Roberto Clemente

On October 26, 2005, Clemente was named a member of Major League Baseball's Latino Legends Team. As an artist, Charles topped the Hot 100 three times in the 1960s, but always with other writers' songs. Several Latino fans wrote letters saying, as the greatest of all Latino players, he should have been awarded a spot on the team. By reaching number-one, "Gold Digger" gave Charles his first Hot 100 chart-topper as a songwriter, credited as a result of the "I Got a Woman" sample. Later that year, Clemente was nominated as a finalist for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team. On the Pop 100, "Gold Digger" also broke a record by jumping from number 94 to number-two, giving West the record for the biggest ever jump on that chart. In 1999, he ranked Number 20 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, the highest-ranking Latino player. "Gold Digger" also became West's first Top 10 single on the Mainstream Top 40 chart, peaking at number-two.

The right field wall at the Pirates' PNC Park is 21 feet high in honor of Clemente. The song spent ten weeks at the top of the Hot 100 until rising Hip-Hop/R&B star Chris Brown's hit "Run It!" shot up to the pole position for the week of November 19. Marine Corps Sports Hall of Fame. The jump ended the fourteen-week run of Carey's "We Belong Together" at number-one, and kept Carey's "Shake It Off" from replacing "We Belong Together" as the number-one single. In 2003, he was inducted into the U.S. The high digital download sales helped propel the song from number-nineteen to number-one in one week, the fifth highest jump ever to that position on the Hot 100. In 2002, Clemente was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. "Gold Digger" has sold over 1,000,000 downloads during its seven weeks of release.

MLB presents the Roberto Clemente Award every year to the player who best follows Clemente's example with humanitarian work. The song broke the record for the most digital downloads sold in one week, and the record for the fastest selling digital single of all time, both previously held by Gwen Stefani's "Hollaback Girl". In Pittsburgh, the 6th Street Bridge was renamed in his memory, and the Pirates retired his number 21 at the start of the 1973 season. Approximately 80,000 digital downloads of "Gold Digger" were sold through on legal music services such as iTunes and Napster in that first week, making it the most successful digital sales debut ever. New York immediately named a state park after him; he now has several schools and parks named after him.[1]. When Late Registration was released, the album version of "Gold Digger" was first made available for download. There is also a monument in his likeness created by Puerto Rican sculptor Jose Buscaglia Guillermety situated in Carolina. Their concerns were unfounded as "Gold Digger" became a success, hitting number one on the Hot 100, Pop 100, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks and the Hot Rap Tracks charts.

Today this sports complex is called "Ciudad Deportiva Roberto Clemente" (Roberto Clemente Sports City). Following the chart performance of "Diamonds from Sierra Leone", which failed to crack the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100, West's label became concerned with how a follow up single would perform. His native city, Carolina, named an avenue after him and realized his dream of establishing a sports complex where the youth could learn and practice sports in a healthy environment. Foxx is also present, lip-synching both his own parts and the Ray Charles vocal sample. Puerto Rico has honored Roberto Clemente's memory by naming the coliseum in San Juan, Puerto Rico Coliseo Roberto Clemente. The titles of the magazines the women appear on the cover of reflect the correlating verses in the song. He died in a plane crash off the coast of isla verde, Puerto Rico on December 31, 1972 while en route to deliver aid to earthquake victims in Nicaragua. Shot in a CinemaScope letterbox format, using stylized art direction with few props, the video features performances shots of West intercut with footage of Williams' trademark female video models depicted as "pin-up" cover models from fictional vintage magazines.

A hero in his native Puerto Rico, Clemente spent much of his time during the off-season involved in charity work. The song's music video was directed by Hype Williams, who also directed West's previous video, "Diamonds from Sierra Leone". It was the last at-bat of his career. In an ironic final twist which punctuates the sarcasm inherent in the song, West points out that when that hopeful and ambitious broke man finally gets "put on", however, he is very likely to "leave your ass for a white girl.". On September 30, he hit a double off Jon Matlack of the New York Mets for his 3,000th hit. West urges his female listeners to stick with their man, even if he is a dishwasher or cook at a fast-food restaurant, instead of going after the men with the money. Struggling with injuries, Clemente managed to appear in only 102 games in 1972, but still hit .312 for his final .300 season. She even lies to her man about the paternity of her child, resulting in the man supporting the child for 18 years until he discovers he is not the father.

His efforts earned him the World Series MVP award. "Now I ain't saying she a gold digger," West tells his audience, "but she ain't messin with no broke niggas." The woman spends money her man gives her to buy her kid's toys on liposuction and plastic surgery (West comments that the woman was "supposed to buy your shorty (child) tyco wit' your money", but instead "went to the doctor and got "lipo" wit' your money"). He was the clear star of the series, with an incredible .414 batting average (12 hits in 29 at-bats), typically spectacular defense, and a crucial solo home run in the deciding 2-1 Game 7 victory. In the song, West and Foxx deliver a tongue-in-cheek criticism of a woman who falsely seduces a man under the true pretense of spending his money, playing into the stereotype of African-American young women as being gold diggers. Undaunted, Pittsburgh came back from down two games to none in the series to win it in seven for the second time in Clemente's career. The two also worked on Foxx's latest album, and West features on Foxx's song "Extravaganza". Baltimore had won 100 games and swept the American League Championship Series, both for the third consecutive year, and were the defending World Series champions. The song is the second collaboration between Foxx and West, following "Slow Jamz" with Twista.

In 1971, the Pirates again won the National League pennant behind Willie Stargell's 48 home runs and Clemente's .341 batting average and faced the Baltimore Orioles in the World Series. Though he is given full credit as a featured artist on "Gold Digger," Jamie Foxx's only vocal contribution is the a cappella introduction to the song, an interpolation of Charles's "I Got a Woman" (Foxx opens the song with the line "She take my money/when I'm in need/Yeah she's a trifling/friend indeed," a twist on Charles' original lyrics, "She gives me money/when I'm in need/Yeah she's a kind/of friend to me." A sample of Charles singing the original is repeated throughout the song). The 1966 MVP award was, in the eyes of many Pittsburgh fans, a long overdue acknowledgment of his greatness. The song is built around both a vocal interpolation and a sample of "I Got a Woman", originally performed by Ray Charles and written by Charles and Renald Charles. He was also labeled a hypochondriac due to nagging injuries early in his career, although he played in 140 games in each season from 1960 to 1967. "Gold Digger" was written by Kanye West, and co-produced by West and Jon Brion. In protest Clemente reportedly never wore his 1960 World Series ring. .

Despite being the offensive and defensive leader of the strong 1960 Pirates club, he finished only eighth in voting for the MVP that season; teammate Dick Groat received the award. As of December 10th 2005, "Gold Digger" was nominated for "Record of the Year" for the 2006 Grammy Awards. Regardless of his unquestionable success, some (including, supposedly, Clemente himself) felt that the media did not give him the recognition he deserved. It is 2005's second-longest running #1 on The Billboard Hot 100 at 10 weeks, behind Mariah Carey's "We Belong Together". He led the National League in batting average four times (1961, 1964, 1965, and 1967), led the NL in hits twice (1964 and 1967), and won the MVP award for his 1966 season, when he hit .317 while setting career highs in home runs (29) and RBI (119). The single broke a record for the most digital downloads in a week, selling over 80,000 digital downloads, and is also the fastest selling digital download of all time. For the rest of his career, he batted over .300 in every year save 1968, when he hit .291; he was selected to every All-Star game; and he was given a Gold Glove after every season from 1961 onwards. Based upon elements of the Ray Charles song "I Got a Woman", "Gold Digger" features Jamie Foxx, who portrayed Charles in the 2004 feature film Ray, imitating Charles' vocal style.

Through the rest of the decade, Clemente firmly established himself as one of the premier players in baseball. The second single from West's second album, Late Registration, "Gold Digger" peaked at number-one on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States, becoming West's and Foxx's second number-one single after 2003's "Slow Jamz" with Twista. His .314 batting average, 16 home runs, and stellar defense earned him his first trip to the All-Star game. "Gold Digger" is a 2005 number-one single recorded by Kanye West featuring Jamie Foxx, and released by Roc-a-Fella Records. Clemente batted .310 in the series, hitting safely at least once in every game. In 1960, however, the team broke through to a 95-59 record, a National League pennant, and a thrilling seven-game World Series victory over the Mantle-Maris New York Yankees.

While Clemente had begun to fulfill his potential, the Pirates continued to struggle through the 1950s, although they did manage their first winning season since 1948 in 1959. It was the first of thirteen seasons in which Clemente would hit above .300. In 1956, though, he hit his stride, producing a .311 batting average (third in the league) at the age of 21. Although Clemente's skill with the glove was immediately apparent, he was less impressive at the plate; he batted .255 with 5 home runs and 47 RBI in his first full season in 1955.

With little to lose, the Pirates installed Clemente in place of incumbent right fielder Sid Gordon early in the 1955 season. Pittsburgh at the time was a fixture at the bottom of the National League and had lost 100 games in each of the three previous seasons. Despite the Dodgers' efforts, Pittsburgh Pirates president Branch Rickey drafted Clemente with the first selection in the post-season draft. He hit only .257 and did not distinguish himself with the bat.

Aware of a rule that would make Clemente available in a minor league draft (the predecessor of today's Rule 5 Draft) after the 1954 season, the Dodgers tried to hide him with their minor league affiliate, the Montreal Royals. His new team, however, was unable to fit him into a star-studded outfield featuring 1953 National League All-Stars Carl Furillo, Duke Snider, and Jackie Robinson. Scout Al Campanis signed Clemente for the Brooklyn Dodgers with a $10,000 bonus later in 1953. At the age of 18, he hit .356 for Santurce in the winter of 1952-1953.

Clemente first caught the eye of major league scouts while playing with the Santurce Crabbers (alongside Willie Mays) in the Puerto Rican Winter League. A rising star was catching the eyes of many coaches in the MLB as he was in Puerto Rico. He is one of only four players (as of the end of the 2005 season) to have 10 or more Gold Gloves and a .300+ lifetime batting average. He also collected 166 triples, finishing in the top five of the league eleven times, and had 266 outfield assists.

He compiled a lifetime batting average of .317 and batted .300 or better thirteen times, hitting 240 home runs and gathering 1305 runs batted in. He played in two World Series (1960 and 1971) and got a hit in every game in which he played. Perhaps Clemente's greatest feat was leading the Pittsburgh Pirates to a seven-game World Series victory over the Baltimore Orioles in 1971. He also had one of the most powerful throwing arms of any outfielder in baseball history, which contributed to him winning 12 Gold Glove Awards for his outstanding defense.

He was the 11th player in history to reach this number. He finished his career with exactly 3,000 hits. He could throw a runner out from his knees. Clemente was a 4-time NL batting champion, finishing in the top ten in batting average thirteen times.

. He played 18 seasons in the majors from 1955 to 1972, all with the Pittsburgh Pirates, winning the National League MVP Award in 1966. Clemente was born in Carolina, Puerto Rico, the youngest of seven children. He was elected to the Hall of Fame posthumously in 1973, being the first Hispanic American to be selected, and the only exception to the mandatory five-year post-retirement waiting period since it was instituted in 1954.

Roberto Clemente Walker (August 18, 1934 – December 31, 1972) was a Major League Baseball right fielder and right-handed batter.