Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth
https://fourcrickets.wordpress.com/2...emente%20hated.
This Bob vs. Roberto thing was always a point of contention for Clemente, whose Major League debut was in 1955. As a black person whose first language was Spanish, he faced a double dose of discrimination. The media and, obviously, the baseball card company Americanized his given name, calling him “Bob” or “Bobby” or even “Robby,” nicknames that Clemente hated. He had the audacity to insist on being called by his given name, Roberto.
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Does anyone have any kind of primary source? I’ve read it both ways now. This blog seems awfully odd (“The card company printed “Bob” but his autograph says “Roberto,” and he’s wearing a triumphant look, and I imagine it all as Roberto’s small act of defiance against the purveyors of cardboard gods and stale, lethally-sharp sticks of pink bubblegum. Right on, Roberto.”) with an agenda. It was commonplace to use “bob”, if Clemente minded and was offended and needed to defiantly resist Topps, why did he keep signing contracts with Topps? Is there any primary source for Topps alleged racism and slandering of him?