Ballclub Quotes
Listen, I shouldn't even be playing. I showed up at spring training and I told the ball club about my accident. I said my shoulder had been damaged and the ballclub said "Sh-h-h, don't talk so loud. Somebody might hear you; Now, don't tell anybody about this." They said, "I don't want to know about it." Well, I tell you, it hurts me to swing a bat and, when I know it is going to hurt, it bothers me mentally and I do not swing the same and I wince when I think of hitting the ball. I should be home, not here in the dugout, because [sic] I would rather play even if I am crippled than to sit and watch a game.
Roberto Clemente
I always thought the guy had great ability, but until the last two years I thought he was playing for himself. He kept to himself and it seemed like he didn't want to be bothered with the rest of the team. But in the last two years, he developed into the leader of our ballclub. He has taken control of us and looked after us and that's something he didn't do before. This is the new Clemente. He has great feeling for all the worries of the players. He keeps peace and harmony and he's our good-will ambassador, the intermediary between us and Harry Walker and the front office.
Roberto Clemente
Sammy Sosa. And as good a player as Sosa is, I would have to say that Clemente was better. He had everything you looked for in a player-ability to hit, run, throw, and he was a good base-stealer. He could get that extra base for you. He was the spark of the ballclub, and a very unselfish player.
Roberto Clemente
"I'll bet you Harry Dalton would trade half his ballclub for Clemente,” Don Leppert, the Pirates' first-base coach, said. "He'd probably split the clubhouse down the middle, and give us a choice of either side, to get that guy into an Oriole uniform.” Leppert's only regret is that Clemente didn't have the chance to truly excel in the field. Other than his eye-popping throw to the plate in the sixth game, Clemente was required to field no more than ordinary chances. "Brooks Robinson had that great Series with the glove in 1970,” Leppert said, "but you've got to be lucky to field like he did. By that, I mean you've got to get the tough chances, and if Roberto had had some in this Series, he really would have shown them something.”.
Roberto Clemente
If Clemente were a selfish player, he could hit 25 to 40 home runs a season. But he's always been content to set up a lot of runs for the fourth and fifth place hitters. That's why I always hit him third in the lineup. That has been my argument all along with the press. I've told the writers time and time again; nobody ever takes into consideration the amount of runs he sets up with singles and doubles. He takes great pride in hitting behind the runner and he does everything possible to help a ballclub. All the players look up to him. He helps a manager in so many ways, starting with spring training. When the young Latin players come into camp, he takes them under his wing and advises them as if he were their father.
Roberto Clemente
