This unbylined story first appeared in the Jan. 13, 1973, issue of The Sporting News under the headline, “Baseball Mourns Loss of Bucs Star Clemente”. Because issue dates typically were 10 or so days after the publication was sent to press, it appears the story, on Page 42, was pulled together and inserted in TSN at the last minute following Roberto Clemente’s death in a plane crash on Dec. 31, 1972 (a Sunday).
PITTSBURGH, Pa. — The tragic death of Roberto Clemente cast a pall over baseball as the year 1973 dawned. The sports world was shocked by the news that Clemente had died in a plane crash the night of December 31 near San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Baseball in general and the Pirates in particular thus lost one of the greatest players of recent times. He was a four-time National League batting champion who had been earning over $100,000 per season for several years.
Pirate General Manager Joe Brown was crushed by the news. Brown had been preparing to depart for San Juan January 2 to sign Clemente to a 1973 contract.
BROWN REPEATED what he'd said many times during Clemente's spectacular career with the Pirates: "He's was the greatest ballplayer I've ever seen.”
Clemente, 38, was married and the father of three children and an 18-year veteran of the major leagues. He was a hero throughout his native Puerto Rico.
The Puerto Rican Port Authority and the U.S. Coast Guard said Clemente and four other persons were killed when a cargo plane en route to earthquake-stricken Nicaragua crashed shortly after takeoff from San Juan.
The plane, a four-engine, propeller-driven DC-7 carrying relief supplies, developed engine trouble after takeoff and was trying to return to the airport when it crashed into the Atlantic about a mile off the coast.
TSN Archives: Quick Enshrinement Disservice to Roberto (Jan. 20, 1973, issue)
THE COAST GUARD cutter Sagebrush and a 30-foot auxiliary boat were dispatched to the scene, along with a Navy helicopter. They reported picking up debris but said there were no signs of survivors.
The Coast Guard said the plane carrying Clemente took off from San Juan at 9:15 p.m. Eastern Standard Time December 31.
The DC-7 was leased by Air Interstate of Miami to a relief committee headed by Clemente. The plane already had made two flights to Managua.
Jose Antonio Paris, who lives on the beach off which the plane crashed, said the plane was flying very low when he saw it trying to return to the airport.
"I WAS AFRAID it would hit the palm trees," he said. "Before it got to the water's edge there was an explosion. There were three more explosions after that, the fourth one just as the plane was plunging nose first into the ocean. It sank quickly. Not more than five minutes passed before it was completely under water."
Clemente was head of a committee which was gathering supplies for relief of the thousands of victims of the earthquake which virtually wiped out Nicaragua's capital of Managua.
The other four victims of the crash were Arthur Rivera, president of Interstate Air Service Corp., which owned the plane; Jerry Hill, the pilot; Francisco Matias, engineer, and Rafael Lozano, an associate of Clemente.
TSN Archives: ‘Roberto Died as He Lived, Caring’ (Jan. 20, 1973, issue)
CLEMENTE HAD set up a committee to gather materials for the Managua victims on Christmas Eve. The committee worked all day Christmas Day and the following day, with headquarters at Hiram Bithom Stadium, where the star outfielder had often played in the Puerto Rican League.
The plane was leased from the Miami company for $11,000 and was to make three trips. The flight December 31 was the third.
The committee raised more than $150,000 and had collected about 26 tons of food, clothing and other materials. A vessel that had been loaned to the committee set sail for Nicaragua December 31.
Clemente had spent the previous day at the San Juan pier helping load the ship, the San Expedito. Clemente had been in Nicaragua recently as honorary manager of an amateur Puerto Rican team playing in an international competition there. He had been on Puerto Rican. television and radio several times during the last week appealing for contributions for the Managua victims.
CLEMENTE WAS not playing in the Puerto Rican Winter League this year, although there had been reports that he might join one of the teams later in the season. He was named Puerto Rico athlete of the year last February.
After news of the crash was released, Clemente's relatives gathered at the home of his parents in San Juan. Clemente himself and his family lived in a suburb of San Juan.
Clemente, star right fielder of the Pirates and winner of the Most Valuable Player award in 1966, was a favorite of fans and players alike.
"It's a real shock, a terrible shock," said Brown. "It's hard to believe.
TSN Archives: Clemente and Charisma (Jan. 20, 1973, issue)
"WE HAVE LOST not only a great baseball player but a very wonderful human being," said Brown, who became general manager of the Pirates in 1955, the same year Clemente joined the team.
"He was a wonderful person. People did not know quite how wonderful a person he was.”
In the months following the baseball season in the United States, Clemente conducted clinics for youngsters in Puerto Rico, the latest of which was December 27. George Knapp, president of the Puerto Rico Telephone Co., which sponsored the clinics, said when told of Roberto's death, "He was a real gentleman and a friend."
Clemente was the star of the 1971 World Series when Pittsburgh beat the Orioles in seven games. He was named to the National League All-Star team 12 times and over his 18-year career had collected exactly 3,000 hits.
CLEMENTE WAS drafted by the Pirates from the Brooklyn Dodger organization November 22, 1954. In addition to winning the MVP award, Clemente captured the National League batting title in 1961, 1964, 1965 and 1967.
Clemente played in two World Series, in 1960 and 1971. In the 1971 World Series, Clemente batted .414 and hit two homers.
Regarded as one of the best hitters in baseball, Clemente also starred in the field for the Pirates. He was rated tops in right field and possessed one of the strongest arms in baseball.
His popularity in Puerto Rico was so great that a few years ago there was a move to have him run for mayor of Carolina, a San Juan suburb, but he declined, saying he didn't want to get into politics.
LATE IN THE 1972 season, Clemente became the 11th player in major league history to reach the 3,000-hit mark. But that was only one of many milestones reached by the 38-year-old Puerto Rican.
Clemente joined the Pirates in 1955 and batted .255 in his rookie campaign. However, there was a definite improvement the following season when he batted .311. His sophomore year was only the first of 13 campaigns in which he batted .300 or better. His high mark in batting came in 1970 when he hit .352.
He collected over 200 hits four times and was regarded as one of the best bat-control artists who ever played the game.
But it wasn't only at bat that Clemente sparkled. Five times he led the league in assists for outfielders to tie a major league record.
DESPITE HIS brilliance in the field, Clemente often felt he was not given the recognition due him. He thought he was overshadowed by such other outfield stars as Willie Mays and Hank Aaron. Roberto made his feelings public following the 1971 World Series in which he put on one of the greatest one-man shows ever.
Pittsburgh entered the Series as underdog to the defending world champion Orioles. The Pirates lost the first two games, but sparked by Clemente's great play, came on to win the classic, four games to three, and Clemente was named the Series' outstanding player.
All he did was bat .414 with 12 hits (at least one in each of the seven games) in 29 at-bats, hit two home runs, two doubles and scored three runs. One of his homers came in the seventh and decisive contest and accounted for the first Pittsburgh run in the Pirates' 2-1 win.
CLEMENTE WAS born August 18, 1934, in Carolina, Puerto Rico. His hobbies included listening to popular and classical music and reading history. He attended Julio Vizcarrondo Coronado College.
Clemente's heart was with baseball and children.
After setting a long list of major league records during a spectacular career, Clemente started spending more and more of his time during the offseason raising money and starting programs for poverty-stricken kids of his native Puerto Rico.
Following the Pirates' victory in the 1971 World Series, Clemente returned to San Juan to build a "sports city," an idea he had been dreaming about for years.
THE IDEA BEHIND the "sports city," Clemente said, was to get kids less fortunate than himself interested in sports.
"I figure you could get the best coaches available, and put them together to work as a group," Clemente said.
"Lots of kids don't participate in sports because they don't like one sport especially. But if you can have all sports where he can participate, I bet you that he will like at least one of them and keep going."
He said the facility would use different coaches, specialists for each sport instead of general physical education instructors found at most schools.
The facility would be used by youngsters on weekdays, and then turned over to adults to use on weekends.
"I LIKE WORKING with kids," Clemente said. "I don't charge anything for it, I put my money into it. I've worked with kids for years now."
Clemente's dream was still in the planning stages when he died.
Clemente's death recalls the similar circumstances which took the life of Ken Hubbs, the Cubs' star second baseman, February 13, 1964. Hubbs was killed in the crash of his own plane near Provo, Utah.