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BROADCAST ANNOUNCER:
That is hit well.

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(spectators cheering)

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A Clemente home run!

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NARRATOR:
On October 17, 1971,

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the underdog Pittsburgh Pirates
defeated the Baltimore Orioles

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in game seven
to win the World Series.

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Many players had contributed
to the victory,

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but everyone agreed
who was most responsible--

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their veteran right fielder
from Puerto Rico,

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number 21, Roberto Clemente.

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SPORTSCASTER:
And here with me right now,

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the greatest right fielder
in the game of baseball...

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NARRATOR:
But it wasn't just his play
on the field that day

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that his admirers
would remember.

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It was what he did afterwards.

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{\an3}And before I say
anything in English,

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{\an3}I would like
to say something

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{\an3}for my mother and
father in Spanish.

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{\an3}En el día más grande
de mi vida,

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{\an3}para los nenes,
la bendición mía

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y que mis padres me echen
la bendición en Puerto Rico.

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The Latinos
who were listening to that

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were watching
the English-language TV.

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To have someone suddenly
speak to you in Spanish

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reinforced a pride
in your own language and culture

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and in who Roberto was.

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LES BANOS:
I cried when he did this,

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because that was him.

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He loved his family,
he loved his country.

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He loved the United States, but
his love was for Puerto Rico.

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NARRATOR:
He was baseball's
first Latino superstar,

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before America's pastime became
truly international.

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ROBERT RUCK:
Clemente is the first athlete

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to transcend both race
and nation and culture.

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He's also not defined
by commercialism.

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It's about pride; it's about
doing what he believes is right.

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It's about loyalty.

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NARRATOR:
He played with
unparalleled grace

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during turbulent times,

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with passion and pride
that were often misunderstood.

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GEORGE WILL:
He was a puzzle, I'm sure,

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to a lot of the sporting press,
and they were

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mysterious and somewhat
adversarial, in his view.

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SAMUEL REGALADO:
Clemente was
a complicated individual

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because he stepped into
some very complicated times.

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NARRATOR:
He was larger
than the game he loved

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until his sudden, tragic death
made him larger still.

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(birds squawking)

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NARRATOR:
"I grew up with people

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that really had
to struggle to live,"

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Roberto Clemente recalled.

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"My mother never went to a show.

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She didn't know how to dance."

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Like many others
in rural Puerto Rico,

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life for Clemente's family
revolved around sugarcane.

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His father, Melchor, worked
as a foreman in the fields

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near the small town of Carolina.

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His mother, Doña Luisa,

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often rose at 1:00 a.m.
to make lunches for the workers.

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Roberto, the youngest
of seven children,

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started working when he was
just eight years old.

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Life in Carolina was hard,

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with more than its share
of tragedy,

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but Clemente
remembered it fondly.

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"We used to get together
at night and make jokes

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and eat whatever we had to eat,"
he said later.

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"It was something wonderful
to me."

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Shy, pensive, restless,

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Roberto was devoted
to the island's favorite sport.

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DAVID MARANISS:
Baseball was it for Clemente
from an early age.

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People in his neighborhood
in San Anton said

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they always saw him throwing
something against the wall.

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It could be a sock
or a bottle cap or something,

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but he always had that motion
of throwing.

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Baseball captured Roberto
as it did

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thousands and thousands
of young boys in Puerto Rico

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in that era because it was
what was available.

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Puerto Rico
was not a soccer island.

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It was baseball.

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JUAN GONZALEZ:
In Puerto Rico,
people argue and fight.

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The fanaticism toward baseball
is much greater

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than it is
here in the United States.

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NARRATOR:
As a teenager in the late 1940s,

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Clemente would catch the bus
into San Juan

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to watch
the Puerto Rican winter leagues,

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dreaming
of his own baseball future.

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(crowd cheers)

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Already
a talented player himself,

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he watched some
of the game's best,

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including Black players
from America's Negro Leagues,

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attracted by the island's
open racial climate.

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GAME ANNOUNCER:
A high pop-up
back to first base.

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That's second baseman Taylor
scooting over near the line

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to make the catch for the out,
and that retires the side.

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MARANISS:
It was so different
in Puerto Rico

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from in the United States
in that period.

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If you were a Black Puerto Rican
or a Black American,

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you could eat
wherever you wanted to,

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you could sleep
wherever you wanted to,

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you could date
whoever you wanted to.

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There wasn't
this constant reminder

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of the color of your skin.

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NARRATOR:
Following his favorite team,
the San Juan Senadores,

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Clemente saw top ballplayers,
Black and white,

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play with the Caribbean League's
trademark swashbuckling style.

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For 15 cents,

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Clemente could watch
the outfield play of his idol--

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Negro League veteran
Monte Irvin.

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SAMUEL REGALADO:
For Roberto Clemente,

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the Black ballplayers
in many respects represented

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a very important time
in his youth.

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They were the standard-bearers
for Roberto Clemente.

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They were the models.

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NARRATOR:
At 18, Clemente got
his first break,

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playing for the Santurce
Cangrejeros for $40 a week.

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Soon, the island's
top baseball men

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were talking
about the young outfielder

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with the quick bat
and the rocket arm.

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One called him "the best free
agent athlete I've ever seen."

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In 1954, Melchor Clemente

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signed a contract
on behalf of his son

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with the Brooklyn Dodger
organization,

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for the unimaginable sum
of $5,000,

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plus a $10,000 signing bonus.

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His stay with the Dodgers
would be short-lived.

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He would soon be drafted away
by the Pittsburgh Pirates,

00:07:24.441 --> 00:07:28.006
but Roberto Clemente
was living the dream

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of every Puerto Rican boy
who'd ever swung a bat.

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He was on his way north

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to play baseball
en las grandes ligas.

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NEWSREEL ANNOUNCER:
At Fort Myers,

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spring training begins
for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

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Manager Danny Murtaugh...

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NARRATOR:
For 20-year-old
Roberto Clemente,

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the annual ritual
of spring training in Florida

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was both familiar and strange.

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He had played baseball
in a warm, sunny climate before,

00:08:01.522 --> 00:08:05.150
but he had never encountered
Jim Crow.

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REGALADO:
They're training in the South,

00:08:09.363 --> 00:08:12.676
and it's in the South
that Roberto Clemente,

00:08:12.700 --> 00:08:14.761
like other
Latin American Blacks,

00:08:14.785 --> 00:08:16.888
are introduced
to the overt racism

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that they had heard about
back in their homeland

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but now actually see
in front of them,

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and it's really a concept

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that is very difficult
for them to grasp.

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MARANISS:
The whole team stayed
at the Bradford Hotel downtown,

00:08:29.717 --> 00:08:32.511
except for Clemente and three
other Black and Latino players,

00:08:32.803 --> 00:08:36.489
who had to find
their own lodging

00:08:36.514 --> 00:08:38.326
on the other side
of the tracks, literally.

00:08:38.350 --> 00:08:40.870
In every aspect
of his life there,

00:08:40.894 --> 00:08:43.623
he felt segregation strongly

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for, really,
the first time in his life.

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GONZALEZ:
He was coming here
as an American,

00:08:52.948 --> 00:08:55.533
playing baseball in his country,

00:08:55.784 --> 00:08:59.347
but he was being treated

00:08:59.371 --> 00:09:00.598
as a Black American,
as a foreigner.

00:09:00.622 --> 00:09:03.517
The way he was being identified

00:09:03.541 --> 00:09:05.210
just didn't jibe
with his reality.

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REGALADO:
You had this combination
of young ballplayer,

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anxious to succeed, has...

00:09:14.386 --> 00:09:16.906
to a certain extent
delusions of grandeur,

00:09:16.930 --> 00:09:19.391
and then there's the reality
of his position as a person,

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and in the South,
during the period of the 1950s,

00:09:23.561 --> 00:09:26.583
it didn't matter whether or not

00:09:26.607 --> 00:09:29.419
you're a professional
baseball player;

00:09:29.443 --> 00:09:31.529
you're just Black.

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(machinery squealing)

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NARRATOR:
With the start
of the regular season,

00:09:41.580 --> 00:09:43.475
the team came north
to Pittsburgh,

00:09:43.499 --> 00:09:45.977
a tough,
smoke-belching steel town,

00:09:46.001 --> 00:09:48.646
where Clemente took a room

00:09:48.670 --> 00:09:50.564
in a middle-class
African-American neighborhood.

00:09:50.588 --> 00:09:54.593
Pittsburgh fans loved their
Bucs, as they called the team,

00:09:55.344 --> 00:09:59.073
but they didn't quite know
what to make

00:09:59.097 --> 00:10:00.950
of their lone Latino player,

00:10:00.974 --> 00:10:02.976
and Clemente didn't quite know
what to make of Pittsburgh.

00:10:03.601 --> 00:10:07.541
@You were Black or you were white
in Pittsburgh.

00:10:07.565 --> 00:10:10.335
You weren't Latin.

00:10:10.359 --> 00:10:11.336
You weren't Puerto Rican.

00:10:11.360 --> 00:10:12.586
On the other hand, I suspect

00:10:12.610 --> 00:10:14.964
that both Black
and white Pittsburghers

00:10:14.988 --> 00:10:16.883
had a hard time
understanding Clemente.

00:10:16.907 --> 00:10:19.594
They had little experience
with people from Latin America,

00:10:19.618 --> 00:10:23.288
with Latin American culture,
with that sense of Latin pride.

00:10:24.289 --> 00:10:27.727
The Black community saw him,

00:10:27.751 --> 00:10:30.505
and physically he was Black
to them, but not culturally.

00:10:34.632 --> 00:10:36.218
ORLANDO CEPEDA:
He told me that
it was very lonely for him,

00:10:37.302 --> 00:10:40.698
because of communication.

00:10:40.722 --> 00:10:42.408
He couldn't communicate.

00:10:42.432 --> 00:10:44.494
That's why, uh,

00:10:44.519 --> 00:10:46.620
we had two strikes:

00:10:46.644 --> 00:10:49.415
being Black

00:10:49.439 --> 00:10:51.625
and being Latin.

00:10:51.649 --> 00:10:53.627
NARRATOR:
Clemente spent little free time

00:10:53.651 --> 00:10:56.630
with his fellow Pirates,

00:10:56.654 --> 00:10:58.656
some of whom found him
guarded and aloof.

00:11:01.493 --> 00:11:02.679
Whatever the reason,
the result was obvious:

00:11:02.703 --> 00:11:05.890
besides baseball,
number 21 and his teammates

00:11:05.914 --> 00:11:09.627
had little in common.

00:11:09.960 --> 00:11:13.647
Clemente, after baseball games,

00:11:13.671 --> 00:11:15.149
has no one, really,
to pal around with

00:11:15.173 --> 00:11:17.443
in terms of his teammates.

00:11:17.467 --> 00:11:19.653
He often wanders around
by himself.

00:11:19.677 --> 00:11:21.656
And Clemente, in fact,

00:11:21.680 --> 00:11:23.241
signed autographs till the last
person had his baseball signed,

00:11:23.265 --> 00:11:26.661
in large part because Clemente
had really nothing else

00:11:26.685 --> 00:11:29.623
better to do
that day after games.

00:11:31.524 --> 00:11:33.126
NARRATOR:
In the days before publicists
and security guards,

00:11:33.150 --> 00:11:36.613
players and fans could sometimes
have a human encounter.

00:11:39.698 --> 00:11:41.033
One day, a 17-year-old fan
from rural Pennsylvania

00:11:41.491 --> 00:11:45.138
saw Clemente
after a Phillies game.

00:11:45.162 --> 00:11:47.682
CAROL BASS:
I decided to approach him
and I said,

00:11:47.706 --> 00:11:50.684
"May I please have
your autograph?"

00:11:50.708 --> 00:11:52.103
And I had just begun
to learn some Spanish,

00:11:52.127 --> 00:11:54.523
and so I said,
"Oh, gracias, Señor Clemente."

00:11:54.547 --> 00:11:57.984
And he smiled and he looked up

00:11:58.008 --> 00:12:00.403
and he started to rattle
and go off in Spanish.

00:12:00.427 --> 00:12:04.073
And he just went on and on,
and I was just like,

00:12:04.097 --> 00:12:07.578
um, you know, so nervous inside
and I thought,

00:12:07.602 --> 00:12:09.913
"Oh, my gosh, you know,
how do I, you know,

00:12:09.937 --> 00:12:12.040
"what do I do to tell him,

00:12:12.064 --> 00:12:13.667
you know, I don't understand
what he, what he had to say?"

00:12:13.691 --> 00:12:16.085
"Mr. Clemente, I'm so sorry."

00:12:16.109 --> 00:12:18.505
I said, "I'm just beginning
to learn Spanish,

00:12:18.529 --> 00:12:20.423
I only know a few words."

00:12:20.447 --> 00:12:21.715
Well, he, you know,
started to laugh.

00:12:21.739 --> 00:12:23.217
He said, "You know,
you're never going to get

00:12:23.241 --> 00:12:25.327
a lot of autographs being
so far back."

00:12:28.539 --> 00:12:30.141
MARANISS:
An athlete's life
is mostly being uprooted.

00:12:30.165 --> 00:12:32.876
And a lot of athletes
deal with that by finding

00:12:33.751 --> 00:12:37.148
superficial outlets.

00:12:37.172 --> 00:12:38.775
Clemente mostly dealt with it

00:12:38.799 --> 00:12:40.734
by trying
to find reminders of home

00:12:40.758 --> 00:12:43.446
and family wherever he was.

00:12:43.470 --> 00:12:46.575
Carol was one part of that,

00:12:46.599 --> 00:12:49.578
and an unlikely white girl
from Philadelphia

00:12:49.602 --> 00:12:52.854
becomes part
of the Clemente family.

00:12:54.856 --> 00:12:57.335
NARRATOR:
Over the years, Clemente would
host Carol and her parents

00:12:57.359 --> 00:13:00.320
when they visited him
in Puerto Rico.

00:13:02.781 --> 00:13:04.133
But friendships with individual
fans were one thing;

00:13:04.157 --> 00:13:07.761
relations with Pittsburgh's
hard-bitten press

00:13:07.785 --> 00:13:10.932
were quite another.

00:13:10.956 --> 00:13:13.560
Theirs was an awkward dance

00:13:13.584 --> 00:13:15.979
of mutual incomprehension

00:13:16.003 --> 00:13:18.772
and often hostility.

00:13:18.796 --> 00:13:20.567
ROY McHUGH:
If Clemente wasn't approached
in the right way,

00:13:20.591 --> 00:13:22.819
he would flare up.

00:13:22.843 --> 00:13:25.614
His feelings seemed to be

00:13:25.638 --> 00:13:28.782
right on the surface.

00:13:28.806 --> 00:13:30.784
And, uh, the wrong question

00:13:30.808 --> 00:13:33.787
or the wrong word
would set him off.

00:13:33.811 --> 00:13:36.273
I can't say that I enjoyed
talking with him.

00:13:37.399 --> 00:13:41.087
What cracked me up
about Roberto was

00:13:41.111 --> 00:13:42.796
in a lot of his interviews,

00:13:42.820 --> 00:13:44.798
they would come
and interview him,

00:13:44.822 --> 00:13:46.800
he would start
talking about life.

00:13:46.824 --> 00:13:48.802
And the writers just
wasn't ready for that.

00:13:48.826 --> 00:13:51.913
NARRATOR:
Baseball players were supposed
to be upbeat and uncomplicated.

00:13:53.957 --> 00:13:57.353
Not Clemente.

00:13:57.377 --> 00:13:59.105
The Pirate outfielder
was often moody,

00:13:59.129 --> 00:14:01.815
haunted by chronic insomnia;

00:14:01.839 --> 00:14:04.594
a serious man, ill at ease
in a boisterous locker room.

00:14:06.844 --> 00:14:10.324
An accent didn't help.

00:14:10.348 --> 00:14:12.619
REPORTER:
You think the deals are going
to help the ball club?

00:14:12.643 --> 00:14:15.437
CLEMENTE:
Uh, well, we have lots
of question mark, and, uh...

00:14:16.104 --> 00:14:19.668
I hope the deal help us.

00:14:19.692 --> 00:14:21.712
I know that we have
a young ball club.

00:14:21.736 --> 00:14:24.838
We got lots of speed.

00:14:24.862 --> 00:14:26.090
And we have a better pitching
staff than last year.

00:14:26.114 --> 00:14:29.302
NARRATOR:
For much of
the Pittsburgh press,

00:14:29.326 --> 00:14:31.387
it seemed
a Latino player's background

00:14:31.411 --> 00:14:33.724
was something to be
mocked or ignored.

00:14:33.748 --> 00:14:36.976
GONZALEZ:
There was an attempt to really

00:14:37.000 --> 00:14:38.877
sort of deny the Latino heritage
of these ballplayers.

00:14:43.048 --> 00:14:44.858
I was, uh, just a kid then,
but I remember

00:14:44.882 --> 00:14:47.153
he was always
called Bobby Clemente.

00:14:47.177 --> 00:14:49.322
They Americanized the names,

00:14:49.346 --> 00:14:51.389
and always the sportswriters
and the ballplayers

00:14:51.766 --> 00:14:55.561
ridiculed their attempts
to speak English.

00:14:56.186 --> 00:14:59.874
OLIVER:
Bottom line was, there wasn't

00:14:59.898 --> 00:15:01.875
a lot of knowledge
of Puerto Rican players.

00:15:01.899 --> 00:15:04.878
There wasn't a lot of knowledge
of even Black players

00:15:04.902 --> 00:15:07.965
at that particular time.

00:15:07.989 --> 00:15:09.342
And it had a lot
to do with not being around.

00:15:09.366 --> 00:15:11.885
If you're not around
a certain group of people,

00:15:11.909 --> 00:15:13.887
then you form opinions.

00:15:13.911 --> 00:15:15.431
NARRATOR:
Clemente repeatedly broke
an unwritten rule

00:15:15.455 --> 00:15:18.602
for professional athletes:

00:15:18.626 --> 00:15:20.127
never say what's really
on your mind.

00:15:23.213 --> 00:15:24.715
And another: never complain
about injuries, aches, or pains.

00:15:24.923 --> 00:15:28.654
I wasn't feeling good last year,

00:15:28.678 --> 00:15:31.030
and I hit .312.

00:15:31.054 --> 00:15:32.906
And I hope that with my rest

00:15:32.930 --> 00:15:35.076
and my stomach stop hurting me,
I feel I think

00:15:35.100 --> 00:15:37.538
I can have a better year;
I hope so anyhow.

00:15:37.562 --> 00:15:39.937
I was underweight,
underweight last year.

00:15:40.648 --> 00:15:44.168
I was having
a little trouble...

00:15:44.192 --> 00:15:46.170
NARRATOR:
His stomach, his back,

00:15:46.194 --> 00:15:48.297
his legs, his neck--

00:15:48.321 --> 00:15:50.924
everything seemed
to plague him at some point.

00:15:50.948 --> 00:15:53.828
Before long,
Clemente acquired a reputation

00:15:54.286 --> 00:15:57.931
as an oversensitive
hypochondriac.

00:15:57.955 --> 00:16:01.102
One day after a game,
he was sitting

00:16:01.126 --> 00:16:02.936
in front of his locker
with his uniform off

00:16:02.960 --> 00:16:04.938
and Joe Brown,
the general manager,

00:16:04.962 --> 00:16:07.818
told him to get into the shower
and get dressed.

00:16:07.842 --> 00:16:10.944
He said, "You'll catch cold."

00:16:10.968 --> 00:16:12.155
He said, "I don't want
you to be sick."

00:16:12.179 --> 00:16:14.157
And Clemente said, "I feel
better when I'm sick."

00:16:14.181 --> 00:16:17.786
I don't know
what he meant by that,

00:16:17.810 --> 00:16:19.645
but he knew what he meant.

00:16:21.772 --> 00:16:22.957
WILL:
We acquired a national stoicism

00:16:22.981 --> 00:16:25.042
from the '30s and our troubles
in the Depression,

00:16:25.066 --> 00:16:28.755
from the '40s from the war.

00:16:28.779 --> 00:16:30.965
Stoicism was identified
with manliness.

00:16:30.989 --> 00:16:34.968
And it was thought
somehow less than manly

00:16:34.992 --> 00:16:38.330
to complain about ailments,
even though real.

00:16:43.126 --> 00:16:44.897
RUCK:
White ballplayers
and Black ballplayers

00:16:44.921 --> 00:16:47.273
were relatively taciturn.

00:16:47.297 --> 00:16:48.982
They chewed tobacco.

00:16:49.006 --> 00:16:50.652
Not too many of them had a great
sense of style or flair.

00:16:50.676 --> 00:16:54.071
Certainly if they asked
these players questions

00:16:54.095 --> 00:16:57.074
about how they were feeling

00:16:57.098 --> 00:16:58.702
and the player actually talked
about their feelings,

00:16:58.726 --> 00:17:00.662
that was not something
they were accustomed to.

00:17:00.686 --> 00:17:02.789
Frank, there's a lot
of reasons for it.

00:17:02.813 --> 00:17:05.626
I believe, uh, the biggest one
being, uh, confidence.

00:17:05.650 --> 00:17:09.128
Uh, the main thing,
and, uh, swinging the bat.

00:17:12.280 --> 00:17:14.050
NARRATOR:
There was a source

00:17:14.074 --> 00:17:15.761
for some of Clemente's pain,

00:17:15.785 --> 00:17:17.763
but he seldom spoke of it.

00:17:17.787 --> 00:17:20.038
Back in 1954, he had
been in a serious car accident

00:17:20.998 --> 00:17:24.477
that damaged his spine and neck.

00:17:24.502 --> 00:17:26.688
The injuries would plague him
for the rest of his life.

00:17:26.712 --> 00:17:29.840
Stung by what
he saw as unfair criticism,

00:17:30.047 --> 00:17:33.820
Clemente lashed out
at his detractors.

00:17:33.844 --> 00:17:37.030
"Hypochondriacs don't produce,"
he growled.

00:17:37.054 --> 00:17:39.725
"I produce!"

00:17:41.936 --> 00:17:43.079
WILL:
Clemente played
hard all the time.

00:17:43.103 --> 00:17:45.731
He played all the time,
but he talked all the time

00:17:45.898 --> 00:17:49.670
about how hard it was
to do what he did.

00:17:49.694 --> 00:17:52.798
And I think it grated on some
people who thought

00:17:52.822 --> 00:17:56.491
that the ideal ballplayer should
be like Gary Cooper:

00:17:57.074 --> 00:18:00.453
tall, silent, stoical.

00:18:03.624 --> 00:18:05.644
NARRATOR:
In his first five seasons

00:18:05.668 --> 00:18:07.060
with the Pirates,
Clemente hadn't exactly

00:18:07.084 --> 00:18:10.481
lit up Forbes Field
with his hitting.

00:18:10.506 --> 00:18:14.067
He'd batted over .300 only once,

00:18:14.091 --> 00:18:16.362
with seven or less homers.

00:18:16.386 --> 00:18:19.072
ANNOUNCER:
Roberto Clemente
fields the ball...

00:18:19.096 --> 00:18:20.534
NARRATOR:
His play in right field
was something else.

00:18:20.558 --> 00:18:23.578
He'd won over a growing
number of local fans

00:18:23.602 --> 00:18:26.999
with his powerful arm
and remarkable range.

00:18:27.023 --> 00:18:30.107
Still, he was
on a lackluster team

00:18:30.317 --> 00:18:34.087
and the national press
barely noticed.

00:18:34.111 --> 00:18:37.490
Until, that is, 1960.

00:18:40.285 --> 00:18:41.220
(crowd cheering)

00:18:41.244 --> 00:18:42.681
GAME ANNOUNCER:
The Rock sends one
deep to right.

00:18:47.626 --> 00:18:49.270
REGALADO:
In 1960, the Pittsburgh Pirates

00:18:49.294 --> 00:18:51.672
were no longer the
laughingstock of baseball.

00:18:54.466 --> 00:18:56.109
The Pittsburgh Pirates

00:18:56.133 --> 00:18:57.469
are champions
of the National League.

00:18:59.722 --> 00:19:02.075
ANNOUNCER:
Roberto Clemente,

00:19:02.099 --> 00:19:03.367
one of the outstanding
baseball players...

00:19:03.391 --> 00:19:05.996
NARRATOR:
That year, Clemente led the team
in runs batted in,

00:19:06.020 --> 00:19:08.707
was second in home runs
and game-winning hits,

00:19:08.731 --> 00:19:11.734
and led the league
in outfield assists.

00:19:14.987 --> 00:19:16.757
REGALADO:
By 1960, he is an all-star
player in the National League.

00:19:16.781 --> 00:19:20.701
He is becoming
a real threat to opponents.

00:19:21.118 --> 00:19:24.806
He might not be recognized
by that--

00:19:24.830 --> 00:19:27.141
by the national media--

00:19:27.165 --> 00:19:29.166
but on the baseball diamond,
clearly his opponents recognized

00:19:29.376 --> 00:19:33.106
Roberto Clemente's rising star.

00:19:33.130 --> 00:19:35.108
NARRATOR:
For the first time in 33 years,

00:19:35.132 --> 00:19:38.862
the Pirates found themselves
playing in the World Series.

00:19:38.886 --> 00:19:41.471
Unluckily, they had to face
the New York Yankees,

00:19:42.263 --> 00:19:46.159
winner of five titles
in the past decade

00:19:46.183 --> 00:19:49.413
and a team packed
with superstars

00:19:49.437 --> 00:19:51.565
such as Mickey Mantle,
Yogi Berra, and Whitey Ford.

00:19:55.778 --> 00:19:57.170
RUCK:
The 1960 Series
was David and Goliath.

00:19:57.194 --> 00:20:00.133
The Yankees were the franchise
of professional sport,

00:20:00.157 --> 00:20:03.326
winning more titles
than any team in any sport.

00:20:07.414 --> 00:20:09.182
MARANISS:
The Pittsburgh Pirates
came into the World Series

00:20:09.206 --> 00:20:12.020
as massive underdogs.

00:20:12.044 --> 00:20:14.523
They have a very good team,

00:20:14.547 --> 00:20:16.549
but no one had really
heard of the Pirates players.

00:20:19.216 --> 00:20:22.279
NARRATOR:
Helped by some timely hitting
from Clemente

00:20:22.303 --> 00:20:25.282
and his outfield play,

00:20:25.306 --> 00:20:27.493
the Pirates managed to win three
of the first six games,

00:20:27.518 --> 00:20:31.228
despite being outscored by
the powerful Yankees, 46 to 17.

00:20:33.524 --> 00:20:37.736
The seventh and deciding game
would be played in Pittsburgh,

00:20:38.821 --> 00:20:42.551
where only the most
diehard Bucs fans

00:20:42.575 --> 00:20:45.119
gave the home team
much of a chance.

00:20:45.243 --> 00:20:48.932
In the bottom of the ninth,

00:20:48.956 --> 00:20:50.517
David and Goliath were tied
nine to nine.

00:20:53.878 --> 00:20:55.564
As Pittsburgh held
its collective breath,

00:20:55.588 --> 00:20:57.566
Pirate second baseman
Bill Mazeroski

00:20:57.590 --> 00:21:00.569
came to the plate.

00:21:00.593 --> 00:21:01.945
(music playing,
spectators cheering)

00:21:01.969 --> 00:21:03.822
ANNOUNCER:
There's the drive,
it's hit deep into left field.

00:21:03.846 --> 00:21:06.239
She's going way, way back.

00:21:06.263 --> 00:21:07.784
And back goes Yogi Berra,

00:21:07.808 --> 00:21:09.452
and you can kiss it good-bye.

00:21:09.476 --> 00:21:11.872
It's gone!
The game-winning home run!

00:21:11.896 --> 00:21:13.874
The Bucs are the champions
of the world.

00:21:13.898 --> 00:21:16.066
(spectators cheering)

00:21:17.610 --> 00:21:19.378
NARRATOR:
When Mazeroski reached home,
Clemente was there,

00:21:19.402 --> 00:21:23.382
celebrating one of the greatest
upsets in baseball history,

00:21:23.406 --> 00:21:27.203
proud of his contribution
to the team's success.

00:21:32.208 --> 00:21:33.333
Once off the field,
he expected to make a quick exit

00:21:34.001 --> 00:21:37.606
and catch a plane
to Puerto Rico.

00:21:37.630 --> 00:21:39.673
But he hadn't counted on the
scene outside the clubhouse.

00:21:40.297 --> 00:21:43.802
(cheering, whooping)

00:21:45.804 --> 00:21:49.282
"There's Clemente!"
someone shouted.

00:21:49.306 --> 00:21:52.285
And the crowd surged forward.

00:21:52.309 --> 00:21:54.772
It took him an hour
to make his way through.

00:21:59.359 --> 00:22:00.712
After years of feeling
himself an outsider,

00:22:00.736 --> 00:22:03.739
he had won them over.

00:22:06.742 --> 00:22:08.762
The fans of Pittsburgh,
he said,

00:22:08.786 --> 00:22:10.829
had made it all worthwhile.

00:22:14.875 --> 00:22:18.311
(birds squawking)

00:22:18.335 --> 00:22:20.857
Finally back in San Juan
at the airport,

00:22:20.881 --> 00:22:24.134
Clemente received a greeting
befitting a returning hero.

00:22:25.342 --> 00:22:29.322
Proud Puerto Ricans had followed
the Series closely

00:22:29.346 --> 00:22:31.660
on the radio and in the papers.

00:22:31.684 --> 00:22:34.327
A sign in the crowd said

00:22:34.351 --> 00:22:36.605
what everyone felt about
their triumphant native son.

00:22:39.608 --> 00:22:41.836
He had barely touched ground

00:22:41.860 --> 00:22:44.337
when the crowd scooped him up
and carried him away.

00:22:44.361 --> 00:22:47.364
(cheering, applause)

00:22:49.366 --> 00:22:52.806
GONZALEZ:
He was the hero of the island.

00:22:52.830 --> 00:22:55.348
He was like a god.

00:22:55.372 --> 00:22:57.686
The pride
that Puerto Ricans felt

00:22:57.710 --> 00:23:00.353
over what he had managed

00:23:00.377 --> 00:23:02.798
to accomplish in baseball
was incredible.

00:23:05.884 --> 00:23:07.904
NARRATOR:
The celebration went on
for weeks.

00:23:07.928 --> 00:23:10.907
During the day, dressed
in his major league uniform,

00:23:10.931 --> 00:23:14.560
he led clinics for groups of
worshipful Puerto Rican kids.

00:23:15.060 --> 00:23:19.106
Most nights, he attended
banquets held in his honor.

00:23:23.068 --> 00:23:24.377
But Clemente had a different
kind of honor in mind--

00:23:24.401 --> 00:23:27.674
the National League's
Most Valuable Player Award

00:23:27.698 --> 00:23:31.094
for the 1960 season.

00:23:31.118 --> 00:23:33.680
On November 17, the results were
finally announced.

00:23:33.704 --> 00:23:37.684
In the vote of the nation's
baseball writers

00:23:37.708 --> 00:23:40.312
for the league's top player,

00:23:40.336 --> 00:23:42.504
Clemente finished eighth.

00:23:45.341 --> 00:23:47.051
He took it hard.

00:23:48.510 --> 00:23:50.846
BANOS:
He felt that he did the best
performance in his life

00:23:52.389 --> 00:23:55.785
in the 1960 World Series.

00:23:55.809 --> 00:23:58.411
And personally, he felt this,

00:23:58.435 --> 00:24:01.438
he should deserve the
Most Valuable Player for this,

00:24:01.774 --> 00:24:05.337
but he didn't get it.

00:24:05.361 --> 00:24:06.796
And he felt, you know,
a certain amount of prejudice

00:24:06.820 --> 00:24:10.423
was involved at the time.

00:24:10.447 --> 00:24:12.425
WILL:
He was very sensitive to slights

00:24:12.449 --> 00:24:15.704
and to the sense
that he was not noticed.

00:24:15.871 --> 00:24:19.875
Clemente's resentment arose
from, first, his pride;

00:24:20.334 --> 00:24:24.064
second, from the injustice
of the vote.

00:24:24.088 --> 00:24:26.650
You can't say absolutely

00:24:26.674 --> 00:24:28.610
that Clemente should
have been the MVP,

00:24:28.634 --> 00:24:31.029
but there weren't seven
more valuable players

00:24:31.053 --> 00:24:33.097
in the National League
than Clemente that year.

00:24:35.140 --> 00:24:37.160
MARANISS:
I've heard that he never wore
his World Series ring after that

00:24:37.184 --> 00:24:40.163
because he was so upset.

00:24:40.187 --> 00:24:41.748
Whether that's
apocryphal or not,

00:24:41.772 --> 00:24:43.541
it represents accurately
the way he felt.

00:24:43.565 --> 00:24:46.568
He felt that he had
been done in by racism.

00:24:50.572 --> 00:24:52.258
It was sort of a reminder

00:24:52.282 --> 00:24:54.052
that life in America
was different

00:24:54.076 --> 00:24:55.845
from his life in Puerto Rico,

00:24:55.869 --> 00:24:58.306
that the way he was regarded
was different, and worse...

00:24:58.330 --> 00:25:01.834
and that he would not allow
that to happen again.

00:25:11.635 --> 00:25:15.973
NARRATOR:
Roberto Clemente arrived
for spring training in 1961

00:25:16.807 --> 00:25:20.493
with a new contract
worth $35,000

00:25:20.518 --> 00:25:23.665
and something to prove.

00:25:26.108 --> 00:25:27.500
Fueled by his anger
at being overlooked,

00:25:27.525 --> 00:25:30.213
the 27-year-old Pirate
outfielder

00:25:30.237 --> 00:25:33.507
lifted his play to a new level.

00:25:33.531 --> 00:25:36.326
That year he would hit
a league-leading .351,

00:25:37.202 --> 00:25:40.682
while playing stellar defense.

00:25:40.706 --> 00:25:43.393
Even as the Pirates returned
to their losing ways,

00:25:43.417 --> 00:25:46.295
Clemente was emerging as one
of the greatest right fielders

00:25:47.004 --> 00:25:50.524
in the game of baseball.

00:25:50.548 --> 00:25:53.527
Over 50 years,

00:25:53.551 --> 00:25:54.863
I've watched many, many baseball
games in my lifetime.

00:25:54.887 --> 00:25:57.741
I can never remember anyone

00:25:57.765 --> 00:25:59.600
who threw a ball better
than Roberto Clemente

00:26:00.558 --> 00:26:04.414
when there was a baserunner
heading to third

00:26:04.438 --> 00:26:07.167
or a baserunner
trying to score at home.

00:26:07.191 --> 00:26:09.543
It was a rifle;

00:26:09.567 --> 00:26:11.171
it was an incredible arm
that he had

00:26:11.195 --> 00:26:13.214
and incredibly accurate.

00:26:13.238 --> 00:26:15.549
And so, there were some ways

00:26:15.573 --> 00:26:17.177
that he was so superior
to all the other ballplayers

00:26:17.201 --> 00:26:20.204
that all of the issues of race
and, and nationality,

00:26:20.578 --> 00:26:24.558
and language and, uh,
all fell by the wayside

00:26:24.582 --> 00:26:28.021
once the game started.

00:26:28.045 --> 00:26:30.297
He would gesture and move
his shoulders and his neck

00:26:30.964 --> 00:26:34.819
as though we were trying
to work the kinks out.

00:26:34.843 --> 00:26:36.929
Then, he would settle himself
in the batter's box,

00:26:37.555 --> 00:26:41.058
and all hell would break loose.

00:26:45.771 --> 00:26:49.502
Clemente played with abandon.

00:26:49.526 --> 00:26:51.294
He was like a horse galloping
around the bases,

00:26:51.318 --> 00:26:53.630
you know, arms flailing.

00:26:53.654 --> 00:26:54.798
The way he handled his body
was incredible.

00:26:54.822 --> 00:26:56.674
I mean, just incredible.

00:26:56.698 --> 00:26:58.343
It looks like he was galloping.

00:26:58.367 --> 00:27:00.345
Looked like he was all arms,
but got there quickly.

00:27:00.369 --> 00:27:03.597
His body was a baseball machine.

00:27:03.621 --> 00:27:04.933
WILL:
In every facet of the game--

00:27:04.957 --> 00:27:08.186
hitting, catching,

00:27:08.210 --> 00:27:10.230
hitting with power,
throwing the ball--

00:27:10.254 --> 00:27:12.398
the classic five-tool player,

00:27:12.422 --> 00:27:15.609
that was Roberto Clemente.

00:27:15.633 --> 00:27:18.612
(spectators cheering)

00:27:18.636 --> 00:27:19.823
NARRATOR:
Across the U.S.,

00:27:19.847 --> 00:27:22.450
the Pirates' talented right
fielder was now being cheered

00:27:22.474 --> 00:27:25.620
by a growing number
of Latino fans.

00:27:25.644 --> 00:27:28.164
Through the 1960s,
a surge in immigration

00:27:28.188 --> 00:27:31.960
from Latin America
and the Caribbean

00:27:31.984 --> 00:27:33.962
brought new faces
to U.S. cities

00:27:33.986 --> 00:27:36.630
and to baseball dugouts as well.

00:27:36.654 --> 00:27:39.867
When Clemente first entered
the major leagues in 1955,

00:27:40.701 --> 00:27:44.639
there had only been a handful
of Latino players;

00:27:44.663 --> 00:27:47.642
now, nearly a decade later,
there were dozens.

00:27:47.666 --> 00:27:51.669
But not everyone in baseball
welcomed the trend.

00:27:52.045 --> 00:27:56.234
WILL:
Alvin Dark, the manager
of the San Francisco Giants,

00:27:56.258 --> 00:27:59.863
forbade the speaking of Spanish
in the clubhouse.

00:27:59.887 --> 00:28:03.681
He thought that Hispanic players
were somehow an alien presence

00:28:04.057 --> 00:28:07.661
and a threat to cohesion.

00:28:07.685 --> 00:28:09.663
I don't know
what the thinking was.

00:28:09.687 --> 00:28:11.040
Orlando, you think you're
going to beat this guy out?

00:28:11.064 --> 00:28:12.876
It's going to be tough
because he always hit, uh,

00:28:12.900 --> 00:28:14.919
{\an3}he never hit
below .350.

00:28:14.943 --> 00:28:16.670
NARRATOR:
Number 21 soon realized

00:28:16.694 --> 00:28:18.672
that he had become something
more than a right fielder.

00:28:18.696 --> 00:28:21.675
Whether he wanted it or not,

00:28:21.699 --> 00:28:23.928
he had become a role model.

00:28:23.952 --> 00:28:25.679
{\an3}I watch him
every day,

00:28:25.703 --> 00:28:26.680
{\an3}and I try to learn
stuff from him,

00:28:26.704 --> 00:28:28.474
{\an3}because he's the best
hitter in baseball.

00:28:28.498 --> 00:28:29.767
And he's the best
that ever lived.

00:28:29.791 --> 00:28:32.770
BANOS:
He was very careful always,
his appearance,

00:28:32.794 --> 00:28:36.316
because he felt the first
impression very important,

00:28:36.340 --> 00:28:39.693
especially from him,

00:28:39.717 --> 00:28:41.738
because he felt
he not representing

00:28:41.762 --> 00:28:45.033
Roberto Clemente alone.

00:28:45.057 --> 00:28:47.243
He always told me,

00:28:47.267 --> 00:28:48.702
"I'm representing the people
of Puerto Rico."

00:28:48.726 --> 00:28:51.540
WILL:
He represented impatience.

00:28:51.564 --> 00:28:53.917
He was a cauldron of energy,

00:28:53.941 --> 00:28:55.960
representing
the upward mobility

00:28:55.984 --> 00:28:59.130
of people who had hitherto
been excluded.

00:28:59.154 --> 00:29:01.341
(lively Latin jazz
melody playing)

00:29:01.365 --> 00:29:05.345
NARRATOR:
Each October, after the end
of the baseball season,

00:29:05.369 --> 00:29:08.723
Roberto would return
to Puerto Rico.

00:29:08.747 --> 00:29:11.584
Driving the streets of San Juan
in his white Cadillac,

00:29:12.502 --> 00:29:16.421
he attracted attention worthy
of a movie star.

00:29:19.466 --> 00:29:21.486
Still in his 20s,

00:29:21.511 --> 00:29:23.887
he was handsome,
famous, and single.

00:29:24.762 --> 00:29:28.368
MARANISS:
He was magnetic.

00:29:28.392 --> 00:29:31.412
There were always women
writing him love letters,

00:29:31.436 --> 00:29:34.165
trying to be near him and, uh,

00:29:34.189 --> 00:29:36.459
it wasn't that
he was just walking around,

00:29:36.483 --> 00:29:39.045
proudly, as a hunk,
he was a very soft guy

00:29:39.069 --> 00:29:42.675
who wanted to hear
other people's stories

00:29:42.699 --> 00:29:44.467
and so that added
to his magnetism.

00:29:44.491 --> 00:29:48.346
NARRATOR:
After a decade on the road,

00:29:48.370 --> 00:29:50.557
Clemente was eager
to settle down.

00:29:50.581 --> 00:29:53.560
Vera Zabala was striking--

00:29:53.584 --> 00:29:55.937
a 22-year-old college graduate
who worked in a bank.

00:29:55.961 --> 00:29:59.608
And she was from Carolina,

00:29:59.632 --> 00:30:01.776
Clemente's beloved
childhood home,

00:30:01.800 --> 00:30:04.778
where her father, like his,

00:30:04.802 --> 00:30:06.948
worked in the sugarcane fields.

00:30:06.972 --> 00:30:09.492
MARANISS:
She didn't even know

00:30:09.517 --> 00:30:11.285
that Roberto Clemente
was a ballplayer.

00:30:11.309 --> 00:30:13.287
He started calling her at work,

00:30:13.311 --> 00:30:15.498
asking her for dates, and, uh,

00:30:15.523 --> 00:30:17.791
eventually, Clemente
got up the nerve

00:30:17.815 --> 00:30:19.793
to sort of deal with the father.

00:30:19.817 --> 00:30:22.362
(speaking Spanish)

00:30:46.844 --> 00:30:50.390
NARRATOR:
November 14, 1964,

00:30:50.848 --> 00:30:54.852
the couple married
and settled down in Carolina.

00:30:56.396 --> 00:31:00.150
The next year,
Vera gave birth to a son.

00:31:05.155 --> 00:31:06.198
Two more boys would follow.

00:31:06.783 --> 00:31:10.053
Vera soon discovered

00:31:10.077 --> 00:31:12.846
that her husband had
some eccentricities.

00:31:12.870 --> 00:31:15.849
MARANISS:
Clemente was kind of New Age
before there was New Age.

00:31:15.873 --> 00:31:18.852
He was an incredible masseuse,

00:31:18.876 --> 00:31:21.815
he was constantly taking
different proteins

00:31:21.839 --> 00:31:25.510
and odd concoctions of shakes
to try to stay healthy.

00:31:25.883 --> 00:31:29.722
He believed in
mystical connections

00:31:29.887 --> 00:31:33.326
between life and death

00:31:33.350 --> 00:31:35.352
and people
who were no longer around.

00:31:40.107 --> 00:31:42.876
NARRATOR:
His connection to the dead

00:31:42.900 --> 00:31:44.878
centered on
a childhood tragedy--

00:31:44.902 --> 00:31:47.340
the loss of his sister Anairis,

00:31:47.364 --> 00:31:49.883
burned to death
in a cooking accident

00:31:49.907 --> 00:31:52.053
when Roberto was just an infant.

00:31:52.077 --> 00:31:55.997
For the rest of his life,
he would be haunted by fire,

00:31:56.414 --> 00:32:00.127
and by thoughts
of his own mortality.

00:32:03.213 --> 00:32:04.733
MARANISS:
He talked for
the rest of his life

00:32:04.757 --> 00:32:08.361
about feeling this sister
at his side.

00:32:08.385 --> 00:32:11.573
He had
a certain melancholy to him.

00:32:11.597 --> 00:32:14.432
You see it in his eyes.

00:32:16.934 --> 00:32:18.563
VERA CLEMENTE:

00:32:38.956 --> 00:32:42.270
(siren blaring)

00:32:42.294 --> 00:32:45.816
(crowd clamoring)

00:32:45.840 --> 00:32:48.943
NARRATOR:
In the mid-1960s,
Clemente found himself

00:32:48.967 --> 00:32:52.638
engaged by events
beyond the ballpark

00:32:52.970 --> 00:32:56.974
as America entered a time
of unprecedented change.

00:32:57.810 --> 00:33:01.122
(protesters chanting)

00:33:01.146 --> 00:33:02.956
NARRATOR:
As Clemente watched
and read about the protesters

00:33:02.980 --> 00:33:05.459
pouring into
the nation's streets,

00:33:05.483 --> 00:33:07.671
he identified closely

00:33:07.695 --> 00:33:09.673
with the growing movement
for civil rights.

00:33:09.697 --> 00:33:11.965
(protesters shouting)

00:33:11.989 --> 00:33:13.968
MARANISS:
Clemente was interested
in more than sports.

00:33:13.992 --> 00:33:16.555
He was very political.

00:33:16.579 --> 00:33:18.557
And one of the people
he admired most in the world

00:33:18.581 --> 00:33:21.475
was Martin Luther King.

00:33:21.499 --> 00:33:23.019
The one time we know

00:33:23.043 --> 00:33:24.521
that Dr. King went down
to Puerto Rico,

00:33:24.545 --> 00:33:28.567
Clemente sought him out and
spent most of a day with him;

00:33:28.591 --> 00:33:31.068
took him to his farm.

00:33:31.092 --> 00:33:32.553
RUCK:
Because he's
in the Black community,

00:33:32.803 --> 00:33:36.449
and because
he's traveling around,

00:33:36.473 --> 00:33:38.451
it's clear at that time
that this is a guy

00:33:38.475 --> 00:33:40.787
that's interested
in what's going on around him

00:33:40.811 --> 00:33:43.940
and has opinions about that.

00:33:44.105 --> 00:33:47.753
He's not only an observer.

00:33:47.777 --> 00:33:49.378
He's somebody
who's passionately connected

00:33:49.402 --> 00:33:52.883
to what's going on.

00:33:52.907 --> 00:33:54.885
He's talking about those things.

00:33:54.909 --> 00:33:56.595
He's arguing
about those things.

00:33:56.619 --> 00:33:59.556
MARANISS:
It goes back to the way

00:33:59.580 --> 00:34:01.725
they were treated
in spring training

00:34:01.749 --> 00:34:03.226
when they were on those buses
going from one town to another,

00:34:03.250 --> 00:34:06.395
and the white guys would go
into a restaurant

00:34:06.419 --> 00:34:08.857
and bring back sandwiches
to the...

00:34:08.881 --> 00:34:10.399
Clemente and the few Blacks
and Latinos.

00:34:10.423 --> 00:34:12.193
That was not going to fly
with Clemente.

00:34:12.217 --> 00:34:14.529
Now we are in Florida,
not too far from Puerto Rico,

00:34:14.553 --> 00:34:17.365
and you see the white players
go to a restaurant and, uh...

00:34:17.389 --> 00:34:20.493
and they said, "Fellas,
do you want anything to eat?"

00:34:20.518 --> 00:34:23.036
Now, we are sitting
in the back of the...

00:34:23.060 --> 00:34:25.331
We are sitting in the bus.

00:34:25.355 --> 00:34:26.667
We weren't sitting
in the back of the bus,

00:34:26.691 --> 00:34:29.002
but we were sitting
inside the bus and, uh,

00:34:29.026 --> 00:34:31.045
I remember, I told a fellow,
one of the players, I said,

00:34:31.069 --> 00:34:34.048
"Look, if you will
accept anything

00:34:34.072 --> 00:34:36.049
"from anybody
from that restaurant,

00:34:36.073 --> 00:34:38.051
"you and me, we're going at it.

00:34:38.075 --> 00:34:40.053
"We are going to have a fight,
because I think it's unfair.

00:34:40.077 --> 00:34:43.056
"If, uh, this is the way
it's going to be,

00:34:43.080 --> 00:34:45.434
"this is the way
we're going to suffer.

00:34:45.458 --> 00:34:47.771
"So now, I don't want you to...

00:34:47.795 --> 00:34:49.355
none of you fellas
to eat anything."

00:34:49.379 --> 00:34:51.064
NARRATOR:
Celebrity did little

00:34:51.088 --> 00:34:53.735
to dull his sensitivity
to injustice.

00:34:53.759 --> 00:34:56.069
If anything,
it only sharpened it.

00:34:56.093 --> 00:34:58.657
Once, out shopping with Vera

00:34:58.681 --> 00:35:01.952
in a New York department store,
the couple was ignored

00:35:01.976 --> 00:35:05.121
until someone recognized
the famous ballplayer.

00:35:05.145 --> 00:35:08.231
When the salespeople suddenly
lavished them with attention,

00:35:08.941 --> 00:35:12.444
Clemente would have none of it.

00:35:26.834 --> 00:35:30.522
NARRATOR:
By the end of the decade,

00:35:30.546 --> 00:35:33.106
increased Latino immigration

00:35:33.130 --> 00:35:35.108
and a galvanized
civil rights movement

00:35:35.132 --> 00:35:37.612
were transforming the country.

00:35:37.636 --> 00:35:40.532
Baseball was changing, too,

00:35:40.556 --> 00:35:42.558
with the unlikely Pirates
leading the way.

00:35:45.519 --> 00:35:47.144
In 1971, Clemente found himself
leader of a team

00:35:47.730 --> 00:35:51.375
unlike any other
in baseball history.

00:35:51.399 --> 00:35:54.127
BLASS:
It's almost Latin,
Black and white.

00:35:54.151 --> 00:35:57.465
It sounds so trite
and so contrived.

00:35:57.489 --> 00:36:00.076
We had a bunch of guys
who could play.

00:36:01.159 --> 00:36:02.285
MANNY SANGUILLEÉN
(speaking Spanish):

00:36:09.126 --> 00:36:13.146
MARANISS:
It was a time of change
and transformation

00:36:13.170 --> 00:36:15.817
that scared a lot of people,

00:36:15.841 --> 00:36:17.986
and one of the manifestations
of that was that the Pirates,

00:36:18.010 --> 00:36:20.153
as they became more Black
and Latino,

00:36:20.177 --> 00:36:21.948
became less popular in the city.

00:36:21.972 --> 00:36:23.808
RUCK:
Roberto is the guy
they look up to--

00:36:24.224 --> 00:36:27.788
white, Black and Latin.

00:36:27.812 --> 00:36:29.897
They look up to him because
he delivers on the field,

00:36:30.397 --> 00:36:34.418
but he's the guy that holds them
together off the field.

00:36:34.442 --> 00:36:37.589
And he's much more of a leader,

00:36:37.613 --> 00:36:39.465
much more
of a clubhouse presence by 1971,

00:36:39.489 --> 00:36:42.618
which, in many ways, is his
coming-out party to the world.

00:36:42.993 --> 00:36:46.472
(spectators cheering, whistling)

00:36:46.496 --> 00:36:48.349
ANNOUNCER:
The 1971 World Series
being brought to you

00:36:48.373 --> 00:36:51.268
from Memorial Stadium
in Baltimore.

00:36:51.292 --> 00:36:53.270
NARRATOR:
In 1971, Pittsburgh managed

00:36:53.294 --> 00:36:56.189
to reach the World Series
once again.

00:36:56.213 --> 00:36:59.443
At 37, the oldest player
in the Series,

00:36:59.467 --> 00:37:03.196
Clemente had battled injuries
all season.

00:37:03.220 --> 00:37:06.199
But his intensity
hadn't diminished,

00:37:06.223 --> 00:37:09.121
nor his competitive drive.

00:37:09.145 --> 00:37:10.664
BANOS:
He pulled me aside, he said,
"I guarantee you,

00:37:10.688 --> 00:37:13.416
we're going to win."

00:37:13.440 --> 00:37:14.709
And I told him,

00:37:14.733 --> 00:37:16.209
"Roberto, you cannot say
anything like it,

00:37:16.233 --> 00:37:18.462
"because if it don't
turn out to be,

00:37:18.486 --> 00:37:21.298
"you'll be a laughingstock,

00:37:21.322 --> 00:37:23.176
everybody make a joke
out of it."

00:37:23.200 --> 00:37:26.243
MATINO CLEMENTE:

00:37:35.212 --> 00:37:39.151
STADIUM ANNOUNCER (over P.A.):
Roberto Clemente!

00:37:39.175 --> 00:37:40.777
(crowd cheering, applauding)

00:37:40.801 --> 00:37:42.445
MARANISS:
He came up to Jose Pagan, one
of his teammates, and said,

00:37:42.469 --> 00:37:45.615
"You guys just get on my back,
and I'll carry you."

00:37:45.639 --> 00:37:47.993
(crowd cheering)

00:37:48.017 --> 00:37:50.244
NARRATOR:
The Baltimore Orioles
had four 20-game winners

00:37:50.268 --> 00:37:53.039
on their pitching staff

00:37:53.063 --> 00:37:55.000
and were hands-down favorites
in the Series.

00:37:55.024 --> 00:37:58.275
That didn't faze number 21.

00:38:00.029 --> 00:38:03.592
MARANISS:
There was one moment

00:38:03.616 --> 00:38:05.258
that overwhelmed
everything else,

00:38:05.282 --> 00:38:06.803
and it wasn't a throw
or a great hit.

00:38:06.827 --> 00:38:09.263
It was a dribbler
that Clemente hit back

00:38:09.287 --> 00:38:11.414
to the Baltimore pitcher
Mike Cuellar.

00:38:13.751 --> 00:38:16.837
RUCK:
That caused the pitcher
to throw wildly.

00:38:17.713 --> 00:38:21.274
He wasn't just going to assume

00:38:21.298 --> 00:38:23.276
that the pitcher was going
to throw him out.

00:38:23.300 --> 00:38:26.156
And it was his hustle
that did it.

00:38:26.180 --> 00:38:28.491
BROADCAST ANNOUNCER:
He does it all;
he runs, he throws...

00:38:28.516 --> 00:38:30.409
MARANISS:
Everybody I've talked to
on both teams said

00:38:30.433 --> 00:38:33.163
that they could just feel

00:38:33.187 --> 00:38:34.664
Clemente's overwhelming
will to win

00:38:34.688 --> 00:38:37.918
dominating that Series.

00:38:37.942 --> 00:38:40.045
BROADCAST ANNOUNCER:
And he's going to beat
Frank's throw.

00:38:40.069 --> 00:38:42.296
NARRATOR:
After the two teams traded wins,
forcing a seventh game,

00:38:42.320 --> 00:38:46.200
Clemente reassured
his teammates.

00:38:49.161 --> 00:38:50.889
BROADCAST ANNOUNCER:
That is hit well!

00:38:50.913 --> 00:38:52.389
NARRATOR:
In the fourth inning,
he blasted a towering home run,

00:38:52.413 --> 00:38:55.308
breaking a scoreless tie.

00:38:55.332 --> 00:38:57.604
Five innings later,

00:38:57.628 --> 00:38:59.773
the Pirates
were World Champions.

00:38:59.797 --> 00:39:02.315
(cheering and whooping)

00:39:02.339 --> 00:39:03.902
MARANISS:
Clemente was brilliant
in that World Series.

00:39:03.926 --> 00:39:06.762
He batted .414,
he got a hit in every game,

00:39:07.344 --> 00:39:10.825
he was terrific in right field,

00:39:10.849 --> 00:39:13.828
but it was more
than any of that.

00:39:13.852 --> 00:39:16.730
ANNOUNCER:
Boy, how that man can run
for 37 years old!

00:39:16.897 --> 00:39:20.376
(crowd cheering and whistling)

00:39:20.400 --> 00:39:23.004
WILL:
His performance was a jewel.

00:39:23.028 --> 00:39:24.965
One of the greatest
performances--

00:39:24.989 --> 00:39:26.363
five or six or seven--
in World Series history.

00:39:27.116 --> 00:39:30.427
(spectators cheering)

00:39:30.451 --> 00:39:33.346
NARRATOR:
In the jubilant
Pirate locker room,

00:39:33.370 --> 00:39:36.643
Clemente took the opportunity
to speak directly

00:39:36.667 --> 00:39:39.813
to those
who mattered most to him.

00:39:39.837 --> 00:39:42.355
The greatest right fielder
in the game of baseball,

00:39:42.379 --> 00:39:44.568
Roberto Clemente.

00:39:44.592 --> 00:39:46.111
Bobby, congratulations
on a great World Series.

00:39:46.135 --> 00:39:49.322
Thank you, Bob,
and before, uh...

00:39:49.346 --> 00:39:52.365
I say anything in English, I
would... I would like to say

00:39:52.389 --> 00:39:55.853
{\an3}something for my mother
and father in Spanish.

00:40:02.901 --> 00:40:06.673
GONZALEZ:
Roberto was breaking the mold

00:40:06.697 --> 00:40:09.134
and saying, "Yes, I will talk
to you, but first,

00:40:09.158 --> 00:40:11.636
let me talk to my family
and my community."

00:40:11.660 --> 00:40:14.411
I think that was
enormously important,

00:40:14.747 --> 00:40:18.876
certainly for those Latino fans
here in the United States,

00:40:20.502 --> 00:40:24.232
as well as for those, you know,

00:40:24.256 --> 00:40:26.151
in Puerto Rico
and throughout Latin America

00:40:26.175 --> 00:40:28.153
who were also listening to that.

00:40:28.177 --> 00:40:30.427
(Roberto Clemente speaking
in Spanish over TV)

00:40:32.556 --> 00:40:36.060
(speaking Spanish)

00:40:49.446 --> 00:40:52.701
(cheering)

00:40:58.455 --> 00:41:02.395
BLASS:
It's still chaotic
and everything.

00:41:02.419 --> 00:41:03.897
We get on the airplane,

00:41:03.921 --> 00:41:06.399
and before we take off,
I'm sitting by the window,

00:41:06.423 --> 00:41:08.902
Karen's in the middle seat.

00:41:08.926 --> 00:41:11.154
Roberto Clemente comes up
the aisle,

00:41:11.178 --> 00:41:13.948
and looks at me,
and I'm sitting there,

00:41:13.972 --> 00:41:16.618
he says, "Come here, Blass,
let me embrace you."

00:41:16.642 --> 00:41:20.246
And I walked up,
and he gave me this big hug,

00:41:20.270 --> 00:41:23.457
and I get goose bumps now,
thinking about it.

00:41:23.481 --> 00:41:25.627
Here's Roberto Clemente
getting up out of his seat,

00:41:25.651 --> 00:41:29.089
coming up and wanting
to give me a hug, and I just...

00:41:29.113 --> 00:41:32.217
it validated everything
that I ever thought

00:41:32.241 --> 00:41:36.221
that could happen to me
in the game of baseball.

00:41:38.622 --> 00:41:42.435
NARRATOR:
Over a remarkable career,

00:41:42.459 --> 00:41:44.854
Clemente had converted
even the skeptics:

00:41:44.878 --> 00:41:48.506
four batting titles,
National League MVP.

00:41:49.133 --> 00:41:52.970
The next season, 1972,
would see him reach

00:41:53.511 --> 00:41:57.515
one of baseball's
most prestigious milestones--

00:41:57.725 --> 00:42:01.228
3,000 career hits.

00:42:04.273 --> 00:42:07.877
But the game's
best right fielder

00:42:07.901 --> 00:42:10.504
had other things on his mind.

00:42:10.528 --> 00:42:13.633
RUCK:
There's something
going on with Clemente

00:42:13.657 --> 00:42:15.635
in the later years,
where he's making a transition

00:42:15.659 --> 00:42:19.389
from ballplayer to a statesman;

00:42:19.413 --> 00:42:21.516
you know, from somebody

00:42:21.540 --> 00:42:23.101
who is putting up Hall of Fame
numbers on the field,

00:42:23.125 --> 00:42:26.396
but to somebody
who you can just see

00:42:26.420 --> 00:42:28.522
what he's becoming
off the field.

00:42:28.546 --> 00:42:30.608
(indistinct chattering)

00:42:30.632 --> 00:42:32.551
He's spending a lot of his time
thinking about things,

00:42:33.010 --> 00:42:36.406
planning things,

00:42:36.430 --> 00:42:38.265
beginning projects
which he hoped to accomplish

00:42:38.474 --> 00:42:42.227
once he left the ball field
for good.

00:42:47.900 --> 00:42:50.544
NARRATOR:
That winter, Clemente found
corporate sponsors

00:42:50.568 --> 00:42:53.673
for baseball clinics
across Puerto Rico

00:42:53.697 --> 00:42:56.676
and worked on plans
for his passion--

00:42:56.700 --> 00:42:58.869
an ambitious sports city
for underprivileged kids.

00:43:03.874 --> 00:43:05.894
He traveled more widely
throughout Latin America

00:43:05.918 --> 00:43:08.837
and even coached an amateur team
in Nicaragua.

00:43:21.058 --> 00:43:25.229
RUCK:
I think that Nicaragua in 1972
did remind Roberto

00:43:25.938 --> 00:43:29.583
of what Puerto Rico was like

00:43:29.607 --> 00:43:31.085
when he was a boy
in the '30s and the '40s.

00:43:31.109 --> 00:43:33.587
He approached kids
and kids approached him

00:43:33.611 --> 00:43:36.590
and he talked to them
and he went into their homes

00:43:36.614 --> 00:43:38.927
and he found out
about their lives

00:43:38.951 --> 00:43:40.595
and... he identified with them.

00:43:44.622 --> 00:43:48.394
NARRATOR:
On December 23, 1972,

00:43:48.418 --> 00:43:51.565
the Clementes awoke
in Puerto Rico to the news

00:43:51.589 --> 00:43:54.509
of a massive earthquake
in Nicaragua.

00:43:57.135 --> 00:43:59.906
Roberto quickly located
a ham radio operator

00:43:59.930 --> 00:44:03.034
who could provide details
of the damage

00:44:03.058 --> 00:44:05.603
and asked what help
people needed on the ground.

00:44:08.814 --> 00:44:10.983
The reply was immediate and,
for Clemente, heart-wrenching:

00:44:11.859 --> 00:44:15.779
"Food, clothing,
medical supplies-- everything."

00:44:18.031 --> 00:44:22.160
He threw himself into the
relief effort, body and soul.

00:44:22.828 --> 00:44:26.640
MARANISS:
It became his passion.

00:44:26.664 --> 00:44:28.101
For the next week or so,
he was...

00:44:28.125 --> 00:44:31.062
that's all he was doing,
day and night,

00:44:31.086 --> 00:44:32.754
was trying to round up aid
for the people of Managua.

00:44:37.675 --> 00:44:39.653
NARRATOR:
When he heard the news
of corruption and looting,

00:44:39.677 --> 00:44:42.616
of relief supplies stolen,

00:44:42.640 --> 00:44:45.493
Clemente decided
to intervene personally.

00:44:45.518 --> 00:44:48.079
He would accompany a planeload

00:44:48.103 --> 00:44:49.980
of emergency supplies
to Nicaragua.

00:44:50.397 --> 00:44:53.918
RUCK:
The people on the ground

00:44:53.942 --> 00:44:56.630
in Managua are calling Roberto.

00:44:56.654 --> 00:45:00.091
"Roberto, you have to come.

00:45:00.115 --> 00:45:01.909
If you come here,
it'll get where it needs to go."

00:45:04.786 --> 00:45:05.805
NARRATOR:
Clemente wasted no time.

00:45:05.829 --> 00:45:08.683
At San Juan's
International Airport,

00:45:08.707 --> 00:45:11.376
he chartered the first plane
and pilot he could find.

00:45:11.793 --> 00:45:15.689
After some frantic hours
of repairs,

00:45:15.713 --> 00:45:18.300
the DC-7 was finally
cleared for takeoff.

00:45:19.134 --> 00:45:22.822
It was a few minutes after
9:00 p.m.,

00:45:22.846 --> 00:45:26.308
December 31, 1972.

00:45:51.749 --> 00:45:55.606
The plane was
sort of tipping wrong

00:45:55.630 --> 00:45:58.983
and the front wheel was aúlittle... almost off the ground

00:45:59.007 --> 00:46:02.028
and the back wheel was smashed,

00:46:02.052 --> 00:46:05.013
and said something,
something's wrong here.

00:46:07.765 --> 00:46:09.767
But Clemente was so determined
to get to Nicaragua

00:46:10.645 --> 00:46:14.290
to do what he thought
he had to do

00:46:14.314 --> 00:46:16.734
that he wasn't really
paying attention

00:46:16.774 --> 00:46:20.213
to any of that stuff.

00:46:20.237 --> 00:46:23.073
It barely got off the ground,
just over the trees,

00:46:23.700 --> 00:46:27.662
over the ocean about a mile,
and it disappeared.

00:46:31.832 --> 00:46:35.769
NARRATOR:
Just as Clemente's
plane departed,

00:46:35.793 --> 00:46:38.589
Carol Brezovec and her mother
were arriving on the island.

00:46:42.800 --> 00:46:44.802
Vera had gone
to the terminal to meet them.

00:46:44.845 --> 00:46:49.117
BASS:
She was explaining to us,
you know, what had happened

00:46:49.141 --> 00:46:52.019
and how she had taken Roberto
to the airport and that...

00:46:52.436 --> 00:46:55.915
he was on his way to Nicaragua

00:46:55.939 --> 00:46:57.775
and that he would call
as soon as he got there.

00:47:00.737 --> 00:47:04.072
NARRATOR:
But the phone call never came.

00:47:05.032 --> 00:47:08.952
Late that night,
Clemente's niece called Vera.

00:47:09.579 --> 00:47:13.016
She had heard a radio report

00:47:13.040 --> 00:47:14.832
that a plane had crashed into
the ocean just after takeoff.

00:47:19.087 --> 00:47:22.132
BASS:
Things just became much more
serious and much more quiet.

00:47:22.340 --> 00:47:26.446
By then, there should have been
a phone call from Roberto

00:47:26.470 --> 00:47:29.616
to say he was okay,

00:47:29.640 --> 00:47:31.492
you know, "I'm here, I'll be,
you know, right back."

00:47:38.856 --> 00:47:40.001
NARRATOR:
The following day,
a rescue fleet

00:47:40.025 --> 00:47:42.486
surveyed the waters
off San Juan to no avail,

00:47:42.860 --> 00:47:46.864
as a disbelieving crowd
gathered on the beach,

00:47:47.199 --> 00:47:50.787
praying for a miracle.

00:47:53.581 --> 00:47:55.559
BASS:
You know,
the reality became more clear

00:47:55.583 --> 00:47:57.851
as we would see more and more...

00:47:57.875 --> 00:47:59.853
(voice quavering):
...medical supplies wash up...

00:47:59.877 --> 00:48:03.857
and signs that, in fact,
this was the cargo plane,

00:48:03.881 --> 00:48:07.135
and this was the plane
that, um... he was on.

00:48:11.849 --> 00:48:14.852
NARRATOR:
Pittsburgh teammates waited
anxiously for news.

00:48:15.393 --> 00:48:19.106
One even joined
in the rescue effort.

00:48:22.900 --> 00:48:24.902
But Roberto Clemente's body
would never be found.

00:48:25.530 --> 00:48:29.032
(Sanguillén speaking Spanish)

00:48:42.212 --> 00:48:45.899
OLIVER:
It knocked me off my feet.

00:48:45.923 --> 00:48:48.218
You looked at Roberto
as someone who was invincible.

00:48:48.927 --> 00:48:52.849
We knew that
we had lost our leader.

00:49:04.819 --> 00:49:08.739
(train clattering on tracks,
brakes squealing)

00:49:12.159 --> 00:49:14.721
GONZALEZ:
It was two days after his death,

00:49:14.745 --> 00:49:17.665
and I come out of my apartment
in the South Bronx

00:49:17.955 --> 00:49:21.878
and people are pouring out
with cans of food

00:49:23.295 --> 00:49:27.299
and blankets and other supplies
to give to the victims

00:49:28.966 --> 00:49:32.488
of the earthquake in Nicaragua.

00:49:32.513 --> 00:49:35.949
Here were
all of these Puerto Ricans,

00:49:35.973 --> 00:49:37.911
all of them
impoverished themselves,

00:49:37.935 --> 00:49:41.038
and, to some degree, it seemed
to me their way of, like,

00:49:41.062 --> 00:49:44.877
expressing not only their sense
of loss over Clemente,

00:49:44.901 --> 00:49:48.821
but their sense of continuing
what he was trying to do.

00:49:49.362 --> 00:49:53.241
And that truck filled up
in... in half an hour.

00:49:57.538 --> 00:49:59.540
Great athletes compress
life's trajectory unnaturally--

00:49:59.997 --> 00:50:03.920
rapid ascent, glamorous apogee,
slow decline.

00:50:06.087 --> 00:50:09.651
Most great athletes...

00:50:09.675 --> 00:50:12.986
live most of their life
after their life, as it were.

00:50:13.010 --> 00:50:16.533
"Didn't you use to be
a ballplayer?"

00:50:16.557 --> 00:50:19.059
Clemente was great
and gorgeous to watch;

00:50:20.937 --> 00:50:25.022
elegant, noble, right until
this horribly abrupt end.

00:50:54.427 --> 00:50:58.055
(applause, whistling fade in)

00:51:01.519 --> 00:51:04.790
(applause, whistling fade out)