Scouting Quotes
We just kind of relied on written scouting reports through the eighties and even the early nineties. I've really been amazed by some of the data that's out there, especially with regards to tendencies of hitters, and certainly tendencies of pitchers as well. I would have loved to have gotten that data when I played.
David Cone
Max Macon, the manager, told me one day on the bench late in the season, "That kid will be starting at Pittsburgh next season." I said, "What do you mean?" He told me about the draft rule for anybody signing a bonus of more than $4,000 and said the Pirates would have the first draft choice and would be sure to take Clemente. He said they'd been scouting him. You could tell he had talent. And he was such a nice kid.
Roberto Clemente
This boy may not possess the color of Jackie Robinson or Willie Mays, but he has enough natural ability to be spoken of along with any of those fellows. I suppose I have a peculiar attachment to Robert [sic]. That's because we got him for a "steal," you might say. I was with the Dodgers when we acquired Clemente after scouting him in Puerto Rico. So I was thoroughly acquainted with the boy when the major league draft came up in the winter of 1954, after I had come to Pittsburgh from Brooklyn. The Dodgers were apparently bent on "hiding" Robert when they transferred him to the Pacific Coast League. But since I knew what he could do, and that he was somewhere in their farm system, I withheld the Pirates' draft selection until I found the boy. We got him for the relatively small draft price-perhaps the biggest steal in baseball.
Roberto Clemente
