Clemente: The Passion and Grace of Baseball's Last Hero (original 2006; edition 2006)

I wasn't sure I would finish this biography after the first chapter or two, it seemed fairly standard fair, but the book deepend and matured as it followed the great outfielder's life. I was profoundly moved by the last half of the book. ( )

It's hard to believe that it will be 39 years this New Year's Eve since an overloaded plane carrying Roberto Clemente fell into the ocean off the coast of his native Puerto Rico, the athlete's body lost to the sea. This biography of the baseball great is not perfect. It's a little too long, and a little too heavy on the hero worship -- though the title gives fair warning of that perspective. The reality is that despite Clemente's flaws -- and the author does admit that there were some -- it's hard not to lapse into some hero worship regarding Clemente. The baseball stats alone are enough to dazzle -- 12 consecutive Golden Glove awards, 3000 base hits, .317 lifetime batting average. His untimely death at age 38 in a plane crash while personally escorting relief supplies to earthquake victims in Nicaragua -- well, that says a lot about the humanitarian aspect of the man, and why he is so admired.

Author David Maraniss does a good job helping to explain Clemente's life and character in the context of the times in which he lived. He gives insights into the factors which influenced Clemente's actions on and off the field, and those factors which influenced the perceptions of him by the the American media of his time. He reminds us of the impact of the language barrier and racial prejudice, especially in the earlier years of Clemente's career.

Maraniss also gives a fascinating account of the circumstances which led to the plane crash -- again, placing the tragedy solidly in the context of other events which were taking place at the time.

The book could have used some editing, but overall it was a satisfying read. ( )

Clemente was in a class by himself, no doubt. But Maraniss' inability to turn off his childhood hero worship gets in the way of the story, instead of informing it. ( )

Roberto Clemente (1934-1972), the first Latino superstar of professional baseball played in the United States, was elected to the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame soon after his tragic death in a dangerous and overloaded airplane on the last day of the year, en route to bringing earthquake relief supplies from Puerto Rico to Nicaragua. Clemente died as he lived, a man who passionately loved his countrymen and fellow Latinos regardless of their skin color, particularly those who didn't have the opportunities he did.

He was in the twilight of his career at the end of the 1972 season, having collected his 3,000th hit on his last at bat as a Pittsburgh Pirate, an accomplishment that only 10 other men had achieved before him. He was finally at peace with himself, after suffering innumerable slights and insults throughout his career, by managers and fellow players who didn't understand or appreciate him, racial segregation and deplorable living conditions during spring training in Florida, and sportswriters who twisted and phoneticized his Spanish-flavored words in demeaning and hurtful articles. He led the Pirates to two World Series, and was respected and feared as one of the most dangerous clutch hitters in baseball, who ran as if he was being chased by demons and threw out runners regularly from his right field position due to a strong and deadly accurate arm. A complex man who wore his emotions on his sleeves, he would regularly berate and harangue reporters for seemingly innocent questions, yet he would routinely sign autographs for his fans long after his teammates had left the ballpark, and gave freely of himself to anyone he could help, including the poor of San Juan and surrounding towns in Puerto Rico and fans who he embraced and treated as if they were his own family.

Clemente spent his winters playing in Puerto Rico and throughout the Caribbean and Latin America while other major leaguers were resting, to give back to those Latinos who could not see him play in Pittsburgh, and to honor the Latino players that came before him but could not display their talents in the United States, due to their skin color or language barrier. He worshiped his wife, children and parents above all else, and never forgot or forsake his roots as a kid growing up in a poor town outside of San Juan. He was beloved by fans of all races and backgrounds throughout the United States, for his skill, passion for the game, and the love he gave to every fan that supported him. (As a side note, he was one of my favorite players as a kid, along with Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and Bob Gibson, and my friends and I would routinely mimic the neck stretches he did before every at bat.)

David Maraniss does an excellent job in honoring and fully describing Roberto Clemente, a complicated and imperfect man who continues to be viewed as a hero in Puerto Rico, other countries in Latin America, and the city of Pittsburgh, as a pioneer who overcome physical pain and personal strife to become one of baseball's greatest and most beloved figures. However, the book was overly repetitive and about 50-100 pages too long, which diluted its impact somewhat. Despite this, I would highly recommend this book, certainly to baseball fans but also to anyone who would enjoy a well written biography about an influential and beloved man. ( )

Overall it is good book, but the author's transitions are very choppy and I felt these detracted from the book. While the book had an overall chronological arc, there were several places where the author would go off on a tangent and lose the chronological timing which made those parts difficult to follow. Additionally, the pages devoted to these tangents seemed a bit excessive. Also, while I understand that the racial inequalities of the time were very important to Clemente and the social history in general, I thought the author was repetitive when he brought them up. Sometimes I felt like whole passages were just copy and pasted from earlier parts in the book with only minor tweaks. Finally, I did not think he tied up a couple loose ends very well.

I guess the reason for the 4 stars rather than 3 1/2 is really because Clemente was truly an amazing baseball player and a great subject which made up for some of the author's shortcomings. ( )