Review of Call Me Roberto

Roberto Clemente Goes to Bat for Latinos

A TRUE TALE WITH

A CHERRY ON TOP

Calkins Creek

(Astra Books for Young Readers)

(pub. 8.27.2024)

40 pages

Ages 7 -10

Author: Nathalie Alonso

   Illustrator: Rudy Gutierrez

Character: Roberto Clemente

Overview:

" Roberto Clemente always loved baseball. Growing up in Carolina, Puerto Rico, he swung tree branches (since he didn’t have a bat) and hit tin cans. He was always batting, pitching, running, sliding. His dedication paid off when, at the age of 19, he was tapped for a major league team.

First stop: chilly Montreal . . . where he warmed the bench and himself, longing to play baseball.

Months later, he finally got his chance with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Clemente had an instant impact on the field—hitting the ball and making it to first base and finally home. Many Pittsburgh fans loved his bold style on the field, but not everyone was quick to embrace a Black man from Puerto Rico who spoke español.."

Tantalizing taste:

"But newspaper reporters don't praise Roberto's energy: They call him a show – off. And when his back hurts and he can't play, lazy! To make things worse, people call him "Bob." They think it sounds more familiar – more American.

Roberto doesn't like being called Bob.

Call me Roberto, he insists, orgulloso to be from Puerto Rico.

And Puerto Rico is just as proud of him..."

And something more: The author, Nathalie Alonso, shared in the Author's Note: "...Roberto has long been honored primarily as a humanitarian figure. And while he certainly deserves to be recognized as such, that narrative has obscured what I see as his greatest contribution to baseball: his battle to get the sport to accept and embrace players from Latin America. It is this legacy that most resonates with me as a first – generation Latina, who covers baseball for living, a job that has traditionally been the domain of White men.…

... When Roberto arrived in the majors, he encountered an industry that, years after Jackie Robinson's debut with the Dodgers, remained hostile to people of color.…

His refusal to bow to bigotry and his defiance of racist stereotypes are what most inspire me. As someone whose first language is Spanish but who wasn't always comfortable speaking it in professional settings, the moment when Roberto addressed his parents on national television [when he was named MVP of the World Series in 197 - a first for a Spanish-speaking player] is incredibly validating."