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®! r Annusia Nms-lUwui 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 ? •. r' * ■ £ VW 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. ■Registers ■ And ■ ■ votej Unfinished Masterpiece-fey Bruce stark N.Y. Daily News fOj I J&a I X L v \ * I BWwa I Wgg J Ji SJ/ v ■ ■*. liw v-' < p • // Met! s M // ■ *-Zz I but could not provide profit • 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