Newspaper Page Text
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Vol. 2
Body Os Pirates Superstar
Roberto Clemente Still Missing
From Various Sources
There’s something to be
learned of a man’s life —of
what makes him tick as a
human being -by the manner
of his death. When the game
ended for Roberto Clemente
in the sea off San Juan, he was
in the act of uncorking the
biggest assist he ever made, a
feat which will be recorded
only by the ultimate
scorekeeper.
When the plane carrying
relief supplies to Nicaragua
plummeted into the Atlantic
Sunday night, it curtailed a
brilliant career which still had
the makings of another 500
hits and another year or two in
the heady atmosphere of
.300-plus hitter. En route to
his lifetime BA of .315, the
mahogany skinned Puerto
Rican - characterized by some
savants of the sweet swing as
the best “pure” hitter of his
time - scaled the magical .300
mark 13 times. He led the
National League in batting four
times.
Runners who ventured to
take chances on the basepaths
found themselves struck dead
by the lightning bolts of his
right arm from the far reaches
of rightfield, a province he
patrolled with the diligence of
a shepherd dog tending a flock
of sheep. One year, the rifle
which masquaraded as his right
arm gunned down 23 runners
and intimidated scores more.
Despite being named to 12
All Star teams and earning
Most Valuable Player accolades
in 1966, Clemente sensed that
he was being cheated of the
eminence due him.
Unlike Willie Mays and Hank
Aaron, who have tended to
skirt controversial situations,
Clemente never hesitated to
speak out on the racism which
plagues the sport.
It bugged him considerably,
for instance, that he was
shunned by the image makers
who put together those
lucrative commercials which
have made rich men out of Joe
Namath and Mark Spitz.
“The hell with them,” he
snorted once, “1 make
endorsements in Spanish
countries and give the money
to charity.”
At $150,000 a year, the
38-year-old star ranked as one
of baseball’s more appreciated
practitioners. His life style was
in keeping with those
illustrious numbers.
Somber of mind to the point
of seeming sour-pussed at
times, the magnificently-tor
soed Clemente was the
personification of ebullience in
his wardrobe. His home in Rio
Pedras is one of Puerto Rico’s
better works of architecture.
For the son of a man who
worked in the sugar fields of
Carolina to raise his family,
Roberto Clemente would be
said to have achieved the sweet
life. His wife, the former Vera
Cristina Zabala, must be one of
the better catches made by any
outfielder off the diamond.
With Roberto Jr., Luis and
Enrique, Clemente enjoyed the
kind of father-son relationship
he spoke of often when
envisoning the “sports city”
complex he hoped to establish
when his career was concluded.
The “sports city” idea was
the dream he suggested to the
press the day he was given a car
for being the most valuable
player in the 1971 World Series
when his .414 batting average,
Herculean heaves and generally
spectacular play helped bury
the Baltimore Orioles.
There would be baseball
diamonds and swimming pools
and tennis courts in this big
“sports city.” And there would
be a lake for fathers and sons
to go rowing and get to know
each other a little better while
talking baseball and other
things of mutual interest.
Sidelined often by recurring
ailments, including a
chronically-aching back,
Clemente was targeted by some
sports writers and players as a
hypochrondriac. His miseries
were real, Clemente insisted,
and there were X-rays and
doctors’ diagnosis to
substantiate him.
What was never challenged
was his way with a bat and Joe
Garagiola, who’s hit more line
drives with his wit than he ever
did with a bat, summed it up.
When Roberto Clemente
dies, said Garageiola, his body
will hit .320.
In Nicargua, it’s more like
.400.
Proud of being Puerto Rican
and Black
The way Roberto Clemente
died had more to do with the
way he had lived than all the
spectacular baseball statistics
for which, in due course, he
will be enshrined in the Hall of
Fame.
Few men, if any, have
played professional baseball
better than Clemente did
during his 18-year career with
the Pittsburgh Pirates. And few
players put as much passion
into other aspects of life as he
did.
Not halfway through his
30th year, he was impersonally
involved in a mission of mercy,
trying to relieve the suffering
of strangers caused by an
earthquake in a country he had
previously visited only briefly.
Most athletes, or anyone else
earning nearly $200,000 a
year, as Clemente did, lend
their names, financial support
or even their exhortations to
some worthy cause and let it
go at that. But Clemente had
to go in person.
This capacity for
involvement characterized him
as a ballplayer and helped
generate some of the
misunderstandings ’ that made
him a controversial personality.
But in the end - the brutally
abrupt end - his baseball skills
remained the achievement of
his life and the reason his
personality mattered to so
many people.
Made 3,000 Hits
He made exactly 3,000 hits,
and only 10 players in more
than 100 years of major league
baseball had made more. He
won four National League
batting championships and a
most-valuable player award. He
helped his team to victory the
only two times it reached the
World Series. His career batting
average was .317, highest of all
active players with at least a
few years of service.
In addition he was
acknowledged as one of the
greatest fielders of his day with
an exceptionally strong and
accurate throwing arm, and a
first-rate base-runner. As the
“complete player,” his only
peers as contemporaries were
Willie Mays and Hank Aaron,
each of whom got greater
recognition because they hit
more home runs.
Clemente was Puerto Rican
and black, and fiercely proud
of his identity. His status as a
P.O. Box 953
national hero in Puerto Rico
stemmed as much from his
outspoken expression of such
pride as from his baseball feats.
Other Puerto Ricans had won
baseball glory, but few had
made such explicit demands
for respect and recognition.
A High School Star
His destiny was baseball
from the start. He was born on
August 18, 1934, in Carolina,
the San Juan suburb that
remained his home. He was the
youngest child in a large,
financially comfortable family.
His father was a foreman on a
sugar plantation, and his plans
for Roberto pointed toward
engineering.
11110
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Clemente leaping high
against the fence in pur
suit of a long fly bait
But while still in high school
at 17, he was playing baseball
so spectacularly that he was
given a SSOO bonus to join the
Santurce team in the Puerto
Rican League, in which
professionals from the States
also played. In his third season,
the winter of 1953-54, he hit
.356, and the major league
scouts had no doubts.
In 1954, there was still an
unspoken quota system
limiting the number of black
players a team would use,
although Jackie Robinson had
already completed seven
seasons with the Brooklyn
Dodgers. There was also a
distinct set of prejudices about
“Spanish-speaking players.”
And there was a “bonusrule”
that forced a major league
team to keep on its active
roster any player to whom it
had paid more than S4OOO for
signing -a deterrent to giving
bonuses to a player not ready
to play in the majors
immediately.
But Clemente’s talent was so
evident that all three deterrents
were disregarded. After some
bidding, the Dodgers landed
him for SIO,OOO outright and a
$5,000 salary to play for their
Montreal club. That meant he
could be drafted by another
team for $4,000 after the 1954
season.
There are conflicting
THE PEOPLE’S PAPER
Augusta, Georgia
versions of what happened
next. The facts are that
Clemente played part-time for
Montreal, batted .257 and was
drafted by Pittsburgh, which
had first choice because it
finished last in 1953.
Pirates Weren’t Fooled
The Dodgers had won the
pennant in 1953 by a huge
margin and couldn’t have
signed Clemente without a
bonus. They knew , they said
afterward, they would lose him
in the draft, but it was worth
the money to keep him from
signing with the New York
Giants, who already had Mays.
The idea of a Mays and
Clemente was too frightening
for the Dodgers to allow.
EDITORIAL
REVENUE SHARING AND POLITICAL APPOINTMENTS
By Joseph C. Jones
Field Director; Labor Education Advancement Program
Revenue Sharing is a new form of federal money that will be
flowing into cities across the nation, to be used by elected
officials in almost any matter they desire; to overcome some of
the problems in the community.
We need to become aware of how this money is spent, and
make sure we receive our proper share as a Black community. The
City of Augusta has already received some 500,000 dollars in
Revenue Sharing, and at this point have already started allocation
of this money. Oglethorpe Park was the first to receive 20,000
dollars for the purpose of developing a park on the river front, a
project that was started by the Jaycees. 1 am not saying that the
development of the park is not important, but with so many
problem areas in Augusta, Georgia, a parkis of least importance
to me. I think we need to take a good look at our newly elected
Mayor, Lewis “Pop” Newman and the County Commissioners
and be aware of the direction they are taking in the revenue
sharing and its effect on the Black Community.
If ever Black Augusta needed to be congratulated it would be
proper to congratulate them for the effort put forth, and the
voter turnout they did in order for Lewis “Pop” Newman to
become Mayor of the City of Augusta, Georgia. As I look back on
the mayoral race it would not be proper not to mention the
overwhelming support that “Pop” Newman received from our
Black Leaders like Rev. C.S. Hamilton, Dr. I.E. Washington,
William Baxter, John Swint, Joe Carr and others he would not be
Mayor today. Now it has come time for appointments, not some
kind of token, or a job that will bring publicity for the person
who is appointed for the Black Community. We want to see
Carrie J. Mays, B.L. Dent and Aaron Tappan appointed to some
important chairmanships on City Council to become effective
January 1, 1973. We want to see “Pop” Newman’s Black
Advisory Board function because without them taking an active
part in City Government their function will only be a figure head.
The newly elected Mayor promised that he would makr the
changes in City Hall employment in reference to black people.
Let’s keep a sharp eye on those who are representing us in
government as to these appointments and to the allocation of
revenue sharing. In 1973, we want to see some black
appointments and to receive our fair share in revenue sharing.
Acquitted
Os Murder
In Civil Court yesterday,
Luther Jackson Jr. was
acquitted of murder and
aggravated assault with intent
murder.
Testimony revealed that
Jackson was asleep in his home
when he was attacked by
Lonnie Brown, 46, and Mary
Louise Brown, 41. A witness
stated that the two pulled a
butcher knife on him and held
him at gun point.
Jackson shot Brown three
times, twice in the chest and
once in the right arm. Brown
was pronounced dead at
University Hospital. Ms. Brown
survived the shooting but was
wounded in the right arm and
neck.
Judge L.W. Cooper ruled
“justifiable homicide in self
defense.”
Another version is that the
Dodgers hoped to sneak
Clemente through the draft by
not playing him too much (to
hide his ability) and by loading
the Montreal roster with other
attractive draft picks. But the
Pirates, under the direction of
Branch Rickey, who had left
Brooklyn three years before,
were not fooled.
Clemente started the 1955
season with a Pittsburgh club
that had lost 317 games in
three years, finishing last each
time. He was not yet 21 and
was among a half-dozen young
players who were to make
Pittsburgh a World Series
winner by 1960 - Dick Groat,
Bill Mazeroski, Roy Face, Vern
Guest Editorial
71st
"Emancipation
Day”
The 71 st “Emancipation
Day” celebration was held
Monday at Tabernacle Baptist
Church with the Rev. Isaiah
Scipio Jr. as the featured
speaker. The program was
sponsored by the Lincoln
League.
Scipio is general secretary of
the board of missions of the
Christian Episcopal Church.
State Representative R.A.
Dent was named “Man of the
Year,” Mrs. Gladys Acree was
named “Woman of the Year,”
and the Rev. F.F. Cook
“Businessman of the Year.”
The first Emancipation
Celebration was held in 1902
Phone 722-4555
Law, Don Hoak and Bill
Virdon, now Pittsburgh’s
manager.
Clemente’s bitterness about
nonrecognition dates to the
1960 season. A key member of
that team, he felt unjustly
neglected when so much of the
praise was heaped on others
who had done no more. For
the next decade, during which
he won his four batting
championships and the M.V.P.
in 1966, a feeling of being
unappreciated marred his
satisfaction with increasing
fame and wealth.
Recognition finally came in
full measure in 1971. By then
the acknowledged leader of the
Pirates, he led them into the
World Series and, as
underdogs, to a dynamic
seven-game victory over
Baltimore. He hit .414 in that
Series, but was even more
dominating by his involvement
in key plays and was finally
hailed by the widest audience
for what he had been doing all
along; a player of all-round
excellence second to none.
By that time, he was deep
into his dream of building a
“Sports City” in Puerto Rico
to encourage children and
youngsters to play. It was a
project that needed financing
What Qualities Should A
Schools Superintendent Have?
Editors Note: The Richmond County Board of
Education will name a new Superintendent of Schools
in the near future. We felt it would be helpful to know
the qualities the presidents of local colleges feel a
superintendent should have, since they work directly
with the products of our local school system.
We have interviewed Dr. Lucius Pitts of Paine College,
Dr. George Christenberry of Augusta College and Dr.
William Moretz of the Medical College of Georgia.
Dr. Christenberry Speaks:
In giving qualifications for
the superintendent, I think
that the man should have an
educational concern, and in
this he should be dedicated to
quality or excellence in all
phases of education. He should
have experience and know
what a good school system is,
and strive to reach the ultimate
as far as a quality education
program is concerned. He
should be interested in new
and developing methods of
teaching, understand the
theory of learning and things
that fit in to try to improve
and develop a top quality
educational institution.
Next, he should have
administrative ability. And in
this he should have
with Dr. Booker T. Washington
as the speaker. Dr. C.T. Walker
of Tabernacle Baptist Church
was the first president.
The Rev. Gene R. Dean is
currently serving as president
of the Lincoln League. Rev.
Dean is pastor of the Williams
Memorial CME Church.
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quite different from the usual
“baseball school camp ”
He had been to Nicaragua
for an amateur baseball
demonstrated imaginative and
strong leadership in whatever
position he has had. This
leadership should command
loyality and respect on the part
of his activities in the field of
education. He should
demonstrate ability to make
decisions without fear or
without favor, and
demonstrate leadership, not
only in the educational system
itself, but in community
activity, church activity, and
civic activity too. That is, be a
part of the community and not
closet himself in the school
system itself. He should have
an ability of communications,
and in this demonstrate a
willingness and ability to
communicate with groups, and
individuals concerning the
schools and other community
affairs at large. He should be
persuasive and confident in
expressing his point of view
and philosophy concerning
education.
Another aspect is his
educational preparation. It will
be very advantageous if he had
had the full training to have a
doctorate degree, a Ph. D,
Doctor of Education, or have
as much of the educational
training as possible, which may
be a difficult aspect to find
with all the other aspects we’re
looking at.
He should have educational
experience, not only in the
elementery or secondary
grades, but also administrative
January 4, 1973 No. 42
tournament. That was enough
of a tie to impel him to head a
relief committee after the
See Clemente - Page 6
fl
Dr. Christenberry
experience in the principalship,
and serving as an assistant, or
associate superintendent. And
also having the experience that
would enable him to handle
the development of an
education program here. Too,
he should demonstrate the
sensitivity to the needs and
interests of various groups;
teachers, students or citizens at
large, and in this way, to adapt
the school system to meet the
needs of the community,
individually and collectively.
Then demonstrate a
professional style, consonant
with the democratic process
tempered with good
judgement, and the courage to
make sound educational
decisions in the best interest of
both school and community.
These are attributes that have
to do with individual
background, but there should
also be basic ingredients of
good character. That is, he
should be honest, have
integrity, be intelligent, be a
devoted churchman, and
concerned about the
community itself. These are
the things that go into an
individual of top rate.
In summary, this gives some
idea of the “ideal” person that
we’d like to have in the
superintendency. At least, this
is the idea to work toward.
Next week: Dr. Moretz