Roberto Clemente
 

On this date in 1972, Roberto Clemente doubled off the Mets' Jon Matlack for his 3,000th, and final, regular season major league hit.

If it were not for the tragic plane crash did he still have a few seasons left in him?

Iconic Player, Moment, & Pose:
 

Iconic indeed.

No doubt. He would had probably played at least one season more.

Always struck me as the kind of player who probably would refuse to let an injury/age cause the end of his career. I think he would have had to truly post horrendous numbers before calling it a day.

It's funny, but I was having this exact conversation over dinner with my girlfriend. We stopped on the way out, checked the mail and I had a '68 Clemente that I had purchased on eBay waiting in the mailbox.

http://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/kSEAAO...ux/s-l1600.jpg

Anyway she knows nothing about baseball or baseball cards. She's Persian and just moved to the US a little over a year ago. I brought the card into the restaurant with me because I didn't want to leave it in the truck. I was explaining to her who Clemente was, what he accomplished, how he died, MLB waiving his HOF waiting period, etc. Anyway, my opinion is that he was probably about done. Maybe one more season max.

Here's another Clemente I just picked up from the same seller, but I haven't received it yet...

http://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/B1YAAO...u-/s-l1600.jpg

Looked like the power numbers were down a bit, but he was still hitting for average and he did win a Gold Glove. It's a shame we never had the chance to see how much Mr. Clemente had left.

I figure that he lost 5 seasons and at least 3 really productive ones. In 1971 he had put up 7.2 WAR, Aaron 7.3 as a year older. Aaron played 4 more seasons. The next year the Pirates were eliminated on the last day of the season and they made the playoffs the next two. He probably missed out on at least one championship, maybe two as well as ending up in the top 5 or so in hits.

I would love to see some more Clemente cards or memorabilia! What else do you guys have?

Just picked this one up, a personal favorite.
http://www.net54baseball.com/picture...ictureid=23163

Great card and my personal favorite from the 1973 Topp set! I need to get back to work on completing that set.

Thanks for sharing!

:)

1956 Topps is an all time classic card! I have loved this one since I was a kid!

Thanks for sharing!!