Remembering Some of Baseball ’ s greatest Latinos
Roberto Clemente Roberto Clemente was from Puerto Rico and one of the greatest baseball players ever to play right field and to play Baseball . Clemente and because of Clemente , the Pirates won four batting crowns and over 3,000 hits . Right field was his domain , throwing with a powerful arm and in 1966 Clemente earned National League MVP honors , but achieved his greatest fame in the 1971 World Series , in which he batted . 414 . Clemente died at the young age of 38 in a plane crash just outside of Puerto Rico while flying relief supplies to Nicaraguan earthquake victims . He will forever be a hero in baseball history .
Orlando “ Peruchin - The Baby Bull ” Cepeda
Orlando Cepeda was son of legendary Puerto Rican baseball star Pedro Perucho “ The Bull ” Cepeda , who was 20-years-old in the Major Leagues in 1958 . Cepeda gained nine . 300 seasons and eight seasons of 25 or more homers . As a rookie in 1958 , Cepeda belted 25 homers , led the National League with 38 doubles , 96 runs and batted . 312 . Cepeda won Rookie of the year honors for the San Francisco Giants .
Atanasio “ Tany ”
Perez is one of the greatest Latino baseball players to ever play Baseball . In 1964 Perez began his 23 year career with the Cincinnati Reds and became one of baseball ’ s best clutch hitters and RBI-men of the 1970s . In 1975 season was Perez ’ s most memorable year . The Cincinnati Reds made it to the world series and it went down to a final Game 7 . Tony Perez hit a home run in the sixth inning against Bill Lee and the Boston Red Sox , the Reds won a 4-3 victory and the World Championship .
Some of the other Great Latinos in Baseball not pictured here :
Tino Martinez • Fernando Valenzuela • Dennis Martinez
• Angel Macias • Hector Espino • Willie Hernandez Venezuela ’ s Chico • Tony Fernandez • Hector Lopez • Esteban Bellán • Ozzie Virgil
Luis Tiant was one of the greatest pitchers for the Red Sox in baseball history and Knicknamed “ El Tiante ”. He re-discovered his magic and went 15-6 with a 1.91 ERA in 1972 -- an American League great , Luis won at least twenty games for the Red Sox for three seasons , going 20-13 in 1973 , 22-13 in 1974 , and 21-12 in 1976 . In 1975 Tiant won 18 games for the American League Champion Red Sox .
Lou Piniella was born in Tampa , Florida , grew up in West Tampa . He played with the Yankees for 11 seasons , the Yankees won five American League East titles ( 1976 – 78 , 1980 and 1981 ), four American League pennants ( 1976 – 78 and 1981 ), and two World series championships ( 1977 – 78 ). From mid-1977 through the end of 1980 , he was the Yankees ’ regular outfielder / DH . Piniella made one All-Star team and compiled 1705 lifetime hits .