Hitting a baseball is the hardest thing to do in all of sports. There have been great hitters, great fielders, guys with blazing speed. You can hit for average or hit for power and you can be a "Five Tool Player" but you can't be one of those five tool players unless you have the ability to throw a baseball.
To me throwing a baseball from your position to the destination you have chosen is the most beautiful form of art in sports. I was a catcher and I will say that throwing a runner out that was attempting to steal on me, my pitcher or our team was more rewarding than hitting the ball out of the park. A third-basemen that can flick his wrist and send the ball to first from foul territory from an off balance position still today gets my vote for play of the day. To this day John Elway is one of my favorite quarterbacks not because of a single pass he made on the football field but because of a throw I saw him make while playing for a Yankees farm team in Oneonta, New York from the right field corner nailing a player going from first to third on a sure double.
Watching Roberto Clemente throw the baseball from deep in the corner of rightfield to third base was one of those things of beauty. I have only seen it on film but, I can certainly imagine that ball traveling on a rope to where ever Roberto decided it needed to be. I have seen some of the greats, Dwight Evans and the recently retired Vladmir Guerrero or Dave Parker make some unbelievable throws but from what I have seen and as legend tells us Roberto was the best.
It's an honor to be remembered for anything in professional sports but when you are remembered for being great and then remembered for being a better person than you were a ballplayer that is special.
Happy Birthday Roberto, you were taken too early and many of today's players could have used your guidance.
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