Sparky Anderson on Roberto Clemente

“Walking away… Roberto Clemente is my premier outfielder – period. I saw more of Clemente than I wanted to when I managed against him. He could hit for power when he had to. When he wanted to slap it to right, he shot the ball like a bullet. Plus, he could fly. When he hit a ground ball to the infield, he was flying to first. That fielder better not be napping. Clemente was a remarkable man because at the ages of thirty-four and thirty-five, he played like he was twenty-one. I never saw anything like it. I remember once when the Pirates came to Cincinnati for a five-game series in four days. Clemente didn’t play in any of the games. Believe me, it didn’t bother me to have him out of there. But I was curious, so I queried Danny Murtaugh, the Pirates’ manager. “He’s been very tired," said Murtaugh. "He’s been resting. But watch what happens next week and the rest of the season." I checked the box scores every day. There was Clemente – three hits, two hits, three hits, four hits, two hits, day after day. Clemente came back and led the Pirates to the pennant. The man got tired just like everyone else. But once he was rested, he was like a kid again. That’s how I’ll always remember him – as a man who played with youthful energy.”

“Bobby could do more things than any player I've ever seen. I used to coach third base for Preston Gomez in San Diego. Once he told me, "Now, I want you to know about Clemente cause he’ll play a game with you. If we have a man on first and there’s a base hit to right field, he’ll pretend to be loafing in on it. The moment you start to wave for that runner to come to third – look out, there’s gonna be an explosion." Well, sure enough, I don’t know what inning it was, but the situation came up, he put me in his trap and I did it. And let me tell you, my runner was about two-thirds of the way to third when the ball arrived. I came into the dugout and Preston was laughing. He said, ‘What did I tell you?’ But that was Roberto. There wasn’t anything he couldn’t do.”

“The best player I personally ever saw — and I never saw Mays in his prime, so I can't argue that — but the best I have ever seen to this day is Roberto Clemente. Bobby was unreal. He was better the last couple years before he got killed than he was in his younger days. He had the body of a kid in his mid-20s. People didn't realize how fast he was. He only stole bases if it meant something. In the outfield, nobody could play that position like him.”