Clemente: La pasion y el carisma del ultimo heroe del beisbol (The Passion and Grace of Baseball's Last Hero)

Roberto Clemente Review by Ryan Milliken

Roberto Clemente was one of the greatest baseball players of all time. His stats are incredible with 3000 career hits, a .317 lifetime batting average, and winning 2 World Series. However his impeccable stats were not what was truly amazing about this man. David Maraniss does an excellent job diving deeper into the rough times and Clemente's true character through out the book. Maraniss describes Clemente as a role model and icon for all young Latino players during that time. Clemente had to deal with many hardships being the first Puerto Rican to play in the Major Leagues. Reporters would quote him in his broken English showing no respect for him. His love for his country and family would keep him moving forward through out this book. But Maraniss doesn't just highlight all the good points of Clemente. He is known for being a hothead and some people saw him as self centered player. Though if you read this book from cover to cover you will see this is not true. He was one of greatest players of his time but Clemente suffered from insomnia and would not have been referred to has a happy person. He was commonly found napping before games do to his bad case of insomnia. However there is a high point in the book when Clemente wins his first World Series he can feel "radiating happiness" as he is mobbed by the fans. In the end Clemente overcomes the racial struggles and becomes one of the greatest players to ever live. He was good to his country, family, and friends and is a new role model for me. Maraniss does a great job telling the tragic but heroic story of Clemente.I would recommend this book to not just baseball fans but all readers.

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