Roberto Clemente (stuff I'm Reading)

Stuff I’m Reading.

Clemente: The Passion and Grace of Baseball’s Last Hero by David Maraniss


The book makes the case for why Roberto Clemente,who played 18 seasons in right field for the Pittsburgh Pirates,
is to Latin Americans what Jackie Robinson is to African Americans. It makes the case that he was not only a great baseball player, but a genuinely great human being. It is definitely written from a hero-worship perspective, but by the time you have gotten through it, you realize it is totally justified.
Just the descriptions of the ‘60 and ‘71 World Series make this a must-read for all baseball fans. And, no shit, I was almost in tears by the end (but, you know, I didn't cry because I'm a man {sort of} so I can’t cry. Instead I went out and chopped some wood and changed my oil like 50 times), after the telling of the plane crash that killed him in his effort to help earthquake victims in Nicaragua.

One thing I thought was interesting: the Author’s juxtaposition of Clemente and Howard Hughes. Hughes, who in his later nutball years, was holed up in Nicaragua, isolated from the world and then being hustled out of the country by his entourage. Hughes, with quite literally limitless resources and the great ability to help the people of Nicaragua, fled the country, while Clemente died trying to help them. Yeah, I know Hughes was crazy, but which one do you think is burning in hell?

With Spring Training getting going, this book made me excited as hell for the season to start, even if my team is the perennially sucky Baltimore Orioles.





www.daveygandthekeyboard.com