Roberto Clemente

October 4, 2008

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Profile America — Saturday, October 4th. As National Hispanic Heritage Month continues, Americans with roots in the Spanish speaking world are being honored. One in the field of sports was Roberto Clemente, the first Hispanic-American to be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Born in Puerto Rico, he was voted National League MVP, won four batting championships and was the 11th player to achieve 3,000 hits. Off the field, Clemente was noted for his extensive humanitarian work and died in a plane crash carrying aid to earthquake victims in Nicaragua. In the U.S., there are 270,000 people in professional sports, including athletes, umpires and coaches. Close to 6 percent of them are Hispanic. You can find these and more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau online at <www.census.gov>.

Sources: Chase's Calendar of Events 2008, p. 459
Statistical Abstract of the United States 2008, t. 598
http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2008edition.html