"Bob" vs "Roberto" Clemente

[bobsbbcards]

Originally Posted by Stonepony

I thought I've read he didn't like being called "Bob" as his given name was Roberto.

How could someone not like being called "Bob"?

[irv]

#9

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1...y-of-his-debut

9. Although many media organizations and the Topps baseball card company often referred to him as “Bob,” Clemente adamantly rejected that name and repeatedly insisted he be called Roberto.

[Zach Wheat]

Originally Posted by irv

#9

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1...y-of-his-debut

9. Although many media organizations and the Topps baseball card company often referred to him as “Bob,” Clemente adamantly rejected that name and repeatedly insisted he be called Roberto.

Thanks Irv, enjoyed reading that. I did not realize he perished on the plane he rented....and was only on the flight because the previous shipments he sent over were hijacked. What an incredible person.

Z

[hcv123]

Originally Posted by bobsbbcards

How could someone not like being called "Bob"?

Is how would someone named bob like being called Roberto?!

[spaidly]

I think the Topps typesetter got lazy.

[celoknob]

[QUOTE=spaidly;1691153]I think the Topps typesetter got lazy.[/QUOTE

Don't think that's it.

[avery1328]

Same Company that will not show Chief Wahoo anymore on their cards..

[rats60]

Originally Posted by avery1328

Same Company that will not show Chief Wahoo anymore on their cards..

They don't call Roberto Clemente "Bob" anymore either.

[brian1961]

I think you guys are making way too big of a deal over this. In the 60s I always knew him as "Bob", and the announcers generally referred to him as "Bob". Maybe by the early 70s, as he made his preference known, fans, announcers, baseball card manufacturers adjusted. I think it was kind of tough for Topps to put his formal first name on a card, particularly little ones as the Bazookas. You're taking this as if it was a personal slam, and it was not.

By the early 70s, I noticed him being referred to as "Roberto", and I simply changed. I've always preferred addressing people as they themselves prefer to be called. It's simple respect.

Did you ever call Bert Campaneris by his formal first name, Dagoberto? Fortunately he also had a nickname, "Campy". Back in the day, cards, announcers, and The Sporting News said "Bert". No big deal.

---Brian Powell

[rats60]

http://www.espn.com/blog/onenacion/p...ntes-number-21

throughout Clemente’s 17-year career (which began eight years after Robinson's), this proud black Puerto Rican dealt with racial, cultural and language issues head-on, even when he was mocked by sportswriters for his accent or when he couldn’t even stay with his white Pirates teammates in the segregated South.

Something as simple as a baseball card labeled “Bob Clemente” became the symbol of the cultural arrogance Roberto Clemente experienced daily.

[rats60]

Originally Posted by hcv123

Is how would someone named bob like being called Roberto?!

I have a friend that we have called Roberto, he doesn't mind it. Bob Prince was close friends with Roberto and always called him Bob or Bobby. I think that the root of the problem is the racism and bigotry against Spanish speaking people that Roberto faced when he came to the continental United States from Puerto Rico. Some of those media members that called him Bob in their articles, in the same article made fun of his broken English.