Bill(s) - HR 6751 (Introduced December 13, 2023; Adriano Espillat (D-NY) + 3 Original Co-Sponsors (has now grown to 81)
Short Title - Roberto Clemente Commemorative Coin Act
Proposed Year of Issue - 2027
Purpose To honor the life of Roberto Clemente and his human rights activism and baseball stardom.
"Congress finds the following:
(1) Roberto Clemente Walker was born on August 18, 1934, to Don Melchor Clemente and Luisa Walker in Barrio San Antón, Carolina, Puerto Rico, as the youngest of 7 children.
(2) Clemente excelled in athletics as a youngster and, at the age of 17, was playing for the Santurce Cangrejeros "Crabbers" of the Puerto Rican Baseball League.
(3) In 1954, the Pittsburgh Pirates selected Clemente in the first round of the Major League Baseball Rule 5 draft.
(4) Pirates center fielder Earl Smith wore jersey number 21 until he parted ways with the team in April 1955, and Clemente wore number 13 until then.
(5) In 1955, Clemente made his Major League debut as he went on to play for the Pittsburgh Pirates, starting as a right fielder.
(6) When the team traveled to Richmond, Virginia, for games or Florida for spring training, Clemente encountered Jim Crow laws for the first time when the Black players had to stay at a separate, inferior hotel and were refused the option to dine with their White counterparts.
(7) Clemente was known for being a proud Afro-Latino and protested the discrimination that Latin and Black ball players encountered.
(8) Clemente was known for defending the rights of Black and Brown people, both on the field and in the streets.
(9) After the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., in 1968, Clemente and his teammates refused to play until after the funerals and even wrote a public statement showing their respect for Dr. King.
(10) Clemente became a union leader in the incipient Major League Baseball Players Association and defended players' rights to demand better working conditions and benefits.
(11) In every city where the Pirates played, Clemente visited sick children in hospitals.
(12) Clemente established training clinics, providing baseball lessons and fun for boys and girls in Pittsburgh, his home island of Puerto Rico, and throughout Latin America.
(13) In 1958, Clemente enlisted in the United States Marine Corps Reserve after the 1958 season and spent 6 months on active duty at Parris Island, South Carolina, and Camp LeJeune, North Carolina.
(14) Clemente served until 1964 and was inducted into the Marine Corps Sports Hall of Fame in 2003.
(15) By the end of his career, Clemente had joined the exclusive 3,000-hit club, was selected to 15 All-Star teams, and won 12 Gold Gloves, 2 World Series, and a National League MVP award.
(16) In Clemente's 18 seasons with Pittsburgh he won 4 batting titles, hit 240 home runs, and posted a lifetime .317 batting average.
(17) In late 1972, a 6.3 magnitude earthquake ravaged Managua, Nicaragua, and killed 5,000 people.
(18) In his philanthropic spirit, Clemente sent shipments of humanitarian aid to the country.
(19) After learning that 3 previous shipments had been diverted by corrupt Somoza Government officials, Clemente decided to accompany one of the aid shipments.
(20) The four-engine DC-7 plane Clemente chartered for a flight on New Year's Eve crashed in the Atlantic Ocean immediately after takeoff from the coast of Isla Verde, Puerto Rico.
(21) On December 31, 1972, Clemente died in the plane crash at the age of 38 years young.
(22) Since 1973, Major League Baseball gives out the Roberto Clemente Award to one player in the league who "best exemplifies the game of baseball, sportsmanship, community involvement and the individual's contribution to his team".
(23) In 2002, Major League Baseball declared the first annual Roberto Clemente Day.
(24) In 2021, Major League Baseball announced September 15 would be the permanent date of Roberto Clemente Day to coincide with the beginning of Hispanic Heritage month.
(25) Clemente was the first Latino player to accomplish many feats in Major League Baseball.
(26) Clemente was the first Puerto Rican, and first person of Latino heritage, to win a World Series as a starter, be named league MVP, be named World Series MVP, and be elected to the Hall of Fame.
(27) Clemente was posthumously elected to the National
Baseball Hall of Fame in 1973, being the first National League baseball player to receive the mandatory 5-year waiting period waiver.
(28) Clemente was a legend in life and death, a baseball star, a humanitarian activist, and a symbol of Latin American pride;
Coins - Up to 50,000 Gold $5 coins
- Up to 400,000 Silver $1 coins
- Up to 750,000 Clad Copper-Nickel $0.50 coins
Surcharges - $5 coin: $35
- $1 coin: $10
- $0.50 coin: $5
Sponsor/Beneficiary- Roberto Clemente Foundation "for application to general expenses associated with the fulfillment of the mission of the Roberto Clemente Foundation including for costs associated with educational, youth sports, and disaster relief historic preservation."
CommentsI still remember seeing the TV news reports of Clemente's death via plane crash. I was just a kid, but I recognized it as a significant loss that extended beyond baseball.
Full Disclosure: I'm a life-long baseball fan and played the game for 30 years.) Back in 1973, a National Commemorative Medal for Clemente was authorized by Congress and struck by the US Mint. It was a fitting numismatic tribute to the man and his legacy. Is a three-coin commemorative coin program needed 55 years later?
1973 Roberto Clemente National Commemorative Medal
Considering Clemente's impact outside of Major League Baseball, I believe I would support a Clemente coin program in an effort to raise awareness of his actions among those beyond baseball fandom. I would prefer a program that features just a Silver Dollar and CuNi Clad Half Dollar vs. one that includes an expensive gold coin, as I believe such to be more in line with those Clemente tried to help - he was not working to enhance the lives of the wealthy! I can envision a
Young Collector Set that incorporates the Half Dollar directed at sharing his story with young collectors of all interests and/or young baseball fans.
Likelihood of Passage?The House bill currently has 81 co-sponsors.
- Per GovTrack: 10% (as of date of this post)
For other of my posts about commemorative coins and medals, including more Possible? commemorative coin stories, see:
Commems Collection.
Posted 05/09/2024 9:58 pm
