IV 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 242 
Recognizing the significant human rights activism and baseball stardom legacy 
of Roberto Clemente. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 22, 2023 
Mr. ESPAILLAT (for himself, Mr. CARSON, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Mrs. GONZA´LEZ- 
COLO´N, and Mr. DAVIS of Illinois) submitted the following resolution; 
which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Accountability 
RESOLUTION 
Recognizing the significant human rights activism and 
baseball stardom legacy of Roberto Clemente. 
Whereas Roberto Clemente Walker was born on August 18, 
1934, to Don Melchor Clemente and Luisa Walker in 
Barrio San Anto´n, Carolina, Puerto Rico, as the young-
est of 7 children; 
Whereas his mother, Luisa, was a laundress and his father, 
Don Melchor, was a sugarcane plantation worker; 
Whereas Clemente’s professional idol was Monte Irvin, a pio-
neering Black left fielder and first baseman who played 
winter ball in Puerto Rico, playing for the San Juan Sen-
ators; 
Whereas Clemente excelled in athletics as a youngster, and 
at the age of 17 was playing for the Santurce 
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Cangrejeros ‘‘Crabbers’’ of the Puerto Rican Baseball 
League; 
Whereas, in 1952, at the ripe age of 18, the Dodgers signed 
Clemente to their Triple-A minor league team, the Mon-
treal Royals, in Montreal for a season; 
Whereas, in 1954, the Pittsburgh Pirates selected Clemente 
in the first round of the Major League Baseball Rule 5 
draft; 
Whereas Pirates center fielder Earl Smith wore jersey num-
ber 21 until he parted ways with the team in April 1955, 
and Clemente wore number 13 until then; 
Whereas, in 1955, Clemente made his Major League debut 
as he went on to play for the Pittsburgh Pirates starting 
as a right fielder; 
Whereas when the team traveled to Richmond, Virginia, for 
games or Florida for spring training, Clemente encoun-
tered Jim Crow laws for the first time when the Black 
players had to stay at a separate inferior hotel and were 
refused the option to dine with their White counterparts; 
Whereas it is known that during one of his first games, 
Clemente protested angrily when fans yelled racial insults 
at one of his teammates; 
Whereas Clemente was treated like a foreigner, disparaged 
for his Spanish language, and discriminated against for 
his skin color; 
Whereas it is reported that many people mocked Clemente’s 
heavy Latin accent, quoting him with phonetic spelling 
rather than merely reporting what he said; 
Whereas Clemente insisted on being called ‘‘Roberto’’ in an 
effort to combat oppression and forced American assimi-
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lation by reporters and other members of the public who 
repeatedly referred to him as ‘‘Bob’’; 
Whereas Clemente was known for being a proud Afro-Latino 
and protested the discrimination that Latin and Black 
ball players encountered; 
Whereas Clemente was known for defending the rights of 
Black and Brown people, both on the field and in the 
streets; 
Whereas, after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., 
in 1968, Clemente and his teammates refused to play 
until after the funerals and even wrote a public statement 
showing their respect for Dr. King; 
Whereas Clemente became a union leader in the incipient 
Major League Baseball Players Association and defended 
players’ rights to demand better working conditions and 
benefits; 
Whereas in every city where the Pirates played, Clemente vis-
ited sick children in hospitals; 
Whereas Clemente put his heart and soul into training clin-
ics, providing baseball lessons and fun for boys and girls 
in Pittsburgh, his home island of Puerto Rico, and 
throughout Latin America; 
Whereas, while participating in one such clinic in Nicaragua, 
he developed a particularly close bond with the youth in 
that Central American country; 
Whereas, in 1958, Clemente enlisted in the United States 
Marine Corps Reserve after the 1958 season and spent 
six months on active duty at Parris Island, South Caro-
lina, and Camp LeJeune, North Carolina; 
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Whereas Clemente served until 1964 and was inducted into 
the Marine Corps Sports Hall of Fame in 2003; 
Whereas, in 1960, Clemente hit his stride, batting .314 with 
16 home runs and 94 RBIs to earn his first All-Star 
berth and help the Pirates upset the Yankees in the 
World Series; 
Whereas, the following year, Clemente led the National 
League with a .351 average, slugged 23 homers, and won 
his first of 12 consecutive Gold Glove Awards for defen-
sive excellence; 
Whereas Clemente was the first pan-Caribbean and first 
Latin-American superstar in Major League Baseball; 
Whereas, in 1966, which many deem as his finest season, 
Clemente was voted the National League MVP with a ca-
reer-best 29 homers and 119 RBIs; 
Whereas, on September 1, 1971, Clemente batted third in a 
lineup of players that, for the first time in history, con-
sisted entirely of Black, Indigenous, or other People of 
Color (BIPOC) players; 
Whereas Clemente was selected to be the 1971 World Series 
MVP, and during this series he batted .414 with two 
home runs to help Pittsburgh defeat the favored Balti-
more Orioles; 
Whereas in giving an interview after winning the 1971 World 
Series, Clemente became the first person to speak Span-
ish on a nationally televised American broadcast; 
Whereas, throughout the 1960s, Clemente wore his iconic 
‘‘21’’ jersey number and dominated the game of baseball, 
forever inscribing the number 21 into baseball history; 
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Whereas for Carriben˜os, Pittsburgh residents, baseball fans, 
and athletes, especially those from BIPOC communities, 
the number ‘‘21’’ on the back of a T-shirt symbolizes the 
imprint Roberto Clemente left on and off the field; 
Whereas Clemente was the 11th Major League player to 
record 3,000 hits; 
Whereas, by the end of his career, Clemente had joined the 
exclusive 3,000-hit club, was selected to 15 All-Star 
teams, and won 12 Gold Gloves, 2 World Series, and a 
National League MVP award; 
Whereas in Clemente’s 18 seasons with Pittsburgh he won 4 
batting titles, hit 240 home runs, and posted a lifetime 
.317 batting average; 
Whereas, in late 1972, a 6.3 magnitude earthquake ravaged 
Managua, Nicaragua, and killed 5,000 people; 
Whereas, in his philanthropic spirit, Clemente sent shipments 
of humanitarian aid to the country; 
Whereas after learning that 3 previous shipments had been 
diverted by corrupt Somoza Government officials, 
Clemente decided to accompany one of the aid shipments; 
Whereas the four-engine DC–7 plane Clemente chartered for 
a flight on New Year’s Eve crashed in the Atlantic Ocean 
immediately after takeoff from the coast of Isla Verde, 
Puerto Rico; 
Whereas, on December 31, 1972, Clemente died in the plane 
crash at the age of 38 years young; 
Whereas, since 1973, Major League Baseball gives out the 
Roberto Clemente Award to one player in the league who 
‘‘best exemplifies the game of baseball, sportsmanship, 
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community involvement and the individual’s contribution 
to his team’’; 
Whereas, in 2002, Major League Baseball declared the first 
annual Roberto Clemente Day; 
Whereas, in 2021, Major League Baseball announced Sep-
tember 15 would be the permanent date of Roberto 
Clemente Day to coincide with the beginning of Hispanic 
Heritage month; 
Whereas, on Roberto Clemente Day 2022, the Tampa Bay 
Rays put out a lineup of all Latin American players for 
the first time in history; 
Whereas Clemente’s tragic death left behind his wife, Vera, 
and three young sons, Roberto, Jr., Luis Roberto, and 
Roberto Enrique; and 
Whereas Clemente was a legend in life and death, a baseball 
star, a humanitarian activist, and a symbol of Latin 
American pride: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) recognizes that Roberto Clemente was the 
first Latino player to accomplish many feats in 
Major League Baseball; 
(2) recognizes that Roberto Clemente was the 
first Puerto Rican, and first person of Latino herit-
age, to win a World Series as a starter, be named 
league MVP, be named World Series MVP, and be 
elected to the Hall of Fame; 
(3) recognizes that 2 weeks after his death, 
Clemente was posthumously elected to the National 
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Baseball Hall of Fame in 1973, being the first Na-
tional League baseball player to receive the manda-
tory 5-year waiting period waiver; 
(4) urges Major League Baseball to perma-
nently retire the number 21 in honor of the life and 
legacy of Roberto Clemente; and 
(5) urges Major League Baseball to expand Ro-
berto Clemente Day so that, in all ballparks on that 
one day, all players, coaches, and managers on both 
teams, and the umpires, wear Clemente’s uniform 
number, 21. 
Æ 
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