Anyone who ever had the opportunity to watch Roberto Clemente uncork a throw from right field – a laser, hard and accurate and in time to either throw out a foolhardy baserunner or keep him from trying to advance – instinctively understood what they were watching.

The Pittsburgh Pirates’ right fielder was poetry on the diamond, a five-tool player who helped his team to two World Series championships but amazingly was a bit underrated at the time. Consider this National League All-Star outfield of the 1960s: Clemente in right, Willie Mays in center and Henry Aaron in left.

Clemente was also a complex, fascinating man: proud to be Puerto Rican, sensitive to any hint of disrespect, and fully cognizant of what he considered his responsibility to help those who were less fortunate.

He record

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