
Clemente
The Passion and Grace of Baseball's Last Hero
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $14.99
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
David Maraniss
-
By:
-
David Maraniss
About this listen
Discover the remarkable life of Roberto Clemente - one of the most accomplished - and beloved - baseball heroes of his generation from Pulitzer Prize winner David Maraniss.
On New Year’s Eve 1972, following 18 magnificent seasons in the major leagues, Roberto Clemente died a hero’s death, killed in a plane crash as he attempted to deliver food and medical supplies to Nicaragua after a devastating earthquake. David Maraniss now brings the great baseball player brilliantly back to life in Clemente: The Passion and Grace of Baseball’s Last Hero, a book destined to become a modern classic. Much like his acclaimed biography of Vince Lombardi, When Pride Still Mattered, Maraniss uses his narrative sweep and meticulous detail to capture the myth and a real man.
Anyone who saw Clemente, as he played with a beautiful fury, will never forget him. He was a work of art in a game too often defined by statistics. During his career with the Pittsburgh Pirates, he won four batting titles and led his team to championships in 1960 and 1971, getting a hit in all 14 World Series games in which he played. His career ended with 3,000 hits, the magical 3,000th coming in his final at-bat, and he and the immortal Lou Gehrig are the only players to have the five-year waiting period waived so they could be enshrined in the Hall of Fame immediately after their deaths.
There is delightful baseball here, including thrilling accounts of the two World Series victories of Clemente’s underdog Pittsburgh Pirates, but this is far more than just another baseball book. Roberto Clemente was that rare athlete who rose above sports to become a symbol of larger themes. Born near the canebrakes of rural Carolina, Puerto Rico, on August 18, 1934, at a time when there were no Blacks or Puerto Ricans playing organized ball in the United States, Clemente went on to become the greatest Latino player in the major leagues. He was, in a sense, the Jackie Robinson of the Spanish-speaking world, a ballplayer of determination, grace, and dignity who paved the way and set the highest standard for waves of Latino players who followed in later generations and who now dominate the game.
The Clemente that Maraniss evokes was an idiosyncratic character who, unlike so many modern athletes, insisted that his responsibilities extended beyond the playing field. In his final years, his motto was that if you have a chance to help others and fail to do so, you are wasting your time on this earth. Here, in the final chapters, after capturing Clemente’s life and times, Maraniss retraces his final days, from the earthquake to the accident, using newly uncovered documents to reveal the corruption and negligence that led the unwitting hero on a mission of mercy toward his untimely death as an uninspected, overloaded plane plunged into the sea.
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Path Lit by Lightning
- By: David Maraniss
- Narrated by: David Maraniss
- Length: 23 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jim Thorpe rose to world fame as a mythic talent who excelled at every sport. Most famously, he won gold medals in the decathlon and pentathlon at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics. A member of the Sac and Fox Nation, he was an All-American football player at the Carlisle Indian School, the star of the first class of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and played major league baseball for John McGraw’s New York Giants. Even in a golden age of sports celebrities, he was one of a kind.
-
-
Authors can’t always narate
- By SH on 09-05-22
By: David Maraniss
-
The Team That Changed Baseball
- Roberto Clemente and the 1971 Pittsburgh Pirates
- By: Bruce Markusen
- Narrated by: Kevin Free
- Length: 8 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In The Team That Changed Baseball: Roberto Clemente and the 1971 Pittsburgh Pirates, veteran baseball writer Bruce Markusen tells the story of one of the most likable and significant teams in the history of professional sports. In addition to the fact that they fielded the first all-minority lineup in major league history, the 1971 Pirates are noteworthy for the team's inspiring individual performances.
-
-
The first All Black and Brown Baseball Line-up.
- By Matthew Tsien on 05-22-16
By: Bruce Markusen
-
They Marched Into Sunlight
- War and Peace, Vietnam and America, October 1967
- By: David Maraniss
- Narrated by: David Maraniss
- Length: 5 hrs and 44 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Here is the epic story of Vietnam and the sixties told through the events of a few tumultuous days in October 1967. With meticulous and captivating detail, They Marched Into Sunlight brings that catastrophic time back to life while examining questions about the meaning of dissent and the official manipulation of truth, issues that are as relevant today as they were decades ago.
-
-
Overwhelming
- By Kay M on 11-17-03
By: David Maraniss
-
When Pride Still Mattered
- By: David Maraniss
- Narrated by: Richard M. Davidson
- Length: 28 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
More than any other sports figure, Vince Lombardi transformed football into a metaphor for the American experience. The nine seasons during which he led the Green Bay Packers to five world championships is the most storied period in NFL history. Lombardi became a legend, a symbol to many of leadership, discipline, perseverance, and teamwork, and to others of an obsession with winning. Maraniss captures the myth and the man, football, God, and country in a thrilling biography that has become an American classic.
-
-
What's in a name?
- By Brian W. Barton on 05-05-17
By: David Maraniss
-
Rickey
- The Life and Legend of an American Original
- By: Howard Bryant
- Narrated by: JD Jackson
- Length: 18 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Few names in the history of baseball evoke the excellence and dynamism that Rickey Henderson’s does. He holds the record for the most stolen bases in a single game, and he’s scored more runs than any player ever. “If you cut Rickey Henderson in half, you’d have two Hall of Famers,” the baseball historian Bill James once said. But perhaps even more than his prowess on the field, Rickey Henderson’s is a story of Oakland, California, the town that gave rise to so many legendary athletes like him.
-
-
An All Time Grewt
- By Anonymous User on 10-09-23
By: Howard Bryant
-
Luckiest Man
- The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig
- By: Jonathan Eig
- Narrated by: Edward Herrmann
- Length: 5 hrs and 46 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lou Gehrig was the Iron Horse, baseball's strongest and most determined superstar, struck down in his prime by a disease that now bears his name. But who was Lou Gehrig, really? Lou Gehrig is regarded as the greatest first baseman in baseball history. Shy and socially awkward, Gehrig was a misfit on a Yankee team that included drinkers and hell-raisers, most notably Babe Ruth.
-
-
Wow! What an amazing story!
- By M on 08-13-14
By: Jonathan Eig
-
Path Lit by Lightning
- By: David Maraniss
- Narrated by: David Maraniss
- Length: 23 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jim Thorpe rose to world fame as a mythic talent who excelled at every sport. Most famously, he won gold medals in the decathlon and pentathlon at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics. A member of the Sac and Fox Nation, he was an All-American football player at the Carlisle Indian School, the star of the first class of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and played major league baseball for John McGraw’s New York Giants. Even in a golden age of sports celebrities, he was one of a kind.
-
-
Authors can’t always narate
- By SH on 09-05-22
By: David Maraniss
-
The Team That Changed Baseball
- Roberto Clemente and the 1971 Pittsburgh Pirates
- By: Bruce Markusen
- Narrated by: Kevin Free
- Length: 8 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In The Team That Changed Baseball: Roberto Clemente and the 1971 Pittsburgh Pirates, veteran baseball writer Bruce Markusen tells the story of one of the most likable and significant teams in the history of professional sports. In addition to the fact that they fielded the first all-minority lineup in major league history, the 1971 Pirates are noteworthy for the team's inspiring individual performances.
-
-
The first All Black and Brown Baseball Line-up.
- By Matthew Tsien on 05-22-16
By: Bruce Markusen
-
They Marched Into Sunlight
- War and Peace, Vietnam and America, October 1967
- By: David Maraniss
- Narrated by: David Maraniss
- Length: 5 hrs and 44 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Here is the epic story of Vietnam and the sixties told through the events of a few tumultuous days in October 1967. With meticulous and captivating detail, They Marched Into Sunlight brings that catastrophic time back to life while examining questions about the meaning of dissent and the official manipulation of truth, issues that are as relevant today as they were decades ago.
-
-
Overwhelming
- By Kay M on 11-17-03
By: David Maraniss
-
When Pride Still Mattered
- By: David Maraniss
- Narrated by: Richard M. Davidson
- Length: 28 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
More than any other sports figure, Vince Lombardi transformed football into a metaphor for the American experience. The nine seasons during which he led the Green Bay Packers to five world championships is the most storied period in NFL history. Lombardi became a legend, a symbol to many of leadership, discipline, perseverance, and teamwork, and to others of an obsession with winning. Maraniss captures the myth and the man, football, God, and country in a thrilling biography that has become an American classic.
-
-
What's in a name?
- By Brian W. Barton on 05-05-17
By: David Maraniss
-
Rickey
- The Life and Legend of an American Original
- By: Howard Bryant
- Narrated by: JD Jackson
- Length: 18 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Few names in the history of baseball evoke the excellence and dynamism that Rickey Henderson’s does. He holds the record for the most stolen bases in a single game, and he’s scored more runs than any player ever. “If you cut Rickey Henderson in half, you’d have two Hall of Famers,” the baseball historian Bill James once said. But perhaps even more than his prowess on the field, Rickey Henderson’s is a story of Oakland, California, the town that gave rise to so many legendary athletes like him.
-
-
An All Time Grewt
- By Anonymous User on 10-09-23
By: Howard Bryant
-
Luckiest Man
- The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig
- By: Jonathan Eig
- Narrated by: Edward Herrmann
- Length: 5 hrs and 46 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lou Gehrig was the Iron Horse, baseball's strongest and most determined superstar, struck down in his prime by a disease that now bears his name. But who was Lou Gehrig, really? Lou Gehrig is regarded as the greatest first baseman in baseball history. Shy and socially awkward, Gehrig was a misfit on a Yankee team that included drinkers and hell-raisers, most notably Babe Ruth.
-
-
Wow! What an amazing story!
- By M on 08-13-14
By: Jonathan Eig
-
The Baseball 100
- By: Joe Posnanski
- Narrated by: Cary Hite
- Length: 30 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Longer than Moby-Dick and nearly as ambitious,The Baseball 100 is a one-of-a-kind work by award-winning sportswriter and lifelong student of the game Joe Posnanski that tells the story of the sport through the remarkable lives of its 100 greatest players. In the book’s introduction, Pulitzer Prize-winning commentator George F. Will marvels, “Posnanski must already have lived more than 200 years. How else could he have acquired such a stock of illuminating facts and entertaining stories about the rich history of this endlessly fascinating sport?”
-
-
Just OK. Too Tangential & Distracting
- By Matthew R. on 01-21-23
By: Joe Posnanski
-
24
- Life Stories and Lessons from the Say Hey Kid
- By: Willie Mays, John Shea, Bob Costas
- Narrated by: Bob Costas, Julian McWilliams, Larry Herron
- Length: 11 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Widely regarded as the greatest all-around player in baseball history because of his unparalleled hitting, defense and baserunning, the beloved Willie Mays offers people of all ages his lifetime of experience meeting challenges with positivity, integrity and triumph in 24: Life Stories and Lessons from the Say Hey Kid. Presented in 24 chapters to correspond with his universally recognized uniform number, Willie’s memoir provides more than the story of his role in America’s pastime.
-
-
Loved It
- By Peter on 07-01-20
By: Willie Mays, and others
-
The Last Hero
- A Life of Henry Aaron
- By: Howard Bryant
- Narrated by: Dominic Hoffman
- Length: 21 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the 34 years since his retirement, Henry Aaron’s reputation has only grown in magnitude: He broke existing records (rbis, total bases, extra-base hits) and set new ones (hitting at least 30 home runs per season 15 times, becoming the first player in history to hammer 500 home runs and three thousand hits). But his influence extends beyond statistics, and at long last here is the first definitive biography of one of baseball’s immortal figures.
-
-
GREAT STORY but blame the producers for misreads
- By Eddie38 on 03-02-22
By: Howard Bryant
-
The Last Boy
- Mickey Mantle and the End of America's Childhood
- By: Jane Leavy
- Narrated by: Jane Leavy, John Bedford Lloyd
- Length: 17 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Drawing on more than 500 interviews with friends and family, teammates, and opponents, she delivers the definitive account of Mantle's life, mining the mythology of The Mick for the true story of a luminous and illustrious talent with an achingly damaged soul.
-
-
The Man Behind the Myth
- By Ray on 11-12-10
By: Jane Leavy
-
Fantasy Island
- Colonialism, Exploitation, and the Betrayal of Puerto Rico
- By: Ed Morales
- Narrated by: Sean Duffy
- Length: 10 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Fantasy Island, Ed Morales traces how, over the years, Puerto Rico has served as a colonial satellite, a Cold War Caribbean showcase, a dumping ground for US manufactured goods, and a corporate tax shelter. He also shows how it has become a blank canvas for mercenary experiments in disaster capitalism on the frontlines of climate change, hamstrung by internal political corruption and the US federal government's prioritization of outside financial interests.
-
-
Gringo Narrattion
- By shakira julia on 02-08-21
By: Ed Morales
-
Ball Four
- The Final Pitch
- By: Jim Bouton
- Narrated by: Jim Bouton
- Length: 18 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Ball Four was published in 1970, it created a firestorm. Bouton was called a Judas, a Benedict Arnold and a “social leper” for having violated the “sanctity of the clubhouse.” Baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn tried to force Bouton to sign a statement saying the book wasn’t true. Ballplayers, most of whom hadn’t read it, denounced the book. It was even banned by a few libraries. Almost everyone else, however, loved Ball Four.
-
-
Three Ten Year Updates Give Bouton a 5th Star
- By Byron on 08-09-12
By: Jim Bouton
-
Willie Mays
- The Life, The Legend
- By: James S. Hirsch
- Narrated by: Adam Grupper
- Length: 27 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Willie Mays is arguably the greatest player in baseball history, still revered for the passion he brought to the game. He began as a teenager in the Negro Leagues, became a cult hero in New York, and was the headliner in Major League Baseball's bold expansion to California. He was a blend of power, speed, and stylistic bravado that enraptured fans for more than two decades. Now, James Hirsch reveals the man behind the player.
-
-
If You Love Baseball... Learn about Willie
- By Steven on 07-18-17
By: James S. Hirsch
-
The Kid
- The Immortal Life of Ted Williams
- By: Ben Bradlee Jr.
- Narrated by: Dave Mallow
- Length: 35 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Williams was the best hitter in baseball history. His batting average of .406 in 1941 has not been topped since, and no player who has hit more than 500 home runs has a higher career batting average. Those totals would have been even higher if Williams had not left baseball for nearly five years in the prime of his career to serve as a Marine pilot in WWII and Korea.
-
-
TED WILLIAMS
- By chetyarbrough.blog on 06-01-15
By: Ben Bradlee Jr.
-
Why We Love Baseball
- A History in 50 Moments
- By: Joe Posnanski
- Narrated by: Joe Posnanski, Ellen Adair
- Length: 11 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
New York Times bestselling author Joe Posnanski is back with a masterful ode to the game: a countdown of 50 of the most memorable moments in baseball’s history, to make you fall in love with the sport all over again. Posnanski writes of major moments that created legends, and of forgotten moments almost lost to time. It's Willie Mays’s catch, Babe Ruth’s called shot, and Kirk Gibson’s limping home run; the slickest steals; the biggest bombs; and the most triumphant no-hitters.
-
-
Narration
- By Peter on 01-10-24
By: Joe Posnanski
-
Summer of '49
- By: David Halberstam
- Narrated by: Jamie Renell
- Length: 10 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The year was 1949, and a war-wearied nation turned from the battlefields to the ball fields in search of new heroes. It was a summer that marked the beginning of a sports rivalry unequaled in the annals of athletic competition. The awesome New York Yankees and the indomitable Boston Red Sox were fighting for supremacy of baseball's American League and an aging Joe DiMaggio and a brash, headstrong hitting phenomenon named Ted Williams led their respective teams in a classic pennant duel of almost mythic proportions—one that would be decided on the last day of the season.
-
-
Excellent
- By RJA on 11-03-22
By: David Halberstam
-
The Soul of Baseball
- A Road Trip Through Buck O'Neil's America
- By: Joe Posnanski
- Narrated by: David Sadzin
- Length: 7 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Soul of Baseball is as much the story of Buck O'Neil as it is the story of baseball. Driven by a relentless optimism and his two great passions - for America's pastime and for jazz, America's music - O'Neil played solely for love. In an era when greedy, steroid-enhanced athletes have come to characterize professional ball, Posnanski offers a salve for the damaged spirit: the uplifting life lessons of a truly extraordinary man who never missed an opportunity to enjoy and love life.
-
-
Buck O’Neil fan!!
- By scott on 04-24-20
By: Joe Posnanski
-
Satchel
- The Life and Times of an American Legend
- By: Larry Tye
- Narrated by: Dominic Hoffman
- Length: 13 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The superbly researched, spellbindingly told story of athlete, showman, philosopher, and boundary breaker Leroy “Satchel” Paige. Few reliable records or news reports survive about players in the Negro Leagues. Through dogged detective work, award-winning author and journalist Larry Tye has tracked down the truth about this majestic and enigmatic pitcher, interviewing more than 200 Negro Leaguers and Major Leaguers, talking to family and friends who had never told their stories before, and retracing Paige’s steps across the continent.
-
-
Good story about a baseball icon.
- By Brad on 05-03-14
By: Larry Tye
Critic reviews
"Maraniss deftly balances baseball and loftier concerns like racism; he presents a nuanced picture of a ballplayer more complicated than the encomiums would suggest, while still wholly deserving them." (Publishers Weekly)
"Maraniss delivers a mother lode of wonderful baseball lore." (Booklist)
What listeners say about Clemente
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- donc_rock86
- 08-11-21
Beautiful Story
Great book and insightful about the period and the unsung heroes who lived in it.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Edu P.
- 06-27-24
Great History of Clemente
Good narration but best when given by a Spanish speaker for proper pronunciation / articulation. Overall it was still done well. Thanks
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Michael Stanger
- 10-24-21
Abridged
Only disappointed that it skips from 1966 to 1971. I try to avoid abridged editions but maybe I didn’t look closely enough.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Erika Payne
- 07-01-21
A must read for the most die-hard fan to novel
I loved it. beautifully written and read. so much so, that the ending had me in tears. such a beautiful homage to a legendary man and humanitarian.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
- Robert
- 08-02-06
Loving tribute to the greatest Pirate of all time
This book should be required reading/listening for all baseball fans young & old. It's one of those titles that really played with my emotions throughout.
At times I was angry, such as the annual Jim Crow treatment Roberto received in Florida Spring Training every year; the measly 13,000 fans who showed up to witness his 3,000th hit; and the fiasco that surrounded the incompetent owner & pilot of his fateful Earthquake relief flight.
Other moments literally sent chills up my spine, such as the thrilling Game 7 of the 1960 World Series and Ritchie Hebner's & Earl Weaver's account of THE THROW in the 1971 Fall Classic.
As a lifelong Pirate fan there was so much that I never knew about the man until I listened to this: his brother's death also on New Year's Eve 18 years earlier; the death of his sister which haunted him throughout his life; and his constant predictions that he would die young: even telling friends that it would happen over the Christmas/New Year's Holiday in 1972.
My only complaint whatsoever with this was that only the abridged version is available here or on CD in your lcoal bookstore. An unabridged version would've been much nicer since there's a big gap from Clemente being awarded the 1966 MVP to Game 1 of the 1971 World Series. That's the only reason I give this 4 stars instead of 5. I would've like to have heard about Roberto's reaction to Three Rivers Stadium opening in 1970 since he constantly complained about Forbes Field!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- F. Marrero
- 05-27-21
Great story
Narrator needed to pronounce spanish words better. Other than that, it was a great hero's story.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
- Ted
- 11-24-06
Good, but not great
Clemente was a great baseball player and David captures his character well, and the narrator was fine. Clemente's humanitarian side was interesting, and the details of the plane crash were riveting. Even so, the story of a great ball player overcoming cultural prejudice, acting as a genuine philanthropist, and meeting a tragic end was -- well, duller than I expected. David Maraniss's "They Marched into Sunlight" was superb and prompted me to try this book. I also liked "When Pride Still Mattered" -- a biography of Vince Lombardi better than this one.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- mlcsjcj4
- 07-01-16
Somewhat sophomoric...
While the story could very well write itself the personal sides are dominant much more than the baseball he played. The descriptions are overloaded with adjectives. I grew up in Pittsburgh and was familiar with many of the baseball writers and players of that time. These recollections were the best. God rest his soul!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 03-25-22
Abridged version
Before starting this audiobook, I was not aware it was abridged, but I figured as much when major time periods of Clemente’s career were skipped. Very disappointed. The major events of his career and death were covered, but the story seems incomplete because it’s abridged.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!