Roberto Clemente

Roberto Clemente at bat (http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/07/books/review/07w (Associated Press))

Roberto Clemente was a great sports player in many sports and a very nice man. He was born on August 18, 1934, in Carolina, Puerto Rico. He was always an outstanding athlete in many ways. While he was a child, he won many medals in track and field, mainly in the javelin throw and in short distanced races (both are part of track and field). Although he was great in track and field, he always had a desire to play baseball. He went on to play for the Pittsburgh Pirates and became the first Latin-American baseball player to make it into the Hall of Fame. Roberto also gave supplies to people in need. Sadly, he died due to a plane crash. The plane was headed to Guatemala to deliver supplies to many people in need. He was a hero to many, and he still is. Some traits that show that he is a hero is that he had a lot of perseverance to get through many of tough times, he always put others in front of himself so that they could have a better life, and he was a great leader to his teammates. Roberto Clemente was a very interesting man and a great person.

Roberto Clemente showed a lot of perseverance throughout his life. Many people thought that he would never be good enough to make it to the MLB (Major League Baseball), but he proved them wrong. Roberto was chosen to play for the Brooklyn Dodgers' best minor league team, and then was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates for the first overall pick (it is a different system today). He also showed perseverance by consistently helping others and doing things that many famous people had never done before, even though people thought that Roberto would never be wealthy enough. Some examples of the nice things that he did were that he would teach many poor people how to play baseball, and he would send life saving supplies to the poorest of countries, as mentioned in the next paragraph. It took perseverance to go to the MLB and try and become one of the best baseball players ever. Roberto needed perseverance to drive himself beyond everyone's expectations. He had a lot of perseverance to make his dream of being a professional baseball player come true.

Statue of Roberto Clamente (http://pittsburgh.about.com/od/pictures/ig/pnc_par (Kimberly & Albrecht Powell))

Roberto Clemente always was fond of helping others. He would send supplies to many of the poor countries that needed them. He created a baseball camp to teach kids how to play baseball, especially in Puerto Rico. Roberto Clemente would always go on the planes, trains, boats, and in the trucks going to wherever and whenever he was delivering supplies to poor countries. Sadly, as said in the first paragraph, that's how he died. He was on a plane with many supplies headed to Guatemala. The plane crashed into the Gulf of Mexico after flying for a very short amount of time. (Although, it is good to know that he died trying to help other people.) These examples show that he was truly devoted to making other people's lives better.

Roberto Clemente was also a great team leader. He would always keep his teammates pumped up for upcoming games. He led the four other Latin-American players on his team the most, making sure they were comfortable. He led the team to the World Series, even though he was not the superstar of the team at the time. His pep talks made everyone excited and drove his teammates to the team goal. to win the World Series. They had been there before in 1960 and won, but they were there for another shot at it in 1971 when they won again. Every season has its own goals, and some are the same as the past season's. The team did exactly that, and Roberto Clemente won the World Series MVP. He really was a big influence and leader for his teammates.

Roberto Clemente was a very good hero, athlete, and a very nice man. He had loads of perseverance to get him through the tough times when people thought that he would never be able to play professional baseball. Roberto Clemente always put others in front of him. He sent supplies to many countries and would help as many people as he could. He was also a great leader for his teammates. He would always get people excited and give them pep talks to make sure that they would keep their head in the game. Roberto Clemente truly was a great man, and he truly is a great hero.