Depicting the Roberto Clemente Mural

On the south side of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, there is a mural honoring the late Roberto Clemente, one of the most influential figures in not only Pittsburgh sports, but in the city’s history altogether. I am choosing to review this work of art because when thinking about a piece of art to analyze, sports immediately popped into my head. When I tried to think of a piece of art that involved sports, I thought of the larger than life mural that I had seen multiple times while watching Pirates postgame shows.

The mural shows Clemente with a bat on his shoulder, looking into the distance. The only colors used in this mural are black and white, as opposed to the black and yellow we are accustomed to seeing Pirates players wear. This could be to add some nostalgia, as all pictures at the time were in black and white. It was painted on the side of Verdetto’s Sports Bar by Jeremy Raymer. He wanted to paint the mural on a warehouse on the south side of Pittsburgh. He chose Verdetto’s and the owners, Len and Pat Verdetto, agreed, as they were long time fans of the Pirates and had a personal history with Clemente. The couple met Clemente and his wife in the strip disctrict. They had Clemente sign a piece of paper and kept it as a piece of memorabilia. This resonated with me, as I am someone who goes to Pirates games and collects autographs as a piece of memorabilia on a regular basis. When I see the mural, I wish I could have seen him play in person. I wish I could have seen him appear in 2,433 games, the most by a Pirate ever, or collected 240 home runs, drove in 1,305 runs, hit the only walk-off inside-the-park grand slam in MLB history, won 12 gold gloves, which is the tied for the most among outfielders with Willie Mays, won 2 World Series titles, and appeared in 15 All Star games, which earned himself a spot in the Hall of Fame, and also collected his 3,000th and last hit in the last at-bat of his career. .

In the mural, Clemente shows no expression on his face. He could be procrastinating about what he will do next. Whether that is hit a home run into the packed stands at Three Rivers Stadium, or spend some time with friends and family from his native island of Puerto Rico. Most of Clemente’s offseason was spent doing charity work in Puerto Rico. Unfortunately, this lead to his death. Clemente had predicted he would die young, said his widow Vera in a 2002 interview with ESPN. He was on his way to Puerto Rico on a Douglas DC-7 cargo plane on New Year’s Eve in 1972 to help out fellow Puerto Ricans after a devastating earthquake on December 23 of that same year. The plane Clemente was on was doomed for failure. The type of plane had a history of mechanical problems and the plane was short staffed (missing a copilot and flight engineer). The plane crashed in the Atlantic ocean and Clemente died. He was 38 years old. His charity work left a lasting impact on the organization. When Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico, the Pirates sent many supplies down to the islands of Puerto Rico, as it held its place in the organizations heart. They were there for 7 days giving out supplies to help the suffering Puerto Ricans get back on their feet. This shows what an impact Clemente left on the Pirates and  this is surely something for which he would have contributed. And being someone who doesn’t like to watch the devastating news stories, I was enlightened to see that Clemente’s charity work in the 60s to early 70s brought the Pirates out to help the relief efforts.

So if you ever pass on by Verdetto’s Sports Bar, take the time to appreciate the mural of the man who gave everything he had to the game and to Puerto Rico, the island he called home.