Perhaps the most astonishing revelation in the book is learning that sportswriters often quoted Clemente phonetically in print. His accent and grammatical struggles were spelled out for all to see, and it understandably irritated and angered him. In what may be only of interest to me, it wasn't just white journalists in major publications that did this. He was often quoted phonetically by black journalists writing for, at that time, predominantly African-American readers. It's hard not to see malice in this practice decades later. It's also hard to believe that journalists who were themselves frozen out of the larger, more prestigious papers would turn and do something like this with another minority.
In addition to following Clemente's growth as a player who would win two World Championships with the Pittsburgh Pirates and collect 3,000 hits, we get glimpses into a man for whom baseball was just the beginning. He didn't connect well with sportswriters and sometimes with teammates, but he did have a special connection with fans. He often went beyond signing autographs for fans but was known to invite them to his home in Pittsburgh and Puerto Rico.
He was also someone who had ambitions beyond baseball, using the fame that sometimes irritated him as a platform to lift up the disadvantaged. In fact, it was this passion that led to his untimely death at age 38. During the offseason, shortly after collecting his 3,000th and final hit, a devastating earthquake rocked the Caribbean nation of Nicaragua. Clemente led efforts to collect money and supplies for the injured and homeless. Multiple planes of supplies collected by Clemente were delivered, but word got back to the superstar outfielder that government greed and corruption prevented the supplies from being delivered.
Clemente was outraged by these reports and as a man who had achieved fame and status in this region of the world beyond his stardom in the United States, he decided to try and use that fame as leverage to ensure the next plane load of supplies got to its intended recipients. It is in these final chapters that Maraniss' reporting and writing is the most affecting. We learn of the staggering number of critical errors made by the disreputable, incompetent company he turned to in order to carry him and those supplies on this final trip. On New Year's Eve, 1972, Clemente's plane crashed and all aboard perished.
Article comments
1 - Maddy Pumilia
All I know about Clemente is that there's a bridge in Pittsburgh that leads to PNC park and Heinz Field and it's my favorite place in the entire world. And the day Clemente died, the Steelers lost the AFC Championship game. It was a bad day for Pittsburgh.
I'm not even a baseball fan. But man, now I want this book. Nice article.
2 - Josh Hathaway
Thanks, Maddy. Even though I felt a tad let down by it, I think it's absolutely worth the time. As for the Steelers, can we please all finally admit the Immaculate Reception was an incomplete pass, robbing my Raiders? :)