Video: Thoughts on the Player, the Man, on Roberto Clemente Day

Video: Thoughts on the Player, the Man, on Roberto Clemente Day

Click on the baseball-reference.com page for Roberto Clemente and find the following:

Position: Rightfielder

Bats: Right, Throws: Right

Height: 5' 11", Weight: 175 lb. Born: August 18, 1934

Last Game: October 3, 1972 (Age 38.046) vs. STL 0 AB, 0 H, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 0 SB

Died: December 31, 1972 in San Juan, Puerto Rico (Aged 38.135)

Buried: Died at Sea.

Smacks you right in the face, doesn't it? For me it does, on days like this, especially. But Clemente's was a life well-lived, and celebrated by Major League Baseball for good reason. For very good reason.

As with Jackie Robinson, Clemente is celebrated with an award named in his memory. The Roberto Clemente Award, of course. And MLB describes it this way, aptly, perfectly:

"The award is given annually to a player who demonstrates the values Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente displayed in his commitment to community and understanding the value of helping others."

Bingo.

Today is Roberto Clemente Day. Players born in Clemente's native Puerto Rico have the option of wearing his jersey number 21 during their team's games on this date. For the Dodgers, that would be Kiké Hernandez and Edwin Rios.

Justin Turner is the club's nominee for the 2020 Roberto Clemente Award. The winner will be announced during the World Series.

Since SI's Tom Wilson and I are men of a certain age, we thought we'd share our memories of the man here today, and we've done so in our latest episode of Between Three Palms. Please watch the video at the top of the page, and let us know what you think.

And remember, glove conquers all.

Howard Cole has been writing about baseball on the internet since Y2K. Follow him on Twitter.