As a young boy i had the priviledge of watching Clemente play in Pittsburgh. Many times he received a standing ovation,after a player humbly held up at third base, knowing Clemente had the ball in right field. Words can not truly articulate the greek, god-like presence Clemente carried onto the field each time he played. Tears flooded my eyes, as the local radio broadcast that his humanitarian plane had gone down and no survivors were found. Clemente was a rare example of how the game was to be played and represented,as a professional player.

It's amazing how, in less than two minutes, Maraniss manages to patronize both his audience ("This is what you need to know about Roberto Clemente as a baseball player") and Clemente himself (Clemente is art, not science") so thoroughly. "To reduce Clemente to numbers is to do him a disservice," Maraniss informs us, whereupon he immediately brings his pet pronouncement (i.e. "... art, not science") out of storage, thus simultaneously discounting Clemente's intellect & objectifying him (i.e. RC doesn't even get 2B an artist, merely 'art'). How 'reductive' can u get?!! The fact is, Clemente's on-field performance is a mix of science AND art, of design & intuition. There was a tremendous amount of science, as well as plain old hard work, underpinning Clemente's art - i.e. his hitting, fielding AND throwing. As the late Willie Stargell (RC's friend & protégé) told Bruce Markusen about 15 years ago, "His ability was no accident. He put a lot of time and effort and intelligence into his game. And what people saw was the finished product." And Kent Tekulve (late '70s/early '80s Pirates bullpen mainstay), speaking w/ Jim O'Brien, recalls 'Professor' Clemente's 1971 spring training seminars: "He was so detailed. He wanted to talk to these kids. Everybody learned from him … I probably learned more about pitching to good major league batters from Clemente than I did from any pitching coaches." Would that Maraniss could follow suit, rather than shooting from the hip w/ his pithy but phony dichotomy.

I remember watching an All-Star game in which a hitter hit the right field wall on a fly. Roberto fielded the ball off the wall and ground, like a perfectly double-banked 8-ball and threw the ball chest high directly to the second baseman. The runner didn't even try to run to second base. I still have yet to see a shot-gun right arm like The Great One. He is still very much revered here in Pittsburgh.

He was the greatest baseball player I ever watched play in person. Truly art in motion - a talent that you could not imagine unless you saw him with your own eyes. It is too bad that he never received the proper recognition he deserved while he was alive. Watching him was a privilege and knowing that he was a giving, caring human being in addition to his physical gifts makes the gift of watching him even more special and the loss of him even more tragic. He was simply the best.

This man was definitely the top defensive player of his day. That skill alone changed the course of countless close games where runners who were rounding second had to think twice about trying to make it to third. He made teams pay from rightfield, and then when he had the bat in his hands, he was a holy terror. I'm a Giants fan, and I always admired Clemente even though Mays was my favorite. Mays was flashier, but Clemente was probably the better player.

I was very saddened when I heard of his loss. Truly a great human on top of a great ballplayer.

I taught fifth grade reading for years, and my favorite selection was a story about Roberto Clemente. He wasn't just a beautiful player, but a great humanitarian, and I wish we had more players like him today--REAL role models. It was a sad day, not just for baseball, but for the world when that plane went down.

Roberto and I have the same birthdate - 8/17. I saw him play only a few games since I was not really into baseball. I do remember the plane going down and nothing was found. It was such a sad time.

Growing in Puerto Rico I had the opportunity to watch him play at the Hiram Bithorn Stadium, while he was player/manager for the San Juan Senadores. It was a pleasure to see him on the field diving for a line drive or making a basket catch, and enjoying his throws from rightfield to 3rd base or to home plate. I still remember that morning of New Year's day in 1973, we prayed that he would be found alive. That morning was grey with a drizzle, like if the day was in mourning with the baseball world. We did not want to believe that he was gone...

He was the reason I loved baseball. I got to see one of those games where he threw the ball from right-center field to home plate (and got the runner out). When I heard the news of that plane going down I had dreams every night that he survived and was on some island. To this day when I read anything about him tears always take over

Watching him on the field was a joy. He was beautiful!!! Hearing of his death on a humantarian mission devastated me. The good he would have done on and off the field was cut short the day the plane crash took his life. Glad to hear his helmet has a resting place for people to se and inquire about his life and the contribution he made to do good in the world.

Excellent photographs and recollections of his career. Sure would have been nice to mention how he died and how he gave his life to serve others in that tragic plane crash.