Roberto Clemente was one of my favorite baseball players, and it was a sad day in sports when his plane went down all those years ago.
Welcome to this month's reading group selection. David Von Drehle mentions The Melting Pot , a play by Israel Zangwill, that premiered on Broadway in 1908. At that time theater was accessible to a broad section of the public, not the exclusive domain it has become over the decades. Zangwill carried a hopeful message that America was a place where old hatreds and prejudices were pointless, and that in this new country immigrants would find a more open society. I suppose the reference was more an ironic one for Von Drehle, as he notes the racial and ethnic hatreds were on display everywhere, and at best Zangwill's play helped persons forget for a moment how deep these divides ran. Nevertheless, "the melting pot" made its way into the American lexicon, even if New York could best be describing as a boiling cauldron in the early twentieth century. Triangle: The Fire That Changed America takes a broad view of events that led up the notorious fire, noting the gro
Nicaragua had just suffered an earthquake and was in need of foodstuffs and medicines. Clemente was on an overloaded airplane bound for that state when it crashed into the Caribbean Sea. One of my Mother's best friends was in a San Juan hotel and saw the crash from her window. She, like the rest of the people in PR, was in deep shock thereafter.
ReplyDeletePitcher Steve Blass was one of Clemente's best friends. Up to this time he was considered among the best pitchers in the National League. After the tragedy, he lost all drive and intensity so that his career went downhill. Despite their great lineup it took years for the Pirates to go back to the top in the Major Leagues.
In his honor, many Puerto Rican baseball players used number 21 when they play in the ML.
They don't make sports heroes like that anymore. Happy New Year everyone!
ReplyDeleteAnd a wonderful New Year to you!
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year!
ReplyDeleteI received Zeitoun (Eggers) and J.K. Galbraith's The Great Crash of 1929 for Christmas.
Happy reading!
ReplyDeleteBaseball is filled with much interesting lore, but the curse of the Bambino and the Sox finally winning the World Series in 2004 has to be one of the greatest stories in the sport.
ReplyDeleteSeeing the history note on Jackie Robinson brought to mind a book I read on Satchel Paige and the Negro leagues not so long ago, "Don't Look Book," which has him sitting in a rocking chair on the cover. Great book.
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