Here's the controversy. There were 10 outfielders named to the All-Century team:
Babe Ruth
Ted Williams
Joe DiMaggio
Mickey Mantle
Ken Griffey Jr.
Willie Mays
Hank Aaron
Pete Rose
Ty Cobb
Stan Musial
The first nine were elected by the fans, and the tenth (Musial) was appointed by a committee. Now, Hispanic and Latin-American fans and writers are upset that the committee named Stan Musial as the tenth member and not Roberto Clemente. Clemente's family in Puerto Rico is all upset, and some people have even suggested a Hispanic boycott of Master Card (sponsor of the team) and the discontinuation of major league baseball's Roberto Clemente Award.
Well, I hate to be the one to burst their bubble, but I think anyone who'd put Roberto Clemente ahead of Stan Musial ought to have their head examined.
Clemente was a great player, no doubt about it. If they had named 40 players to the All-Century team instead of 30, Clemente might belong on it. But let's compare Musial's career and Clemente's:
Batting average: Musial .331, Clemente .317
Home runs: Musial 475, Clemente 240
Hits: Musial 3,630, Clemente 3,000. Yes, I know Clemente died young, but he wasn't going to get 630 more hits. He was 37 when he died, and he would have played two or three more seasons at the most.
Batting titles: Musial 7, Clemente 4.
Pennants: Musial 4, Clemente 2.
World Series titles: Musial 3, Clemente 2.
I already said in an earlier posting that I'd take Rose off the team and replace him with Frank Robinson. But if you were to put an 11th outfielder on the team, would it be Clemente?
Maybe it would, but you could also make a case for the following:
Pete Rose - .303 average, all-time leader in hits, games played, times at bat
Rickey Henderson - .290 average, all-time stolen-base leader, greatest leadoff man of all time
Tris Speaker - .344 average, greatest centerfielder in baseball before DiMaggio
Al Kaline - .297 average, 399 home runs, 1,583 runs batted in, 8 Gold Gloves
Shoeless Joe Jackson - .356 average, hit .408 as a rookie, powerful arm
You could make an argument for any of these five players taking a spot on the team ahead of Clemente. I haven't even mentioned Al Simmons, or Reggie Jackson, or Mel Ott, or Carl Yastrzemski, or.....
Anyway, you get the idea. Clemente was a great player and an outstanding humanitarian, who gave his life in trying to help others. He's one of the 15 greatest outfielders of all time. Don't get all bent out of shape if he's not one of the top 10.