Orioles
go for the tiebreaker.

Buford with Belanger
on first and two out.

And only a good play by Clemente
keeps Belanger from scoring.

We're going into extra innings.

Rettenmund up next.

And he bounces one though.

And look at Frank Robinson
shift into high gear.

Frank Robinson
made the play of the game,

and it set up a situation

where they had first and third
and one out.

ANNOUNCER: Puts runners
on first and third.

The infield,
the outfield drawn in.

We got a fly ball
to center field.

ANNOUNCER: Davalillo's under it
and shallow.

Davalillo's got it,
Frank is coming.

Here comes the throw!

He scores
and the Orioles win!

And the final score
in 10 innings,

Baltimore three runs,
two runs Pittsburgh.

They walked us off the field.

We had to walk off the field
with our tails between our legs.

But we still had
one game to play.

ANNOUNCER:
Roberto Clemente in right field,

and behind the plate,
we have Manny Sanguillen.

And on the mound, Steve Blass.

Two strikes to Powell.

One out, Buford at first.

Look out. One and two.

Well, it has been strictly
a home team World Series so far.

The Pirates have won every game
played in Pittsburgh.

The Orioles have won every game
played in Baltimore.

And now time,
Earl Weaver is on his way.

Earl Weaver: 8.01.

Rule 8.01 says
he's got to take us--

He's got the pitch
from in front,

on the rubber in front
and not on the side.

This is a lot of tricky stuff.

Rule 8.01. 8.01.

He's not lined up properly
on the rubber.

Stopped the game.

Came out in an effort
to distract me.

ANNOUNCER: Now here
is a good close up shot.

And quite obviously,

Blass is exactly
where he is supposed to be

in contact with the rubber.

And this is the payoff.
3-2 pitch to Powell.

Buford at first and one out.

They hold Buford
and Powell strikes out.

What he didn't realize
I got so upset with him

that I forgot how nervous I was.

ANNOUNCER: So now pitching
from in front of the rubber,

Steve Blass.

Rule 8.01.

Roberto was the guy that said,
I will lead you guys.

Just give me a little help,
and I'll take care of the rest.

ANNOUNCER: And speaking
of problems to contend with,

Baltimore has had its hands full
and then some

trying to handle
Roberto Clemente.

Three scoreless innings
with less trouble.

But with two out in the fourth,

Clemente,
the unsinkable Pirate.

2nd ANNOUNCER:
A Clemente home run,

and the Pirates lead 1-0.

1st ANNOUNCER:
The Pirates lead 1-0.

We could not let him down.

ANNOUNCER: Pittsburgh 2
and Baltimore 1.

Blass has struck out five.

One more out,
the Pirates are world champs.

But that's always
the hardest out to get.

Now here is Merv Rettenmund.

He's very emotional

and he just might explode
out there.

Now the last hope for
the Orioles, Merv Rettenmund.

There's a drive up the middle.

Hernandez in back of the bag.
He's got him!

Jackie Hernandez!
Look at Blass!

Blass has pitched the Pirates
to the World Championship.

The Pirates, two games down,

they come back and become
the world champs.

Clemente, of course, played
brilliantly in this series.

I saw in Clemente

how bad that he wanted
that World Series,

not for him alone,

but also for his teammates
and the city of Pittsburgh.

He dominated that series,

and that's really the signature
performance of his career.

Clemente is an indisputably
great player,

and his era is a great era

filled with some
of the most memorable players,

and he took his place
among them.

It's Willie Mays, Hank Aaron,
and Roberto Clemente.

You know, little Pittsburgh
in 11 years

winning two championships

against two behemoths
with one commonality:

Roberto Clemente.

The world finally recognized
this great ballplayer.

And here with me right now,
the greatest right fielder

in the game of baseball,
Roberto Clemente.

Bobby, congratulations
on a great World Series.

[speaking Spanish]

I never see anybody, anybody--
And I see a lot of games--

and I never see anybody

saying, let me say something
in Spanish first.

[speaking Spanish]

It never happened before.

Hearing Roberto Clemente
speak in Spanish,

my Dad cried.

Because think for a moment.

You're listening to games
in English.

It's not like
you have a telecast

that's going to be
in Spanish.

So to hear his native tongue,

the impact
not only for my father,

but for everybody
throughout the United States

and certainly in Puerto Rico

that they're hearing Roberto
Clemente spoke in Spanish.

He's speaking to me.

Before I say anything English,
I would like to say something

for my mother and father
in Spanish.

[speaking Spanish]

It was after
the '71 World Series.

He arrived in Puerto Rico.

It was a sea of people

and they were trying
to get to Dad,

like pulling and,
I mean, fighting to get--

it was insane.

There was a correlation
of how people acted towards Dad

and what he did for them.

For me, it was just Dad,
you know?

It's like, what's the big deal?

It's Dad.

Roberto:

REPORTER:
The airport here in Managua

is practically deserted.

Fires are blazing everywhere.

The rubble is in the streets.

It is impossible
for traffic to get through.

It is not known at this point
whether they would be able to.

The central portion of the city
is practically destroyed.

[siren]

Right before Christmas in 1972,

there was a massive earthquake
in Nicaragua.

Hundreds of people killed,

thousands and thousands
pushed out of their homes.

Dad had gone to Nicaragua
several times

and continued to go
because he loved how he felt.

He always thought that Nicaragua
reminded him of Puerto Rico

when he was growing up.

He had friends there
that he loved very much.

[speaking Spanish]

Immediately Dad says,
you know what?

We're gonna have to do
something about this.

He called a friend
who has a TV show

and asked to go
live television

to start asking for aid.

[speaking Spanish]

That was Dad.

Dad was the guy that
spearheaded the whole thing.

He was right
in the middle of it,

carrying boxes and taping boxes

and getting them ready
to be shipped.

Word came back to him

that the aid
wasn't getting to the people.

It was being basically stolen

by the strongman
Anastasio Somoza of Nicaragua

and his troops.

When he understood that the aid,

it was not getting
to Masaya Hospital

where it was sent to,
he decided to go.

He said, I need to go
and cross the militia line

and get to the people
that need the help.

The morning,
I remember waking up.

I went out crying
through the front door.

When I got to him, I said,
Dad, don't get on that plane.

You know,
he looked at me and he goes,

I'll see you when I get back.

I said, no, you won't.

REPORTER: Today was a day
of mourning in Puerto Rico

for Roberto Clemente,

the Pittsburgh Pirates
baseball star.

Clemente was a hero
in Puerto Rico.

Yesterday, he and four other men

died in a plane crash
in the ocean.

They had been flying
a load of relief supplies

for victims of the earthquake
in Managua, Nicaragua.

Today, the search continued
for the plane

and the men
who went down with it.

All I heard was a scream.

Mom screaming.

And, um...

And I knew that, um...

that Dad was gone.

[speaking Spanish]

[sniffles]

It was like losing
a family member.

And I'll never forget that day.

It still bothers me.

[bell tolls]

He fell on a mission of mercy

as he journeyed south

to help the distressed people
of Nicaragua.

We have known him

as a fitting example
for our children,

as a living demonstration

of sportsmanship
and athletic excellence.

When it came across the radio

as the number one headline
of the day,

my mother and my father and I
just sat there and bawled.

The research I did,

finding out what really happened
with that plane

was the most
devastating research

I've done in my career.

The plane that he got on

had been purchased
at a part of Miami airport

that was called
Cockroach Corner.

It was where all these
bad planes were housed.

The man who bought it
got it back to San Juan.

And when he heard that Clemente
was looking for a plane,

he went to Clemente and said,
I've got a plane for you.

He eventually recruited a pilot

who had just
flown into the airport,

hadn't had any sleep
for over 20 hours.

Turns out he had 30-some
FAA violations against him.

The pilot did not have
a flight engineer.

They literally recruited
a mechanic off the ramps

to come be the flight engineer
for the plane.

These people didn't know
how to load a plane.

Turns out it was overloaded
by several thousand pounds.

Clemente knew none of this.

Every single day I would hide
somewhere in the house

and I would be crying
until finally I realized

that that wasn't
gonna bring him back.

I remember his calloused hands,

his huge hands,
rough and soft at the same time.

He had this energy.

When he touched you,
it was just...

I've never felt it again.

REPORTER: Three months later,
at Cooperstown, New York,

Roberto Clemente was inducted

into the baseball's
Hall of Fame.

The rule that a player
is not eligible

until five years after
his last active year was waived.

Roberto's wife was there
to accept the honor.

He remains this sort of paragon
of what the best of us can be.

It really transcends sport.

It's like look at your life,

and then take the things
that you believe most deeply

in an uncompromising way,
and merge those two things.

When you talk about Clemente,

you don't really talk
about numbers.

You don't really talk about

how many times he hit 300,
you know.

You don't talk about
his Gold Gloves.

You talk about the legacy
he left outside of the game.

[speaking Spanish]

ANNOUNCER: Today
it is Roberto Clemente Day

in Major League Baseball.

What does that number mean
to you?

[speaking Spanish]

ANNOUNCER: He scores!

Walk it off on Clemente Day

with a great hustling play

that the great one
would appreciate.

He was a humanitarian
that came to the MLB

and opened the door
for Puerto Rico people

and all Hispanics.

Baseball unites people.

That's what Dad saw in baseball,

that it was his way
to getting his message across.

You see a lot of people
do a lot of talking,

but Roberto was for real.

[speaking Spanish]

He went beyond
the game of baseball.

That is the part
that separates him

from the Babe Ruth,

from the Willie Mays,
from the Ted Williams,

from all these guys
that are the best of the best

in the game of baseball,

baseball's secondary to what
the name Clemente means.

Time sort of dictate, I think,
who transcends the game.

There's that wonderful
photo of him

with the clouds behind him
where he's just an angel.

He became that.

At times
I don't think he's dead, man.

I feel his presence,
you know.

We still miss him.
This city misses him.

The game misses him.

You say the name Clemente,

the first thing that comes
is Puerto Rico, Pittsburgh.

He's still carrying the flag
for the minority people,

for his family,
for his sister.

[speaking Spanish]

Bobby, at 38 years old

and 18 years
in the major leagues

and having accomplished
just about everything there is

to accomplish in baseball,

I guess the thought
enters your mind

that one of these days
it's gonna be all over.

ROBERTO: