Clemente… Roberto vs “Bob”

[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"