Roberto Clemente. He could do everything. If he'd played in New York or Los Angeles, he'd be in the same breath as Mays. He'd also have hit a lot more home runs. As Duke Snider said "Clemente had power. He just played in an airport." Because of where he played his home games, Clemente said he tailored his hitting to be more line drives.
The Pirates also called Clemente up way before he was ready. He only had 155 plate appearances in the minor leagues.
If you look at all the Major League players with at least 2,000 at bats between 1960 and 1972, Clemente outperformed every single hitter. He hit .330. The next best hitter hit only .317. That's a huge disparity.
And he's the best fielding outfielder I've ever seen. He could get to any ball, and you didn't try to run on him, unless you wanted to be thrown out!
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