Baseball Card of the Week

The card of the week has to be Roberto Clemente. The reason? My wife and I find ourselves in Managua, Nicaragua on a dental humanitarian junket. On December 31, 1972, The Great Clemente died in an airplane crash on his way to Managua to give aid to earthquake victims here. I remember Clemente well. He had the most incredible arm to ever play in right field. No one, and I mean no one ran on his arm from 1st to 3rd on a hit to right field. I saw him with his back to the wall throw out guys running from 2nd to 3rd on a fly ball tag up play. On a personal note I was acquainted with Veryl Law, the son of Cy Young winner Vernon Law who was a team mate of Clemente's. He told me of the occasions of being in the locker room with the Pirates. He said this man was a quiet but gracious man. He was a tremendous baseball player and it was a tragic loss for Pittsburgh and Puerto Rico and all of Latin America when he was lost with all the passengers of the plane the fateful day. You can read more about Bob Clemente, I should say Roberto Clemente here. Now. let me see how many fillings I can do this week for the Nicaraguan people. Hopefully, one thing I can have is the spirit of Clemente.