I'd like to get serious for a moment here on "Dime Boxes" and pay tribute to my favorite baseball player. More posts to come later today, so check back later on for more fun with "Dime Boxes"! Without further ado...
They say that a memorabilia card gives you a piece of baseball history. With the card you see above, I feel that I own a piece of world history. Never has a more influential player walked onto a baseball field; major league teams became more inclined to take notice of the Latin baseball market after seeing the way Clemente played the game, as well as the entire foreign baseball market as a whole.
Not only did Clemente influence baseball, but he influenced the entire Latin culture as well. He'd always greet his fellow Puerto Ricans back home in Spanish during an interview. He took pride in his culture, and other celebrities took notice of that in later years and used their native homelands as strengths, not weaknesses.
Not to mention the guy was a heck of a baseball player as well. 3,000 hits. The 1966 N.L. MVP. Twelve Gold Gloves. Four time N.L. Batting Champion. 15-time All-Star. And a Hall of Famer.
This 1973 Topps issue would be the last for Clemente. Tragically, he left us far too early, passing away in a December 31, 1972 plane crash, attempting to deliver supplies to Nicaragua, where an earthquake had taken place days earlier. Trying to help others in need.
In that department, we should all take a lesson from Roberto Clemente in our lives.
1 comment:
Great post! I need to add the 73 Topps to my collection.
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