An intimate hour with The Great One’s plaque moves all

COOPERSTOWN – Edgar Martinez didn’t just visit Roberto Clemente’s plaque. He gently caressed it and practically breathed in its essence as though getting closer to an icon who is still revered as a saintly figure in his native Puerto Rico and throughout Latin America.

Only three months before his plaque would be placed among the immortals, Martinez visited one of the most popular destinations in the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in April.

The Hall of Fame’s Plaque Gallery is the final stop through the first floor of the museum, and Clemente’s plaque is a short walk from the entrance, just to the left.

During induction weekend last July, one didn’t need a map to find Clemente’s plaque. You only needed to see the steady, crowded flow of fans posing for selfies.

There was often a backlog in front Clemente’s plaque in the crowded Plaque Gallery as fans were lured in by the same mystique that grabbed Martinez three months earlier.

The crowd in front of Clemente’s plaque stood out even during the museum’s busiest weekend of the year with six players in the 2019 induction class, including a Puerto Rican, a Panamanian and four other greats who played in baseball hot spots such as New York, Baltimore, Chicago, St. Louis.

“Roberto Clemente for all Puerto Rican baseball players, it’s an honor to follow those steps,” said John Rodriguez, 56, a native of Vega Baja, Puerto Rico. “He was a tremendous person. This is my first time (visiting). One of my dreams come true.”

Visitors are told they’re not allowed to touch the plaques. Yet fans ignore those instructions with Clemente’s more often than with other plaques.

Even Martinez was moved to rub his right hand up and down along the words on Roberto Clemente Walker’s plaque.

“It’s hard to describe the feeling,” said Martinez, a New York native who was raised in Puerto Rico.

Martinez became the fifth Boricua inducted into the Hall of Fame, following the footsteps of Clemente, Orlando Cepeda, Roberto Alomar and Iván “Pudge” Rodríguez.

Clemente was inducted into the Hall of Fame on a special ballot posthumously in 1973. The Pirates’ legendary right fielder is revered as much for the way he lived as the way he died.

He joined the elite 3,000-hit club in the final game of the 1972 season. Then he died on New Year’s Eve 1972 on a cargo plane that had been packed with relief supplies for victims of an earthquake in Nicaragua.

The cargo plane crashed off the coast of San Juan, and Clemente’s body was never recovered.

Many Puerto Ricans, including St. Louis Cardinals legendary catcher Yadier Molina, had posters of Clemente hanging on their walls growing up right next to images of Jesus Christ.

Clemente’s image dots his native island, especially in his hometown of Carolina. In many ways, Puerto Ricans still mourn Clemente.

The pain from Clemente’s tragic death still lingers back home, Manati, Puerto Rico, native Federico Valentin said after spending a few minutes posing for pictures in front of Clemente’s plaque.

“He was a tremendous player,” Valentin said. “I’m 76 years old, and I saw him play. The day he died, it was to help the (Nicaraguans).”

Valentin’s eyes began to well up with tears as he spoke.

“It still hurts, doesn’t it?” Valentin was asked.

“Yes, very much,” he said.

Compared to most of the plaques in Cooperstown, the shine on Clemente’s has dulled over the years because so many fans are moved to touch it when they visit the gallery.

That look might be even more distinguishable if the current plaque weren’t actually the second one created for Clemente. The first incorrectly portrayed his name as Roberto Walker Clemente, using his mother’s maiden name before his father’s instead of the Latino tradition of having the maiden name last.

The new plaque was created in 2000, 27 years after the first one was used during the 1973 induction.

“His history, his legacy is helping those who are less fortunate,” said Sam Lozano, a Puerto Rican from Brooklyn. “Our island is very poor, but rich in culture and love and family.”

Featured Image: La Vida Baseball

Inset Images: La Vida Baseball

Plaque Image: Courtesy National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum