Clemente… Roberto vs “Bob”

[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.