Roberto Clemente: A Bad Baseball Player

Roy Hobbs's determination, honor and pride empower him to leap from the pages, remarkably and unforgettably. Determination can influence many people to strive for goals. Roy Hobbs was determined to the best player in baseball. When he was just nineteen years old and had not played baseball for an organized team, he wanted to "break every record in the book for throwing and hitting" (Malamud 30).He had no previous experience of playing baseball, except with his dad and in high school. When Roy was older and in the hospital, he was resolute on getting out and playing in the playoff game.

An 8-year-old boy walked through the streets and constantly saw stabbings and muggings in the crime-ridden streets of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Born to a poor family and surrounded by crime daily. Facing the challenges of living in poverty and being born in a place where most people are statistics. Though his childhood was an insurmountable struggle, he was able to overcome it and become one of the greatest baseball players ever. Played 20 seasons in professional baseball with the Minnesota Twins and Boston Red Sox.

This moved Aaron into third place on the career home run list. At the end of the 1969 season, Aaron again finished third in the MVP voting.

Jackie Robinson earned countless rewards during his career and was one of the highest ranked baseball players in the league over all. His all-time batting average of .410 is ranked 25th on the all-time list for the MLB. He is one of 15 players to ever win rookie of the year and the MVP award. Jackie stole home a total of 19 times in his career. Then finally in 1962 he made it into the hall of fame.

"Pitching is the art of instilling fear" (Sandy Koufax). These are the words Sanford ¨Sandy¨ Koufax believed in, and strived towards throughout his entire Hall of Fame baseball career. Through his impeccable talents on and off the field, Sandy was able to engraft the characteristics of trust, loyalty, and determination into all of the hearts of those who watched him. Sandy Koufax was the most influential baseball player of the 1960s, because he had a lot of experience with the game of baseball since he was young, he had a great impact on the people who watched him because of his actions, and he helped pave the way for the game of baseball to become even better.

Rickey was identified as one of the games greatest pioneers. Rickey changed the game of baseball because of his opposition of the color barrier. Since Rickey was a very successful man in the league for being manager of the Cardinals, Dodgers, and Pirates he was elected in to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Not only will Rickey go down in sport history but also in American History because of the modest career in sport’s management.

     Joe DiMaggio was one of the best baseball players of all time. He set many records, including the longest wining streak in Major League Baseball history, it lasted 56 games. He came to America as the son of poor Italian immigrants, but grew up to be an American Icon.

David Ortiz is one of the greatest hitters of all time. He was born in the Dominican Republic and was able to hit 503 career home runs in a period of twenty two years. It is an exceptional feat when one considers the humble beginnings of a foreign born athlete from one of the poorest countries in Latin America. David Ortiz shows leadership through his relentless work ethic. “I don’t know when I’m going to be back in a world series I have to give everything have now.” Not only is David Ortiz

He was an MVP and 12x batting title. He had one of the best batting averages ever. He could pitch play center field and almost every other position. He had an overall batting average was a .366. His best one was a .420, which still holds records today.(BR)

1955 to 1972. Roberto played in two World Series, batting .310 in 1960 and .414 in

While he may seem he couldn’t have been any better on the field, he was just as great off the field. Clemente knew that leadership and social responsibility in the Latino world was also a part of his career (Regalado 679). In fact, he stated, “Lots of kids will try to imitate me, and maybe I will have the chance to do some good for people,” in an interview with the New York Times (Regalado 679). Clemente’s presence on and off the field challenged the misconceptions about Latino players, especially those from Puerto Rico, by the typical American at the time. Driven by the need to succeed, he emerged as a symbol for not only Latino recognition but also Puerto Rican (Regalado 683).

Yadier Molina is and always will be one of the greatest catcher to ever play the game of baseball. With Yadi coming into the league at such a young age, he has had more of an opportunity to prove himself and the stats and awards he has won can really back it up. Not just is he one of the greatest to play the game at that position, he is one of the best “on the field managers” as they say as far as controlling the tempo of the game and how it is played. With all of the accomplishments Molina has had in his career, it proves why he is one of the best to ever play the game at the catching position.

In addition, Babe Ruth is inspiring in many different ways. Primary, he teaches us that if we follow our dreams anything is possible. Ruth shows that our lives can change tremendously, because he transitioned from a poor, bad life to living in the riches and having a great life just because he followed his dream of becoming an incredible baseball player. He also inspires others by how he plays; he plays not only for himself, but he plays for others. He dedicated himself to baseball because that’s what he loved to do. He thought that you shouldn’t do anything you don’t love, do things that you love to

Jackie Robinson will forever be remembered for changing the face of baseball and ending segregation in professional sports; however, he was more than a baseball player. He played an intricate role in the advancement of racial equality in America. In April of 1997, Ken Burns told LIFE magazine, “Heroes are people who struggle and do more than what is asked of them and their particular set of skill. You are really looking for that which will make a deposit in the sum of human progress, and Jackie Robinson certainly does,” (Stephens). Not only did Jackie Robinson conquer the expectations of his critics, he overcame a multitude of obstacles as a professional African-American baseball player and rose as an inspiration both on the field and through

man that guy is an absolute legend in the baseball world. This matters to my topic because it