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.
