Forty-seven years ago this coming Tuesday, Roberto
Clemente, Hall of Fame outfielder for the Pittsburgh Pirates, died in a plane
crash on a mission to deliver aid to earthquake victims in Nicaragua. Pittsburgh
renamed its Sixth Street Bridge crossing the Allegheny River to honor this stellar
player and humanitarian in 1998.
While visiting the city this past October, I
photographed this bronze statue of Clemente with the bridge in the background.
The statue, by the way, created by sculptor Susan Wagner, stands just outside
PNC Park, the Pirates’ home.
Too often, our society boosts its most boastful,
selfish and cruel members. It’s worthwhile to remember someone like Clemente who
embodied the exact antithesis of that tendency during this season ostensibly
devoted to giving.
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