Roberto Clemente was one of my heroes. I know, he wasn’t on the New York Mets but I appreciated what he stood for on and off the field. I watched his last game and he got his 3,000th hit in that game. I had my father take us to the National Baseball Hall of Fame after he passed so I could see his wax statue with his uniform on it. I had to pick a name in Spanish class because my name doesn’t translate. I chose Roberto.
“I can tell you I’m almost certain that he did not know to what extent, to how much of an impact he was having and he still has so many many years after he’s passing,” said Roberto Clemente Jr. “It is truly an amazing legacy. What he did in 38 years, we’re talking 53 years after. It’s amazing. It’s truly a great legacy that, you know, comes from this kid from Carolina, Puerto Rico, that really cared about the people. And because of that, he used his platform, which was a God given talent as baseball to really become the person that he was.”
This documentary explored Clemente’s entire life. From his time signing with the Los Angeles Dodgers for $4,000 and being hidden in Montreal so teams wouldn’t find out about him because the Dodgers had no roster spots at the time. Director, David Altrogge has created something special.
“So my guess would be that the baseball fans , you know, the ’71 series was probably not anything new there. The 60s series, probably nothing new in there, but hopefully some of the off-the-field stuff, some of the, you know, the family stuff, you know, the moments that Roberto and his brothers spent with their dad. I really just was personally most interested in who Roberto was as a human and off the field? More so than just his stats, more so than just the gold gloves, the silver sluggers. But what was he like? What made him tick?”
And Bob Costas was moved by this film as well.
“I’ll tell you, this is a little bit of a humble brag, but this is the Clemente story. You know, Bob Costas was at one of the screenings in New York City. And after the film , I mean, he was just moved to tears by it,” said Altrogge. “And I think it was just, and he knows everything there’s to know about baseball, but I think just that interaction with Roberto. Roberto’s story in a way that was very visceral was just, I think a lot of people are unprepared for how moving it is.”
There’s a great story about Bob Gibson. Without giving away too much, he insulted Clemente as a human.
“Bob was a mean guy,” Clemente Jr. stated. “Thank God I was able to meet him later on, I mean, I spent a lot of time with him. I love Bob. What a nice guy. But when he put the uniform while he was on the mound, he was the nastiest guy you can ever find. So people hated him. They didn’t want to face him. So Dad being so competitive himself, obviously, there was a two-pronged situation here because once Bob started talking to him and giving him the lip, that’s when he said, no, no, no, no, no. This is stuff right here. And that was a very kind man, but when it came to baseball and competitiveness, all the gloves were off. So he was truly mad.”
I could have written three articles about this film. See it. You don’t have to be a rabid baseball fan to enjoy it. Trust me.
