NOVER ONE ON ONE

NOVER (VO)
He may have been the best all-around player to ever wear a Pirates uniform.
Today a historic interview with Roberto Clemente, next on Nover One On
One.

NOVER
(To camera)
Hello, Im Sam Nover. Seventeen years ago this month I had the distinct
pleasure of interviewing the late Pirate outfielder Roberto Clemente in what
was, not only a prophetic interview, but one of the most memorable
experiences of my broadcasting career. It was prophetic because we talked
about life and death and then tragically two and a half months after that
interview Clemente died while on a mercy mission to Nicaragua from his
homeland of San Juan Puerto Rico. the program originally aired October 8 th of
1972 and then was played as a memorial to Clemente on January 1st of 1973
just hours after his tragic death. Since that time I've been asked countless
times if and when channel eleven would replay the program. Well I'm happy
to tell you this morning the answer is yes and the time is now. The quality of
the tape may leave a little bit to be desired but I think the quality of the
program certainly stands the test of time. It is with great personal pride that I
present to you this morning, seventeen years after the fact, a conversation
with Roberto Clemente
(To Roberto)
People like Joe Namath and Muhammad Ali, for example, who could easily be
categorized with you, Roberto, in the greatness as an athlete uh have no
inhibitions at all about allowing the public to come into their private life,
maybe they do, secretly, but certainly they dont disguise it. How do you feel
about athletes like Namath and Ali, for example, who whose exploits, uh the
whole world knows about?

ROBERTO

All I would say that uh, its a little different matter with Ali, because uh, I
dont really think my ideas matter, because I might not go with the all the
ideas that he has, I think everybody thinks different. I dont, I dont go for all
the ideas that he has. As a professional athlete, I admire him a lot because
hes a very intelligent person. Um, also this thing that he go in public and
the act that he put in public hes doing himself a promotion, for his fight,
which its his job. I admire him for that.
Namath, uh, the nation made him an idol. And uh, this time, uh, they made
him a playboy and a lover-boy which, this is something that had to go into
the in the personal also. And dont say one thing or the other, because as
long as they do their job, uh thats their business, but to me, I cannot be like
that. I gotta rest, I have to rest as much as I can that to me, its a little, a
little different story because I think I belong to a minority group. I am Puerto
Rican, Im black, and I have Im between the world, so anything that I do,
first, I would it would be reflected on me because Im black, and second it
would be reflected on me because Im Puerto Rican . but, with this I tell you,
to me, uh, I always respect everybody and thanks to God, when I grew up,
uh, I was raised, uh, I was, I was raised and my mother and father they never
told me to hate anyone or they never told me to dislike anybody because
their race or color, we never talked about that. As a matter of fact, I started
listening to this when I came to the states, so to me, I would say that, uh,
this is something that I love everybody and, uh, and I have to be very careful
what I do because who I am. Ill give an example: I was in NY one time
buying furni some furniture and the people and then my wife was going
to have a baby, and when we used to go around, the people, they meet us at
the door and they said What do you want? And I said To see the showroom
and see some furniture and they said Well, lets wait for a little bit and
then, uh, were gonna send somebody to the last floor to see what we have.
So, they said that they had one floor of furniture and uh, so they took us to a
place where the furniture that was in the showroom wasnt the furniture that
they were showing us upstairs. And I said We would like to see the furniture
downstairs that was in the showroom and they said Well, you dont have
enough money to buy that (Nover chuckles) and I said How do you know
that I dont have enough money? and he said Well, thats very expensive.
I said I would like to see it because I have the right to see it as a human
being as a public that buys from you So, finally they showed it to us. And I
remember, I just, I uh, had some money, we was going to Europe, and my,
and my, and my wallet I had $5,000 in my wallet, which I took the whole
amount of money and I said Do you think this one can buy it? (Nover

chuckles) So, they want to know who I was, and uh, all this stuff, uh, uh and
when they found out who I was, so they said we have 7 stores, 7 stores
Seven floors full of furniture and were gonna show it to you and dont worry
about it and you know, you, we thought you were like another Puerto
Rican. And right away I just got mad and said Look, your business is to sell
to anybody. I dont care if Im Puerto Rican or Im Jewish or whatever you
wanna call me, but, you see this is really why I really get me mad., because I
am Puerto Rican you tell me different from the other people. I have the same
American money that you are asking for, but I have a different treatment.
Cause right now youre giving my wife a different treatment and myself and
my friends that are Puerto Rican, so I dont want to do anything about it, I
dont wanna buy your furniture, so I walked out.
NOVER
Were talking thats a terribly interesting and fascinating story. We were
talking about, just a moment ago, about Namath. Uh, I believe this week, the
week that Roberto Clemente got his 3,000 hit and joined perhaps the most
elite baseball players in history, Joe Namath appeared on the cover of Sports
Illustrated. The article on Roberto Clemente amounted to one line or I think
two sentences on page 45 or 50 or something like that in the magazine. And
it really graphically portrays what you have talked about for 18 years; that if
you dont live in New York or Los Angeles, no matter how great you are, you
dont get the kind of exposure that the other athletes do.
ROBERTO
I understand, but my problem with me is this, that uh see when I started
playing in 1955, the players, they couldnt open their mouths. Because I
remember uh, lots of players, they went, they sent, they were sent to the
minors because they opened their mouths and the organization, they didnt
like the way he spoke or something like that, they ship him down. So, when I
came I remember, that every time that I used to read the paper about a Latin
player or the black player, they have to say something sarcastic about it. For
example, the first day that I got to Fort Myers, there was a newspaper on
there. The newspaper said Puerto Rican hotdog arrived in town. So, now,
these people never knew nothing about me but they know I was a Puerto
Rican. As soon as a I got to camp, they, uh, tell me of a Puerto Rican hotdog.
Now, this is something that I refused to admit, and I talked to some of the
other Latin players, which in that particular time I was in the mi-- in the
mayor league, and they told me Roberto, you better keep your mouth shut

because you know they will ship you back I said I dont care one way or the
other. If Im good enough to play here, I have to be good enough to be
treated like the rest of the players. So, I dont wanna be put in a bathroom
because I came here and I am from Puerto Rico, I wanna be right there in
front of everybody. And, this is something that, uh, from the first day, I said
to myself Im from the minority group, Im from the poor people, I represent
the poor people. I represent the common people of America so Im going to
be treated as a human being. I dont wanna be treated Black or Puerto Rican
or nothing else; I wanna be treated like any person that comes for a job. And
every person that comes for a job, no matter who he is or what kind of race
or color he is, if he do the job he should be treated like, uh, like, like White.
NOVER
You has admired for great many years the late Martin Luther King. You knew
him, and you knew him quite well. Is it not true that you believe in many
ways hes kind of changed the entire lifestyle for the American Black?
ROBERTO
I believe this man not only changed the style of the American Black, he
changed the life of everybody. Uh, when Martin Luther King started doing his,
uh, his work and campaigning and, uh, you know we used to work on the
South, you know, we used to travel in a station wagon because, uh, we could
not eat while the White players used to eat. Now, we are in Florida, not too
far from Puerto Rico, and youll see the White players go to the restaurant,
and uh, they said Fellas, do you want anything to eat? Now, we are sitting
in the back of--- were sitting in the bus, were sitting in the back of the bus,
but we are sitting inside the bus. And, uh, I remember I told the fella, one of
the players, I said Look, if you (unintelligible) anything to anybody in that
restaurant, you and me were going at it. Were gonna have a fight because I
think its unfair, if uh this is the way its gonna be, this is the way were
gonna suffer. So, now I dont want you to none of your fellas to eat,
anything! (Unintelligible). I said, this is it, I dont travel no more with your
bus, if we cannot eat while the White player eat, I dont wanna go with the
bus. So, (unintelligible) were gonna get you a station wagon for you fellas
travel and we were traveling in a station wagon. And, uh, when Martin Luther
King start doing what he did, he changed the whole system of the American
style. He put the people, the ghetto people, the people who dont have
nothing, no say in those days, they start saying what they would like to say
for many years that nobody listened to. Now, these men, these people come

down to, to, to a place that what is supposed to be ignored and they dont
want them and sit down there and peaceful wise they make they called
the attention of the whole world. Now, that wasnt only the Black people; the
minority people, the people that doesnt have anything and they dont have
nothing to say in those days because they dont have any power, they start
saying things and they start picketing and start doing what they thought for
a long time that they should have it coming. And that, I think that thats the
reason that I say that he changed the whole world. Because even in Russia,
you saw after what happened in Russia, that the kids were picketing in
schools and this is something that never happened before. And, and, and,
and in the states and also in Europe.
NOVER
Bobby, uh, perhaps the biggest Achilles heel, the biggest thorn in your side
sort to speak, have been some members of the press. Uh, some of them
come away from seeing for the first time in the locker room and saying
Clemente is a mean man, he frowns, the man never smiles. Uh, (chuckles) is
that true? What is it really the make-up of your personality, is perhaps the
shape of your face such that you dont smile too often (chuckling).

ROBERTO
Well, theres nothing wrong with my teeth.
(Nover laughs)
I got teeth, thanks to God. Uh, Sam, this is something that I tell you, uh,
when I was a little kid I, uh, I wanted to be a baseball player, I, uh, this is
something that I, I, I think about, the more I think about Im convinced that
God wanted me to play baseball. And more than that I came to the world for
some reason. Uh, when I was a little kid I the only thing that I used to do
was playing baseball, all the time with a paper ball, with a roller ball, tennis
ball, we used to make our own ball and stuff like that and uh, my mother had
to really work. My mother had to work from one oclock in the morning, she
had to work and make lunch for these people that used to work in the sugar
cane plantation where my father worked. Now, my mother never went to a
show, my mother never went she didnt know how to dance, till today,
shes 80 years old but, even, even that, the, the, the way that we used to

live I was so happy because my brother and my father and my mother we

used to get together at night and we sit down and make jokes and we used
to eat whatever we have to eat and this is something that was wonderful to
me. So I grew up with people that really had to struggle to live. I, I, I you
dont imagine how these people I used to work with my father when I was 8
years old and the vacation time I want to buy a bicycle; it took me 3 years to
collect $27 to buy a bicycle, so I bought a second hand bicycle in three
years. I used to make a penny a day, uh, going from one place to the other to
get a big can of milk for these people, they gave me 30 or 31 cents a month;
to get up at six oclock in the morning to do this for these people. But, I said
ok, I will my father use to say I want you to be a good man, I want you to
learn how to work and I want you to be a serious person which I grew up
with that in my mind and more than that, I laugh when I have to laugh but
my face is that kind of a face that I cannot be like (Unintelligible) for
example, his shape of the, of the teeth is, uh, in a kind of in a different shape
than mine. So no matter he smiles or not, you might think that hes laughing,
which hes not laughing. Now, you might think that Im uh, serious, which Im
not serious, this is the way that I am. And I like to be that way because
sometimes you are uh, smiling and then the next time you dont see me
smiling and you say Hey, whats wrong with you? so, now, Im natural, this
is the way I am, nobody can say Wow, Roberto is mean I might look mean
but I, I, I really respect people
NOVER
Do you think that, the fact that you are like you are, that your facial
expression makes you sometimes unapproachable? A reporter comes in and
sees Clemente perhaps talking around the clubhouse with that, that
particular expression on his face and say Oh my goodness, how can I go
near the great Roberto Clemente when he doesnt look happy?
ROBERTO
Well, I tell you one thing. I tell you the truth I dont like lots of writers. This is
something that I wont deny, and I know. I tell you why I dont like lots of
writers, the writer live of what we do, they might write about sports, football,
whatever they want, thats fine. I think if I was a writer, the first thing I would
try to do is have a good relation with the players. I never criticize a writer
that I think that hes sincere on what hes writing. But, lots of these writers,
they go to you, and they, they put the interview in a way that they sound like
you say that when you dont say exactly that. Now when I

NOVER
They commonly call it misquoting. We do that a lot.
ROBERTO
Right, right. So now, this is something, that to me, in the year that I have
here in Pittsburgh; I tell you, 1960 for example I got dressed in a hurry. I was
mad because uh, the director wasnt giving me any credit for the most
valuable player. Now, I was not mad because of that, I was mad because the
approach that this writer have towards this, uh, this, uh, most valuable
player stuff. This is something that all my life I feel bad about it, because I
think this is the wrong approach, but I know its about politics. Sometimes
things like these theyre about politics. So, I went to Los Angeles and this
writer said to me Whos the most valuable player in the team? I said Well,
we have a few that could make the most valuable player and he said You
see this letter? Youre never gonna be because this fella started making
propaganda for this fella to be the most valuable player So that day during
the World Series, which I always love (Unintelligible), I went to, to a dressing
room, I got dressed in a hurry, I took one of (Unintelligible) and I put it in my
bag, so I say Im gonna take this to remember, so I took it, and I went I got
dressed in a hurry, I went outside, to the fore field. So, I went happy with my
friends, I was cheering, I was crying with the fans. By the way, I was real bad.
they said that Roberto attitude toward his teammates, something uh, that,
that, we can, we can hardly say what was his attitude toward his teammates.
When they were celebrating, he went outside
NOVER
But, you wanted to be with the people
ROBERTO
I wanna be with the people that pay my salary. Because I was with my
players, I shake hands with them and everything like that, I talk to them
about how that was and everything like that, but to me, I feel I wanna be
outside with the fans, so I was criticized for that.
NOVER
Bobby, youre 38 years old and 18 years in the Mayor League and having
accomplished just about everything there is to accomplish in baseball. I
guess the thought enters your mind that one of these days its gonna be all

over. Um, do you have any idea now when it will be over and when it comes,
what are you gonna do with your life? What would you like to do?
ROBERTO
Well, I would be I tell you the truth, I never think about that, uh, people ask
me, uh, how much money do you have? What would happen to you? Are you
secure? I dont worry about that Sam; the only thing I worry about is being
healthy. If I can live if I can, uh, for example, uh, have my health, I can
work. I dont care if Im a janitor, I dont care if I drive a cab as long as I have
a decent job, I would work. I know that some of the fellas, that theyve been
rich and they lost everything that they have and they killed themselves
because of the money, so to me I can be a person, uh, like me today, Im
making pretty good money, but at the same time I live a life of a common
fellas, Im not a big shot, if you go outside the ballpark youre never gonna
see me trying to put a show, or trying to call the attention for anybody
because thats the way I am. I Im a quiet fella and you see me with the
same people all the time. If you want to be my friend you gotta prove to me
that you are wanting to be my friend and you want to, to be aware that I
need lots of time when I play baseball. Now, in the winter time we can be as,
as long as you want to be with me in the winter time, we can spend as much
time as you want to be. But, in the summer time, then we have to, uh, cut it
short. So, I would say that I dont worry about, uh, what Im gonna do after,
uh, I stop playing baseball, but I would stay in some capacity in baseball and,
uh, but I say to you I dont worry about one or the other, I just worry that I be
healthy, I live long enough to, to, to educate my sons and make them
respect people, I respect them, and uh, this is something that, uh, to me this
is my biggest worry, to leave to my kids to be a person everybody when they
look at them, respect them, and they vice-versa they respect the people.
NOVER
Bobby, what do you want for your two sons three sons, really? What do you
want for them out of life?
ROBERTO
I want, I want them, them to enjoy life the way I enjoy life, I love people and I
love the minority people, I love people that they are not big shot, I like
common people, I like workers, I like people that suffer, because these
people, they have a different approach of life of the people that they really
have everything in life that sometimes they get bored because they have

everything and they dont know what suffering is in life. So, I peop my kids
to suffer, I want them to have what theyre supposed to have but I dont
want them to be rich, I want them to be people like the normal people in
America and the normal people in the, in the whole world.
NOVER
Bobby, I can only say that 30 minutes has gone like 5 minutes. And, uh,
thank you for making it, perhaps, the most memorable 30 minutes in my life
in this business. I, greatly admire you, and I know that I speak for everybody
watching this program and everybody who has ever known a thing about
Roberto Clemente, not only as a baseball player but as a man, you are a
great tribute to society, to America, to Pittsburgh and obviously to Puerto
Rico and I wish you good health and good luck and thanks for all the great
memories.
ROBERTO
I, uh, Sam, I gotta say that, that, uh, the tribute, the biggest tribute paid to
me have been paid by the Puerto Rican people and the Pittsburgh fans. I said
it before and Im not trying to make anything big about this but, these people
have been wonderful to me and I think they have pushed me to accomplish
what I have accomplished because, uh, by the way they treat me I say that
the only thing I have to is to try to sacrifice myself more and try to pay them
with the same tribute that they pay me.
NOVER
God bless you, thank you very much. Roberto Clemente.