Wendell Smith, the influential black sportswriter: Wendell Smith papers, National Baseball Hall of Fame, Cooperstown, New York; Brian Carroll, Wendell Smith’s “Last Crusade,” 13th Annual Cooperstown Symposium on Baseball and American Culture, National Baseball Hall of Fame; Jack E. Davis, “Baseball’s Reluctant Challenge,” Journal of Sports History, Summer 1992; Pittsburgh Courier, March 26, 1961; Chicago’s American, January–August 1961. In an April 3, 1961, Chicago’s American article, “What a Negro Ballplayer Faces Today in Training,” Smith wrote: “To the average white player, the six weeks spent training is merely a blink of pleasant time in a ballplayer’s life, but to his Negro teammate it is an eternity of humiliations and frustrations.”
Clemente was described as “bitter”: Bill Nunn Jr., Pittsburgh Courier, April 15, 1961.
“So I say to Joe Brown”: Sam Nover, “A Conversation with RC,” 1972.
When the Fort Myers Boosters Club: Fort Myers News-Press, March 8, 1961.
When the Fort Myers Country Club: Fort Myers News-Press, March 27, 1961. Manager Danny Murtaugh said he shot his “best round ever,” a 104, which was said to be a few strokes better than Joe L. Brown, “who had a few difficulties”: ints. Bob Friend, Dick Schofield.
Change was slow: Pittsburgh Courier, May 20, 1961; Wendell Smith columns in Chicago’s American, April–August 1961; Carroll, Wendell Smith’s Last Crusade.
Clemente was not to be ignored: New York Times, Fort Myers News-Press, March 28–29, 1961, New York Times, March 29, 1961.
Sisler’s first breakthrough: Sisler hitting analysis, Branch Rickey Papers, LCMD; Fort Myers News-Press, March 10–30, 1961.
But by 1961 he was using: Hillerich & Bradsby bat documents maintained by Rex Bradley; int. Rex Bradley.
The All-Star setting offered: Pittsburgh Courier, AP, San Francisco Chronicle, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pittsburgh Press, July 11–12, 1961.
A trivial manifestation: New York Times, Chicago’s American, Pittsburgh Courier, August 1, 1961; ints. Bill Nunn Jr., Bob Friend.
One night that August: Jack Hernon, “Roamin Around,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, August 13, 1961. In that same sports section, the Post-Gazette ran a photo of Smoky Burgess, Dick Groat, Clemente, and Bill Virdon holding a bat that read 1,000 hits. Clemente had reached the 1,000-hit club a week earlier, Burgess a day earlier, and Virdon needed four more hits to join them.
This was not just Clemente’s rise: Ints. Orlando Cepeda, Vic Power, Eduardo Valero, Osvaldo Gil, Matino Clemente, Luis Olmo; El Imparcial, San Juan Star, October 8–10, 1961. A front-page photograph on October 10 showed Cepeda and Clemente inside Sixto Escobar stadium, waving to the crowd. Clemente kept his sore right elbow at his side and waved with his left.
8: FEVER
On a December day in 1963: Narrative of Clemente-Zabala courtship drawn from several interviews with Vera Clemente and Matino Clemente; also M. I. Caceres, Reader’s Digest, July 1973.
To Steve Blass, a rookie pitcher: Int. Steve Blass.
First base that year: Int. Donn Clendenon.
The Tobs had a rivalry: Ints. Bob Veale, Donn Clendenon.
He had become: Int. Tony Taylor.
“ ‘Clemente’s a mean man’”: Sam Nover, “A Conversation with RC,” 1972.
“I always had a theory”: Int. Steve Blass.
Leppert placed the blame: Int. Don Leppert.
“it becomes a vicious circle”: Myron Cope, Sports Illustrated, March 7, 1966.
“He’d crawl in a shell”: Bill Mazeroski, Sport, November 1971.
Clemente took offense: Int. Roy McHugh.
“Everybody in that clubhouse”: Int. Tony Bartirome.
The Pirates were in the middle: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pittsburgh Press, San Juan Star.
In his ellipses-dotted: Al Abrams, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, July 7–8, 1964.
The trip was a success: Int. Vera Clemente.
Rickey scouted for general manager: Branch Rickey Papers, LCMD.
Groat went on to hit .292: Halberstam, October 1964, pp. 33-36.
Here, in Carolina: Ints. Vera Clemente, Matino Clemente; San Juan Star, November 15, 1964.
One woman in New York: Letter to RC, Duane Rieder collection, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Clemente organized a group: Ints. Vera Clemente, Juan Pizarro; San Juan Star, February 4, 1965; San Juan Star, February 15, 1965.
What was wrong? Ints. Vera Clemente, Juan Pizarro, Eduardo Valero, Ramiro Martínez, Joe L. Brown, Matino Clemente.
9: PASSION
Every move Clemente made: Ints. Bruce Laurie, Howard Fineman, Rex Bradley, Roy McHugh, Richard Santry, Donn Clendenon; Jim Murray, Los Angeles Times, October 15, 1971.
During the first two months: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pittsburgh Press, May 3–7, 1965. On May 3, in his “Sidelights on Sports” column, Al Abrams wrote from St. Louis: “The ‘Hat’ went into a monumental rage. He not only banged and threw things around in the small cubicle in which the visiting players dress, he let his men know in the most earthy and sulphuric language at his command that he is far from pleased with the way they were playing.”
The malarial funk was long forgotten: Ints. Vera Clemente, Luis Clemente.
During a home stand late in September: Int. Gene Garber.
Home now was a funky modernist house: Observations of Clemente home in Rio Piedras. Ints. Vera Clemente, Roberto Clemente Jr. The ponds in the front became filled with frogs that were collected by neighborhood children.
One visitor that winter: Ints. Myron Cope, Roy McHugh, Vera Clemente; Myron Cope, Sports Illustrated, March 7, 1966.
A few days after Cope left: Brown letter, Duane Rieder collection, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
she wrote a note to Phil Dorsey: Duane Rieder collection, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
The truth was he had a temper: Account of the punch incident drawn from ints. Bernard Heller, John Heller; Philadelphia Inquirer, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, May 7–9, 1966.
The punch seemed more instinctive: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, May 6, 1963; Baseball Classics, 1960 World Series; Ints. Vic Power, Juan Pizarro, Luis Olmo, Ramiro Martínez.
Carol Brezovec would only see: Ints. Carol Brezovec (Bass), Carolyn Rauch, Vera Clemente.
“So the story goes”: Int. Steve Blass.
“When you have the world’s best base runner”: Int. Gaylord Perry.
making it feel more like home: Ints. José Pagán, Vera Clemente.
“Sore arm, my foot!”: New York Daily News, September 18–19, 1966.
You have to visit me: Ints. Carol Brezovec (Bass), Vera Clemente, Roberto Clemente Jr.
10: A CIRCULAR STAGE
Ask him how he felt: Ints. Tony Bartirome, Bob Veale, Steve Blass, Myron Cope, Roy McHugh, Harding Peterson, Les Banos. The training room, Bartirome recalled, “was like a playroom. Everybody’d come in there, not for treatment, just to screw around.”
One nagging concern: Flight time calculated from Pirates 1968 schedule and 1968 national flight records; ints. Vera Clemente, Bob Veale, José Pagán, Juan Pizarro.
He bought his cologne: Int. Les Banos.
When a sales clerk met: Sam Nover, “A Conversation with RC,” 1972; int. Vera Clemente.
Al Oliver, a black teammate: Int. Al Oliver.
What Clemente admired: Sam Nover, “A Conversation with RC,” 1972.
The Clementes spent twenty-two days: Int. Vera Clemente
“Love and hate”: Pittsburgh Press, April 14, 1969; ints. Roy McHugh, Juliet Schor; Bill Mazeroski, Sport, November 1971.
No National League pitcher wanted: Int. Ferguson Jenkins, Tony Taylor; Bill Curry and George Plimpton, One More July, 1978.
One other event that season: Ints. Vera Clemente, Matino Clemente; Bill Christine, Roberto, 1973.
The most significant event in baseball: Minutes of Executive Board Meeting, Major League Baseball Players Association, Sheraton Hotel, San Juan, Puerto Rico, December 13–14, 1969; int. Dick Moss; San Juan Star, December 12–15, 1969; New York
Times, December 14–15, 1969.
Listening in on the conversation: Int. Enrique Zorrilla.
“I don’t know why they invited me”: Int. Nancy Golding.
In Pittsburgh two days later: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pittsburgh Press, July 15–18, 1970.
July 24 was Roberto Clemente night: Account of night drawn from ints. Vera Clemente, Luis Clemente, Matino Clemente, Roy McHugh, Al Oliver, Richie Hebner, Howard Fineman, Ramiro Martínez; Martínez’s tape-recording of speeches, July 24, 1970; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pittsburgh Press, July 23–25, 1970.
11: EL DÍA MÁS GRANDE
In Baltimore on the eve: Ints. Vera Clemente, Carolyn Rauch.
“I’m never sorry”: San Francisco Chronicle, Baltimore Sun, Chicago Tribune, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, New York Times, October 5–9, 1971.
“Anger, for Roberto Clemente”: Roy McHugh, Pittsburgh Press, October 15, 1971; int. Roy McHugh.
Russo and Youse returned: Baltimore Sun, October 9, 1971.
Game 1, on the Saturday afternoon: Game account drawn from ints. Steve Blass, Al Oliver, Richie Hebner, Nellie Briles, José Pagán, Roy McHugh, Joe L. Brown, Tony Bartirome, Harding Peterson, Earl Weaver, Paul Blair, Vera Clemente; Baltimore Sun, Washington Post, New York Times, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pittsburgh Press, Chicago Tribune, October 10, 1971.
No bad clams at the restaurant: Ints. Vera Clemente, Carolyn Rauch.
“I had the ball and he was sliding”: Int. Richie Hebner.
the baseball writers had all quit: David Condon, Chicago Tribune, Arthur Daley, New York Times, Jim Murray, Los Angeles Times, October 11–12, 1971.
Clemente could not sleep: Ints. Vera Clemente, Steve Blass.
“look what we got”: Ints. Tony Bartirome, Steve Blass.
Cuellar hurried his throw: Int. Earl Weaver.
“Guess I missed a sign”: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, New York Times, Baltimore Sun, October 13, 1971.
It only lasted an inning: The best account of the all-black Pirate lineup is by Bruce Markesun, a researcher at the National Baseball Hall of Fame, on the baseballguru.com Web site.
Rice called it foul: Int. Don Leppert; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Baltimore Sun, Washington Post, New York Times, October 14, 1971.
The fans could not see it: Int. Nellie Briles; Pittsburgh Press, Baltimore Sun, San Francisco Chronicle, October 15, 1971.
“The rest of us were just players”: Int. Steve Blass.
The prince was a pip: Newsday, New York Times, New York Daily News, Pittsburgh Press, Baltimore Sun, Chicago Tribune, San Francisco Chronicle, Los Angeles Times, October 15, 1971.
Clemente could not have performed better: Ints. Earl Weaver, Paul Blair, Roy McHugh, Tony Bartirome, José Pagán; Baltimore Sun, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, October 16, 1971.
As the taxi hurtled north: Ken Nigro, Baltimore Sun, October 17, 1971.
Blass was even more effective: Ints. Steve Blass, Earl Weaver, Richie Hebner, Nellie Briles, Les Banos, José Pagán, Joe L. Brown, Tony Bartirome; Los Angeles Times, Baltimore Sun, Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Chicago Tribune, New York Times, October 17, 1971.
“En el día más grande”: Ramiro Martínez tape collection. (In two closets in his condominium in the San Juan suburbs, Martínez maintains the world’s largest archive of audio and videotapes of Clemente. Many of them were recorded by Martínez in his capacity as a radio announcer. He was a Zelig-like character who seemed to always be at Clemente’s side whenever something important was happening.)
At the White House: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Baltimore Sun; Nixon tapes, National Archives at College Park. Nixon-Rogers exchange uncovered and transcribed by James C. Warren of the Chicago Tribune, a leading expert on the voluminous Nixon tapes.
Three days later, on the afternoon of October 20: Ramiro Martínez archive; New York Times, October 21, 1971; Roger Kahn; ints. Stuart Speiser, Vera Clemente.
12: TIP OF THE CAP
Momen was a fanatic about crabs: Int. Roberto Clemente Jr.
They visited Caracas: Clemente family collection, travel documents: Int. Vera Clemente.
“I think the World Series”: Ramiro Martínez tape collection.
Clemente chose to live: Ints. Richie Hebner, Fernando González, Al Oliver.
Also hanging around was Roy Blount Jr.: C. R. Ways, New York Times Magazine, April 9, 1972.
In his letter to Vera: Duane Rieder collection, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The letter was handwritten on Pirate City stationery.
the 1972 team was even looser: Ints. Steve Blass, Tony Bartirome, Les Banos, Richie Hebner, Al Oliver, Nellie Briles.
“Hey, Roberto,” Sanguillen called out: Int. Fernando González.
“We stayed and we talked”: Int. Carolyn Rauch.
Barely half that many: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pittsburgh Press; ints. Richie Hebner, Tony Bartirome, Steve Blass, Matino Clemente, Les Banos, Nellie Briles; Tom Seaver, Recollection at Hall of Fame gathering at National Geographic Society, Washington, D.C., February 2003.
The next morning at eleven: Account of Clemente’s three-thousandth hit drawn from ints. Ann Ranalli King, Steve Blass, Richie Hebner, Nellie Briles, Tony Bartirome, Les Banos, Roy McHugh, Chuck Goggin, Bill Nunn Jr.; El Nueva Día, (Luis Ramos); Pittsburgh Press; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, September 30, 1971 and October 1, 1971; Ramiro Martínez tape collection (Felo Martínez broadcasts). In explaining why Clemente was her favorite player, Ann Ranalli, who later married the sportswriter Peter King, said: “You never felt like he was playing a media game. He always seemed to be his own person, on and off the field, which was admirable. Pittsburgh was not a great baseball town, nor particularly supportive of the team. I happened to be a fan and had more enthusiasm and he was the centerpiece of the games.”
the surest evidence that he intended: Int. Rex Bradley, Hillerich & Bradsby bat archives.
the night before he left: Int. Al Oliver.
13: TEMBLOR
Three days before Christmas: Nixon Presidential Papers, National Archives, Nicaragua file, Telegram, December 22, 1972. A stamp next to the White House logo says: Ambassador/ Hand-Carry/President. The telegram is addressed to Mr. Howard Hughes/Intercontinental/ Hotel/Managua, Nicaragua. It was copied to R. Woods/R. Price/J. Andrews/R. Ziegler/H. Klein.
Holiday revelers were out strolling: Account of first moments of earthquake drawn from int. Anthony Jilek; Nixon Presidential Papers, Nicaragua file, National Archives; Pedro Chamorro, Richter 7 (translation, Patricia Rengal); Washington Post, New York Times, December 24, 1972; Nicholas Daniloff, UPI, Washington, D.C., December 23, 1972.
The Clementes, at their house: Ints. Vera Clemente, Ramiro Martínez, Osvaldo Gil.
The disaster relief effort was underway: Southern Command News, Quarry Heights, Canal Zone, January 5, 1973; Situation Report, Staff Communications Division, Department of the Army, Nicaragua, National Archives at College Park.
American soldiers arriving: Int. Gary Czabot.
the attention of President Nixon: President Nixon’s Daily Diary, Nixon Presidential Papers, National Archives, Washington, D.C. (NARA), December 23, 1972. The diary entries: 9:35—The President had breakfast; 11:07 The President talked with his senior White House physician, Major General Walter Tkach; 12:53 The President talked long distance with his Assistant for National Security Affairs, Henry A. Kissinger, in Washington, D.C.; 1:05 The President had lunch. The President watched the Oakland Raiders–Pittsburgh Steelers football game on television.
Fourth and ten: Ints. Myron Cope, Bill Nunn Jr., Les Banos; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pittsburgh Press, December 24, 1971.
“I don’t know what”: Ints. Osvaldo Gil, Vera Clemente; Ramiro Martínez archive.
President Nixon took breakfast at eight forty-five: President Nixon’s Daily Diary, Nixon Presidential Papers, Nicaragua file, NARA; Memorandum for Al Haig, Subject: Nicaragua Earthquake, National Security Council, NARA, December 24, 1972.
In San Juan, Clemente and Ruth Fernández: Ints. Vera Clemente, Osvaldo Gi
l, Ramiro Martínez; Ramiro Martínez tape collection.
Pedro Chamorro circled Managua: Pedro Chamorro, Richter 7.
Clemente spent the day: Ints. Vera Clemente, Osvaldo Gil; Ramiro Martínez tape collection.
Howard Hughes, after refueling stops: Times of London, New York Times, Miami Herald, AP, December 24–26, 1971.
the greed of Somoza: Ints. Osvaldo Gil, Vera Clemente, Ramiro Martínez.
Bianca, then only twenty-two: Kurt Jacobsen, “A Conversation with Bianca Jagger, Human Rights Advocate,” Logos Journal, Fall 2003.
Once the plane touched down: Ints. Dr. Hart Achenbach, Dr. Frederick Zugibe; Hart Achenbach, M.D., Tales of the Curious Traveler.
President Nixon placed a call: Int. Maurice J. Williams; President Nixon’s Daily Diary, Nixon Presidential Papers, NARA.
Come with me: Ints. Les Banos, Orlando Cepeda, Chuck Goggin, Vera Clemente, Osvaldo Gil.
14: COCKROACH CORNER
you could buy anything for a song: Ints. Mike Pangia, Jon Hoffman, Stuart Speiser.
As practice runs go: Pangia memo, Pangia archive, Federal Aviation Administration, U.S. Department of Justice.
From the moment he came: National Transportation Safety Board Report, Douglas DC-7CF Accident, Aircraft Accident File Contents, San Juan, Puerto Rico, December 31, 1972.
Couric was such a stickler: Int. Bev Couric (wife of William Couric); National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), Aircraft Accident File.
Rivera went on the offensive: NTSB, Alexander P. Butterfield, FAA, vs. Arthur S. Rivera, Docket SE-1399.
The battle of wills: Ints. Stuart Speiser, Jon Hoffman, Mike Pangia; Speiser Brief (50 pp.), U.S. District Court; Lawsuit (p. 382); FAA Report of Investigation, May 11, 1970, Compliance and Security Office.
Usto E. Schulz: Schulz trial testimony: Vera Christina Zabala de Clemente et al., Plaintiff, vs. McDonnell Douglas Corp. et al., and other consolidated cases, Defendants. Transcript of trial heard before the Honorable Juan R. Torrulella, U.S. District Judge sitting in San Juan, Puerto Rico, November 1975.
that came to be known: Department of Transportation, FAA, Southern Region, September 25, 1972, Pangia archive.
Rivera enlisted two mechanics: NTSB Air Accident File, depositions of Rafael Delgado-Cintron and Francisco Matias.
Clemente: The Passion and Grace of Baseball's Last Hero Page 44