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Message: [QUOTE="#12in21, post: 3681773, member: 10763"] From an emotional viewpoint my heart belongs to Roberto Clemente. I grew up in Pittsburgh and was of the right age to become a baseball fan in the mid 60's, so to me nobody played like Clemente. I was lucky enough to see him in person in a couple games at Forbes Field. Forbes Field for those who are not familiar had a very deep right field (450') and there was a blind corner. In one game which I was able to attend there was a hit into that corner, Clemente chased it down and with no clear sight line threw a perfect strike into home plate to get the runner out. Speaking of Willie Mays, I read that early on in Clemente's tenure with the Pirates, Clemente threw him out on a long throw from right field and when Mays was asked why he went, he responded that he didn't think anyone could throw him out. Besides both being great players they both employed the basket catch. One more connection, which would have made for one hell of an outfield (defensively and offensively) was that Clemente was very nearly signed to the Giants but the Dodgers offered a higher bonus and got him and then hid him away in Montreal on the farm team for a season. Branch Rickey Jr. (who had recently left the Dodger's organization) then stole him away for Pittsburgh as the Dodger's had left him unprotected. [/QUOTE]