1954 3 colored Man With Royals Roberto Clémente Chico Fernandez Clyde McNeil

1954 Montreal Royals – Roberto Clemente

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1954 Montreal Royals Roberto Clémente Chico Fernandez Clyde McNeil @ET-DC@eyJkeW5hbWljIjp0cnVlLCJjb250ZW50IjoicG9zdF90YWdzIiwic2V0dGluZ3MiOnsiYmVmb3JlIjoiTGVhcm4gTW9yZSBhYm91dCB0aGUgdGVhbXMsIHBsYXllcnMsIGJhbGwgcGFya3MgYW5kIGV2ZW50cyB0aGF0IGhhcHBlbmVkIG9uIHRoaXMgZGF0ZSBpbiBoaXN0b3J5IC0gLSAtIC0gLSAtIC0gIiwiYWZ0ZXIiOiIiLCJsaW5rX3RvX3Rlcm1fcGFnZSI6Im9uIiwic2VwYXJhdG9yIjoiIHwgIiwiY2F0ZWdvcnlfdHlwZSI6InBvc3RfdGFnIn19@ Play by Play, Box Scores, News Paper Reports and other links Other Resources & Links Baseball-Reference Box Score 

19-year-old Roberto Clemente signs with the Brooklyn Dodgers 

19-year-old Roberto Clemente signs with the Brooklyn Dodgers 

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1954 – 19-year-old Roberto Clemente signs with the Brooklyn Dodgers for one year at $5,000 with a $10,000 signing bonus. The Dodgers thus beat out a number of other clubs in the Clemente sweepstakes. They’ve outspent the prior two entrants, their cross-river rivals in Manhattan and the Bronx, and simply beaten the Milwaukee Braves to the punch. By far the biggest spenders of the bunch (by all accounts exceeding Brooklyn’s offer by at least 150%), the Braves were just a tad tardy, Clemente having already accepted the Dodgers’ terms. The Dodgers may have won the first battle, but they will lose Clemente’s services in one year when they fail to protect him in the 1954 Rule V Draft.

Roberto Clemente’s smash to straight-away center provides the margin of victory in Puerto Rico’s 1 – 0

Roberto Clemente’s smash to straight-away center provides the margin of victory in Puerto Rico’s 1 – 0

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1954 – Roberto Clemente’s smash to straight-away center provides the margin of victory in Puerto Rico’s 1 – 0 victory over the Virgin Islands in game one of a three-game exhibition inter-island tourney. Clemente’s clout combines with Tellito Lopez’s 5-hit shutout to relegate Walter “Mahoo” James to the ranks of runner-up, although the latter does record 12 strikeouts en route to his hard-luck loss.

Willie Mays

Willie Mays Bare handed grab

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1951 – Ouch!! Willie Mays’s oft-recalled bare-handed grab of left-handed Rocky Nelson’s screaming opposite field line drive takes place in Forbes Field in the 1st inning of a 5 – 4 Giant loss to Pittsburgh. Mays runs to the left-center corner of the bullpen (also known as Greenberg Gardens, or Kiner’s Corner), about 410 feet from the plate. At the last minute, the wind gets a hold of Nelson’s slicing shot and starts pushing it back towards right. Mays looks up and locates the ball but too late to adjust. As he will recall on June 3, 1957, after robbing Roberto Clemente on a shot to almost the same spot, “I couldn’t get my glove around. So I just stuck my bare hand up and the ball stuck.”

Roberto Clemente Stats & Facts
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Roberto Clemente Stats & Facts

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    Roberto Clemente Position: RightfielderBats: Right  •  Throws: Right5-11, 175lb (180cm, 79kg)Born: August 18, 1934 in Carolina, Puerto Rico prDied: December 31, 1972 in San Juan, Puerto RicoBuried: Died at SeaHigh School: Julio C. Vizarrondo (Carolina, Puerto Rico)Debut: April 17, 1955 (11,239th in major league history)vs. BRO 4 AB, 1 H, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 0 SBLast Game: October 3, 1972vs. STL 0 AB, 0 H, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 0 SBHall of Fame: Inducted as Player in…