MLBTR's Mark Polishuk paid tribute to Roberto Clemente who lost his life 40 years ago today in a plane crash off the coast of Puerto Rico. Clemente was on a mission of mercy delivering emergency supplies to earthquake-ravaged Nicaragua. David Maraniss, in his biography Clemente: The Passion and Grace of Baseball‘s Last Hero, wrote, "The mythic aspects of baseball…usually draw on cliches of the innocent past. (Clemente's myth) arcs the other way, to the future, not the past, to what people hope they can become." (h/t Bob Cohn of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review). Here are more remembrances of the first Latin American inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame:
- David Brown of Yahoo! Sports writes Pirates' second baseman Neil Walker can thank Clemente for being born. Tom Walker, Neil's father, was a pitcher for the Expos and wanted to accompany his friend Clemente on that fateful flight. Clemente told Tom Walker to go enjoy New Year's Eve instead.
- FOXSports.com's Jon Paul Morosi tweeted a quote from Tom Walker, "If there had been 6 seats on the plane I would have gone. There were 5."
- Alfredo R. Berrios of ESPNDeportes.com offers his own recollections of that night in 1972 and those of other Latin American sportswriters and sportscasters who covered Clemente.
- Jorge L. Ortiz of USA Today discusses Clemente's impact throughout Latin America. Ortiz adds Clemente's athletic legacy may have waned in Puerto Rico, but his dignity and devotion to those less fortunate continues to resonate.
- Jim Lachimia, in a special to MLB.com, spoke with Roberto Clemente Jr. about his father.
- MLB Network has posted a video, hosted by Bob Costas, paying respect to Clemente's life and the lives he impacted in baseball and around the world.
