August 18: Birthday of Roberto Clemente (1934)
Prayer Idea
Pray for people who are helping others after natural disasters.
History Note
Roberto Clemente was born on August 18, 1934, in Carolina, Puerto Rico. He was the seventh child in his family.
The kids in Roberto’s neighborhood played baseball with a branch for a bat and a tight knot of rags for a ball. With that equipment, Roberto’s baseball skills grew. When he was 18 years old, a professional Puerto Rican baseball team invited him to play for them.
After playing one year for a team in Montreal, Canada, Clemente joined the Pittsburgh Pirates, a Major League Baseball team, in 1955. Clemente thrilled fans as they watched his strong hitting, his terrific catches, and his amazing speed at running bases.
During the off-season, Roberto went home to Puerto Rico where he continued to play on a Puerto Rican team. He wanted to give the people of his homeland the opportunity to see him play.
In 1964 Roberto married Vera Zabala, who was also Puerto Rican. It seemed the whole island celebrated their marriage. Thousands of people lined the streets to watch them drive by after their wedding.
Roberto Clemente’s life was not only about baseball. His faith in Jesus guided him in helping others. When he was home in Puerto Rico during the off-season, he held sports camps for Puerto Rican kids. A friend of Roberto Clemente once commented, “With Roberto it was always faith and family first, everything else second.”
In 1972, two days before Christmas, an earthquake hit the Central American country of Nicaragua. Roberto Clemente quickly organized an effort to raise money and gather medicine and food to help the Nicaraguans. On New Year’s Eve, he and four others boarded a plane loaded with the donations. Soon after it took off, the plane crashed and everyone on board died.
Puerto Rico was shocked to learn of their baseball hero’s sudden death. He and Vera had only been married eight years. They had three young sons. Vera Clemente worked hard to honor her husband’s legacy.
On land donated by the government of Puerto Rico, she fulfilled his dream by building the Roberto Clemente Sports City. Over the years, hundreds of thousands of children have participated in events at the facility. The Roberto Clemente Foundation also carries on his legacy of faith, love, and service as it reaches out to people in need around the world.
This 2020 photo shows a statue of Roberto Clemente in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Susan Wagner created the statue, which was unveiled in 1994. Photo by CiEll / Shutterstock.com.
Learn More
Watch a short biography of baseball player Roberto Clemente.
Find more resources at Homeschool History.
