I am personally not a big baseball fan. Actually it’s not just baseball, I just don’t follow supports. Even reading Shoeless Joe was too sporty for me to enjoy very much. So when our professor, Dr. Lenard told us we had to research Pop Lloyd I wasn’t very excited. Even after my research I still had not found anything exciting about him that would make me want to go to the Pop Lloyd event on that Friday. We were supposed to go see a speaker who was going to talk about Roberto Clemente.
Friday comes and we are sitting in the PAC. The speaker starts speaking about his personal relationship with Roberto Clemente and how he was inspired by Clemente. He talks about how at a very young age he was touched by baseball and it was such a big part of his life. He told us about the many things that Clemente did. Even as unenthusiastic as I was about the event, I still enjoyed it. I couldn’t figure out why I was actually able to keep my focus and follow his speech, but I did. Mid-way through the speak, I realized I was sitting behind Clemente’s son! His actual offspring! I have to admit, that part did excite me a little. I felt like I was feeling a part of history, and it was sitting right in front of me.
That’s when I realized why so many people were crazy about baseball, or any sport in fact. Sure the game is exciting and getting home run or a touchdown is absolutely worth the cheer it gets. More importantly though, there is a human aspect to it. It’s the thrill of being around thousands of other people cheering for the same players. It’s the joy of believing in someone, supporting them and seeing them pull through. That is something that everyone can relate to, and in any situation. Then I remember the speaker telling us about Clemente’s background in helping people and how he died. I feel like the part about his death was the most powerful part for me, but not because I was a fan of him. Before that day, I didn’t really know Roberto Clemente. His death, and the way he died, really upset me because he was trying to do something noble. He was doing something that I would do in a heartbeat if I was given the chance, and seeing him be a type of person that I can relate to, and then dying while he was trying to do something good, that touched me too.