Clemente: The True Legacy of an Undying Hero - Hardcover

The Clemente Family

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0451419030 ISBN 13: 9780451419033

Publisher: Celebra, 2013

Synopsis

Baseball great, family man, humanitarian—the life and enduring legacy of Roberto Clemente, as told by his family.

With a swift bat and fierce athleticism, Roberto Clemente intimidated major league pitchers for eighteen seasons, compiling three thousand hits. His legs were among the quickest of his era. His throwing arm was one of the strongest, gunning down base runners from right field with incredible frequency. He would spend a career fighting for respect and finally achieve it after a historic World Series performance and a second half of a career that would have him mentioned with greats like Jackie Robinson, Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, and Mickey Mantle.

But what Roberto Clemente did off the field made him an equally great humanitarian. One of the first athletes who understood how the power of sports could be used to transform not just a handful of lives but many thousands of them, he would die following his heart and conscience by helping others. Clemente was on an aircraft loaded with supplies for an earthquake-stricken Nicaragua when the plane crashed in the Atlantic Ocean.

Forty years after that tragic day, the widow and sons of this regal athlete and consummate humanitarian open up for the first time about the husband and father they lost. Featuring an extensive array of rare and never-before-seen photos of Clemente on the field and off, this powerful memoir tells his inspiring story from the voices of those who knew him best.

INCLUDES PHOTOS

About this title

About the Author:

Vera, Roberto Jr., Luis, and Ricky Clemente live in Texas and Puerto Rico and continue to preserve the memory of the loving husband and inspiring father they knew best and the selfless person and epic baseball player the world will never forget. Together as a family, they founded the Roberto Clemente Foundation to help disadvantaged youths. Vera is currently the Goodwill Ambassador for Major League Baseball.

Mike Freeman is a writer for CBSSports.com. This is his seventh book. He lives in New Jersey.

From Booklist:

Roberto Clemente got his three-thousandth hit in his last at-bat of the last regular-season game of 1972. On December 31, 1972, he was killed in a plane crash delivering aid to earthquake victims in Nicaragua. He was 38 He was enshrined in baseball’s Hall of Fame in 1973. Clemente was, as the scouts like to say, a “five-tool” player who could hit, throw, field, run, and hit with power. Though this tribute to him by his family touches on all the important baseball topics, its focus is on Clemente as a husband, father, teammate, and humanitarian. Roberto and his wife, Vera, met in Clementes native Puerto Rico in 1964. He was famous, and she was shy. It worked out well. He was a devoted family man, and, though he loved playing baseball, he felt his fame and fortune were wasted unless he used them in the service of the less fortunate. There are dozens of black-and-white photographs included here, many previously unseen, from the family’s private collection, and they evocatively illustrate the text. A striking tribute to a remarkable man. --Wes Lukowsky

About this edition

• Publisher: Celebra
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 0451419030
• ISBN 13: 9780451419033
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 272