Clemente… Roberto vs “Bob”

[Belfast1933]

Wondering if anyone here can validate what I heard about Clemente and his cards…. I heard that he never liked the cards that listed him as “Bob” vs his preferred “Roberto”

Does anyone know the true backstory to this? I can imagine that during the 50’s and 60’s, it might have been easier to sell to (sorry to get near a political statement) white American card collectors as “Bob”

For me, I prefer the “Roberto” cards out of respect to a great baseball player and an even better human being. He’s so revered in Puerto Rico as he should be.

Love to hear from the Clemente card historians on this one…

Thanks - here is my one/only Clemente

Jeff

[Seven]

From what I remember, he preferred to be called Roberto, but didn't mind if close friends or teammates called him "Bobby". I believe that it originated from the racism he had to deal with, in the press. Their were some pretty vicious sports writers, who mocked his accent. But the nickname was used by some people that were close to him.

He had to deal with a lot. Being a black, foreign born baseball player in the 50's and 60's, when there was still a great deal of segregation occurring, in the deep south.

I've also read that Topps made an error after his first two cards, but that doesn't really make sense to me, since his cards in 55 and 56 were "Roberto"

[commishbob]

PBS featured Clemente as part of their American Experience series just last month. As I recall they briefly touched on this, not the cards but how he was referred to in print. We’ll worth watching if you get the chance.

[Belfast1933]

Originally Posted by commishbob

PBS featured Clemente as part of their American Experience series just last month. As I recall they briefly touched on this, not the cards but how he was referred to in print. We’ll worth watching if you get the chance.

Nice… had not heard about that. Will def check it out soon. Thx for the tip

[ALBB]

Pitt announcer Bob Prince always called him " bobby"

[JollyElm]

Check out this great thread:
https://www.net54baseball.com/showth...249493&page=16

In post #1234 I posted a link to a video (hopefully it's still there) of an interview with Mr. Clemente, which is really cool, and then I posted some stuff about the 'Bob' thing in post #1239. I had never heard of it being a racist thing until relatively recently, and I'm of the firm belief that 'Bob' or 'Bobby' is simply a name that is immediately applied to any person named Robert (hence Roberto) by 99% of the English speaking world. It is just human nature.

[mintacular]

Bob is an Americanized shortening of Roberto that sounds awkward to a Latin / Spanish player. My guess is the company tried to make the name click better with.American kids who were more familiar with Bob

[71buc]

I think he tolerated the “Bob” thing. He was an American citizen who was treated as if he was foreign. I’m sure he tolerated much in his life that we won’t ever understand. He was a serious and complicated man and I doubt he ever introduced himself as “Bob” to anyone. I think it’s telling that on every card except 1967 his facsimile autograph was “Roberto Clemente”. The 1967 facsimile appears to be “Bob” but it looks odd to me. I think that someone at Topps took artistic liberty and altered his signature for that card. Even the Hall of Fame took 27 years to correct his name on his plaque. Nonetheless he is the Patron Saint of Baseball no matter what they called him.