He was here, lithe, mercurial, a slashing spray hitter with an arm gifted by God.
He was here, baseball royalty. And then he was gone.
The way news traveled 50 years ago, most awoke to a new year, 1973, to find out that Pirates superstar Roberto Clemente had died in a plane crash the night before, Dec. 31, 1972, off the coast of Puerto Rico.
Clemente, 38, and four others were killed when a cargo plane bound for earthquake-stricken Nicaragua crashed shortly after takeoff from San Juan.
"Baseball in general and the Pirates in particular thus lost one of the greatest players of recent times," The Sporting News wrote.
This unbylined story ran under the headline, “Baseball Mourns Loss of Bucs Star Clemente." Because issue dates typically were 10 or so days after the publication was sent to press, it appears the story, on Page 42 of the Jan. 13, 1973, issue, was pulled together and quickly inserted in TSN at the last minute after confirmation of Clemente’s death on a Sunday night.
It was the first of multiple stories in The Sporting News over the ensuing weeks that covered the impact of Clemente’s stunning death — on his family, his team and MLB, even on one TSN columnist.
It’s hard today, half a century later, to describe what Clemente’s death meant to baseball. Just imagine, in a blink today, losing a 15-time All-Star, NL and World Series MVP (1966 and '71, respectively), a four-time batting champion and Gold Glove winner in 12 consecutive seasons who also batted over .300 13 times.
And the bittersweet capper to such a career? A double off the Mets’ Jon Matlock on Sept. 30, 1972, Clemente’s 3,000th and final hit.
He was here. And then he was gone. Just imagine.
On March 20, 1973, the Baseball Writers’ Association of America voted to waive the five-year waiting period for Clemente, because of the circumstances of his death (one TSN columnist argued against doing so), and he was posthumously elected for immediate induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
In the Aug. 18, 1973, issue covering induction ceremonies Aug. 6 at the Hall, correspondent Bob Broeg wrote in The Sporting News:
In a salute to Clemente, whose Pittsburgh teammates were there as well as club officials and Puerto Rican government representatives, (commissioner Bowie) Kuhn read the statistical magnificence of the 38-year-old outfielder, killed last New Year's Eve when on a flying mission of mercy to Nicaragua with medical and food supplies for earthquake victims.
"He was," said the commissioner of Clemente, "so very great a man as a leader and a humanitarian, so very great an inspiration to the young and to all in baseball and to the people of his proud homeland, Puerto Rico."
Kuhn, omitting planned remarks in Spanish to the Island TV viewers, introduced Clemente's mother, Mrs. Louisa Walker, his three young sons — Robertito, Enrique and Luis, as "three future ballplayers, I know” — and then made the official plaque presentation to the dead hero's widow, Vera.
Mrs. Clemente, given a standing ovation, responded in accented English with thanks to all. She hailed Clemente's special election to the Hall of Fame, without the customary five-year minimum wait after the end of a career, as "Roberto's last triumph, dedicated to the people of Puerto Rico and Pittsburgh and to baseball fans all over the United States.”
Gone, but never forgotten.
Here’s how The Sporting News covered Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente’s death 50 years ago:
TSN Archives: Baseball Mourns Loss of Bucs Star Clemente (Jan. 13, 1973)
TSN Archives: Clemente and Charisma (Jan. 20, 1973)
TSN Archives: Roberto Died as He Lived — Caring (Jan. 20, 1973)
TSN Archives: A baseball insider's assessment of Clemente (Jan. 20, 1973)
TSN Archives: Search for Clemente Abandoned (Jan. 27, 1973)