On Friday I visited the Roberto Clemente statue near my house in Newark. Roberto Clemente was a Puerto Rican born baseball player and former marine playing all 18 seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Clemente was a star athlete, one of the first black players in the league, and the first Latino inducted to the Hall of Fame. In 1972, Clemente boarded a flight to Nicargua to deliver aid to victims of a recent earthquake, after he learned his first few aid packages had been intercepted by the Somoza Government and used for themselves. His plane crashed shortly after take off in Puerto Rico killing everyone on board. Clemente’s plaque on his statue reads “Any time you have an opportunity to make a difference in this world and you don't, then you are wasting your time on Earth." Roberto Clemente was a man whose actions spoke louder than his words and made a difference to millions of people in and outside of Baseball. It’s for these reasons he is still loved and lives on in people's memories today.
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