Give it up to Google (yeah, Google) for making our October 12, 2018 search actions much more memorable, as our team gets to see a very wonderful Google Doodle of Roberto Clemente, rendered by artist Roxie Vizcarra.
Part of the Google feature included thoughts from Clemente’s sons, Roberto Clemente Jr. and Luis Clemente:
47 years ago today, the Pittsburgh Pirates won game 3 of the 1971 World Series in which our Dad went 1 for 4 with an RBI in the Pirates 5-4 win against the Baltimore Orioles. He was named the MVP for that series, becoming the first Latino to ever do so.
At the conclusion of the Series, he asked to say something in Spanish to his parents and children in Puerto Rico. With this act, asking for his parents blessings in Spanish on live global broadcast, he galvanized the hearts of all Hispanics across the nation. Today, we are proud that our Dad’s legacy is stronger than ever with numerous namesakes like baseball leagues, parks, schools, awards, and statues around the world celebrating everything he represented and stood for, including standing up against injustice and the importance of humanitarianism. Our Dad was an incredible athlete, but more importantly, he continuously used his platform to better humanity.
To maintain and preserve our Dad’s legacy worldwide, our family started The Roberto Clemente Foundation years ago, a nonprofit organization incorporated in Puerto Rico. Specifically, our mission to develop tomorrow’s leaders through education, sports and service leadership to continue his vision as we build nations of good.
It is amazing to see a kid from Carolina, Puerto Rico, be remembered with this Google Doodle in this age of technology and new platforms to communicate with people around the world. The best part, however, is the human story of our Dad behind it, which we hope motivates us all to do something to help our brothers and sisters.
We feel very honored to be Roberto’s sons and extremely fortunate to be Vera’s sons as well. It is an honor to carry the name Clemente!
As it does with most special Doodles, Google also published a video about the Original 21:
¡Que viva Clemente!
