Title: Recognizing the significant human rights activism and baseball stardom legacy of Roberto Clemente, and calling on Major League Baseball to retire the number 21 in honor of his legendary life and career.
Policy area: Sports and Recreation

Summary:
This resolution recognizes the accomplishments of Roberto Clemente, the first Puerto Rican to be elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame, and urges Major League Baseball to retire the number 21 in honor of his life and legacy.

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1432 Introduced in House (IH)]

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117th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 1432

Recognizing the significant human rights activism and baseball stardom 
  legacy of Roberto Clemente, and calling on Major League Baseball to 
    retire the number 21 in honor of his legendary life and career.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 14, 2022

 Mr. Espaillat (for himself, Ms. Clarke of New York, Ms. Dean, Ms. Lee 
of California, Mr. Connolly, Mr. Carson, Ms. Barragan, Mr. Evans, Mrs. 
      Cherfilus-McCormick, Mr. Grijalva, Mr. Michael F. Doyle of 
 Pennsylvania, Mr. Torres of New York, Mr. Danny K. Davis of Illinois, 
 Mr. Cohen, and Mrs. Hayes) submitted the following resolution; which 
         was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Reform

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Recognizing the significant human rights activism and baseball stardom 
  legacy of Roberto Clemente, and calling on Major League Baseball to 
    retire the number 21 in honor of his legendary life and career.

Whereas Roberto Clemente Walker was born on August 18, 1934, to Don Melchor 
        Clemente and Luisa Walker in Barrio San Anton, Carolina, Puerto Rico, as 
        the youngest 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 pioneering Black left 
        fielder and first baseman who played winter ball in Puerto Rico, playing 
        for the San Juan Senators;
Whereas Clemente excelled in athletics as a youngster, and at the age of 17 was 
        playing for the Santurce 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 Montreal 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 number 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 encountered 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 assimilation 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 visited sick children 
        in hospitals;
Whereas Clemente put his heart and soul into training clinics, 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 Carolina, and Camp LeJeune, North Carolina;
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 defensive 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 career-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, consisted 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 Baltimore Orioles;
Whereas in giving an interview after winning the 1971 World Series, Clemente 
        became the first person to speak Spanish 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;
Whereas for Carribenos, 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, 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 September 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 heritage, 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 Baseball Hall of Fame in 
        1973, being the first National League baseball player to 
        receive the mandatory 5-year waiting period waiver; and
            (4) urges Major League Baseball to retire the number 21 in 
        honor of the life and legacy of Roberto Clemente.
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