Wednesday, May 26, 2021

The Charitable Work of Vera and Roberto Clemente


When the baseball humanitarian perished, his wife carried on in his name.
by Rich Watson

Roberto Clemente was not only a superstar player for the Pirates, but for Latin American fans in general. The Puerto Rican right fielder won a National League MVP award, four batting titles, twelve Gold Gloves and two World Series rings over an eighteen-year career.

In 1964, he met banker Vera Zabala in San Juan. It was love at first sight. He was eager to know her because he was dogged by a premonition that he would die young. He wished to start a family soon and do whatever his god required from him.

She wasn’t interested in him at first, but his persistence wore away at her defenses and they married in November. They would remain together only a short time, though, because his premonition turned out to be correct.

2 comments:

  1. That was an interesting article! What are some of your favorite "baseball" movies?

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  2. I get emotional over FIELD OF DREAMS, especially in the years since my father died. My previous blog, Wide Screen World, has a post on that film. Can’t go wrong with BULL DURHAM, of course—I have tentative plans to write about that one here. John Sayles’ EIGHT MEN OUT is another excellent film.

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