Roberto Clemente the Best I Ever Saw!

I know that I will be accused of be a homer when I say, Clemente was the best I ever saw, but he was. I had the opportunity to see him play in person many times and he never failed to show his greatness. Clemente had a rifle for an arm. It got to the point that when a batter got a base hit to right, he would not make a wide turn toward second base, because if he did Clemente would throw behind him and nail him. Runners did not try to stretch hits into an extra base, because Roberto could make a throw from any place on the field and gun them down. He had tremendous speed and could advance on the base paths or run down fly balls in right center field to anything hit down the line. Clemente was not considered a home run hitter, but when the Pirates asked him to hit for more power he delivered. He was a contact hitter and I can still see in my mind, when he would reach way out over the plate to slap a pitch into right field. When he approached the batters box, Clemente would go through a series of gyrations with his back, arms and shoulders. He would dig around the batters box, with his spikes as if a new highway was be planned. He would hold up his right hand to the umpire as he took several minutes to be prepared just right. Clemente would rarely take a swing at the first pitch, just look as it went past him. The pitcher could not completely relax and think he would just throw down the middle to start off with a strike, because just when you figured he would just watch the pitch he would hammer it somewhere for a hit. Clemente was an outstanding all-around ballplayer, and was unique. We will never have a chance to see someone like him again. I am just glad that I was able to watch one of the greatest of all time.