File #: Res 0503-2006    Version: * Name: Commissioner of Major League Baseball, Bud Selig, to retire number 21 in recognition of Roberto Clemente.
Type: Resolution Status: Filed
Committee: Committee on Cultural Affairs, Libraries and International Intergroup Relations
On agenda: 9/13/2006
Enactment date: Law number:
Title: Resolution calling upon the Commissioner of Major League Baseball, Bud Selig, to retire number 21 in recognition of Roberto Clemente, a great baseball player and humanitarian.
Sponsors: Melissa Mark-Viverito, Inez E. Dickens, Sara M. Gonzalez, Rosie Mendez, Michael C. Nelson, Annabel Palma, James Sanders, Jr., Larry B. Seabrook, David I. Weprin, Helen D. Foster, Robert Jackson, Erik Martin Dilan, Maria Del Carmen Arroyo, Gale A. Brewer, G. Oliver Koppell, Alan J. Gerson, Charles Barron, Bill De Blasio, Thomas White, Jr., Leroy G. Comrie, Jr., Letitia James, John C. Liu, Joel Rivera, Kendall Stewart, Darlene Mealy, Domenic M. Recchia, Jr., James Vacca, James S. Oddo
Council Member Sponsors: 28
Attachments: 1. Committee Report 1/22/08, 2. Hearing Transcript 1/22/08, 3. Hearing Testimony 1/22/08

Res. No. 503

 

Resolution calling upon the Commissioner of Major League Baseball, Bud Selig, to retire number 21 in recognition of Roberto Clemente, a great baseball player and humanitarian.

 

By Council Member Mark-Viverito, Dickens, Gonzalez, Mendez, Nelson, Palma, Sanders Jr., Seabrook, Weprin, Foster, Jackson, Dilan, Arroyo, Brewer, Koppell, Gerson, Barron, de Blasio, White Jr., Comrie, James, Liu, Rivera, Stewart, Mealy, Recchia Jr., Vacca and Oddo

 

Whereas, Roberto Clemente was born in Carolina, Puerto Rico on August 18, 1934, and was a legendary baseball figure, who played for the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1955 to 1972; and

Whereas, According to the Major League Baseball (MLB) organization, Roberto Clemente was an all-around superstar, winning four national batting titles and 12 Gold Gloves for fielding excellence, and was instrumental in the Pirates’ victories in both the1960 and 1971 World Series; and

Whereas, Roberto Clemente was not only an exemplary baseball player, but was also a humanitarian, dedicating himself to improving the quality of life in the city of Pittsburgh, his native country of Puerto Rico, and communities throughout Latin America, through charitable activities and baseball clinics; and

Whereas, Roberto Clemente also served as a trailblazer for future Latino baseball players by advocating for the acceptance of Latinos in baseball, and, because of his efforts, he is credited with opening doors and breaking barriers for many Latino players; and

Whereas, One of Roberto Clemente’s most notable humanitarian efforts was establishing, in 1972, the Roberto Clemente Sports City in Carolina, Puerto Rico, to help disadvantaged children develop athletic skills and to prevent drug abuse; and

Whereas, Roberto Clemente tragically died on New Year’s Eve in 1972, in a plane crash on his way to deliver relief supplies to earthquake victims in Managua, Nicaragua; and

Whereas, Roberto Clemente was the first Latino inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1973, and various awards have been named in his honor to commemorate his contributions to baseball and humanitarianism; and

Whereas, Many grassroots activists and baseball fans have lobbied the MLB to retire Roberto Clemente’s uniform number from all teams, an honor given to date to only one baseball player, Jackie Robinson; and

Whereas, Latino Sports and Hispanics Across America have launched campaigns to collect signatures in support of retiring Roberto Clemente’s number 21, to be presented to the Commissioner of the MLB, Bud Selig; now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York calls upon the Commissioner of Major League Baseball, Bud Selig, to retire number 21 in recognition of Roberto Clemente, a great baseball player and humanitarian.

 

 

SO

LS #1642

9/6/06