Roberto Clemente, Jr. to headline BloomU celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month
PHOTO COURTESY / BLOOMSBURG UNIVERSITY - Roberto Clemente, Jr.
BLOOMSBURG – Former professional baseball player and broadcaster Roberto Clemente Jr. will speak at Commonwealth University-Bloomsburg’s celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month on Tuesday, Oct. 10, at 6pm in Carver Hall, K.S. Gross Auditorium.
He will present “My Father’s Legacy & My Own: An Afternoon with Roberto Clemente Jr.”
Clemente’s father, Roberto Clemente Sr., was the first Latin American baseball player to compile 3,000 hits in MLB history and the first Latino to enter the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Clemente Sr. died in an airplane crash in 1972 while bringing relief supplies to Nicaragua earthquake victims.
Wishing to carry in his father’s legacy, Roberto Jr. played professional baseball for the Philadelphia Phillies, San Diego Padres, and Baltimore Orioles. He later established the RBI Baseball Program in Puerto Rico to increase participation in sports, focusing on disadvantaged children. He also founded the “Roberto Clemente Foundation,” helping at-risk young people, providing disaster relief and worldwide service leadership.
In 1997, Clemente accepted an offer to broadcast New York Yankees games on television and radio, becoming a Spanish-language announcer for the Yankees on MSG Network, Telemundo, and WADO. By 1998, Roberto was splitting the duties as Spanish play-by-play announcer for the New York Yankees and earned three World Series rings with the 1998, 1999, and 2000 teams. Clemente added more broadcast duties by joining ESPN Deportes as a sideline reporter for the baseball postseason and was part of the ESPN Family for another seven years as a color commentator.
Over the past 30 years, Clemente Jr. and his team have helped thousands of children and their families through the work of his foundation. He is a member of the board for The National Hispanic Health Foundation and the ambassador for RC21x, a company that provides solutions for Industrial Safety and Employee Wellness.
The program is sponsored by the CU-Bloomsburg Multicultural Center and CU Act 101 Programs. For information, contact the Multicultural Center at 570-389-4510.
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