Is Clemente over-rated?
Let me state right at the top: Roberto Clemente was a great player, one of the 100 best ever. However, I do believe he is overrated. Dying while performing a selfless, humanitarian act tends to blur out any negatives. How he died shouldn’t be forgotten, but it also shouldn’t overshadow the truth about him as a ballplayer. The fact is that he was an impatient hitter. He walked only 621 times in over 10,000 plate appearances. Of the top 50 players in career at bats, he ranks 45th in walks. That is significant. His on base percentage, a far more meaningful stat than batting average, was .359 – the same as Eric Davis, Jay Buhner and about a dozen other guys. I’m not suggesting Davis or Buhner were Clemente’s equal, but .359 isn’t among the top 200 in history. Now if he supplemented that shortcoming with power and/or runs scored that would be helpful in supporting an argument about where he should rank among right fielders. But the fact is he had decent power, not great. He scored a decent
