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Clemente was brilliant in that [1971] World Series. He batted .414, he got a hit in every game, he was terrific in right field, but it was more than any of that. Earl Weaver, the manager of the Baltimore Orioles, who were the favorites, said that there was one moment... that overwhelmed everything else and it wasn't a throw or a great hit. It was a dribbler that Clemente hit back to the Baltimore pitcher Mike Cuellar and Cuellar sort of nonchalantly picked up the ball and turned around and saw this guy running like he's running from the gates of hell to first base. And it was Clemente with his helmet flying off, and Cuellar was so discombobulated that he threw wildly to first base, Clemente got on, pretty soon Bob Robertson hits a three-run homer and the series is turned around and the Pirates go on to win the World Series.

David Maraniss
Washington, D.C.

The more I lived in Pittsburgh the more I saw that Clemente probably was the greatest ball player I would ever see.

Rob Ruck
Pittsburgh, PA

Three thousand hits was a big deal, and he didn't plan it this way, but to get your 3000th hit in the last game of a season, in what turned out to be the last at-bat of your life, was poetic, simply. It's the word -- it was resonant, particularly retrospectively, looking back on his life, which was to end shortly.

George Will
Washington, D.C.

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