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1
SENATE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, Roberto Clemente was born on August 18, 1934 in
3 Carolina, Puerto Rico; and
 
4     WHEREAS, Mr. Clemente played 18 seasons in Major League
5 Baseball (MLB) as a right fielder and right-handed batter from
6 1955 to 1972 with the Pittsburgh Pirates; and
 
7     WHEREAS, Mr. Clemente won the national League MLB Most
8 Valuable Player Award in 1966; and
 
9     WHEREAS, Mr. Clemente died in a plane crash on December 31,
10 1972, while en route to deliver aid to earthquake victims in
11 Nicaragua; and
 
12     WHEREAS, Mr. Clemente was posthumously elected to the
13 National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1973; he was the first Latin
14 American to be selected and the only exception to the mandatory
15 five-year post-retirement waiting period since it was
16 instituted in 1954; and
 
17     WHEREAS, Mr. Clemente was posthumously awarded the
18 Congressional Gold Medal in 1973 and the Presidential Medal of
19 Freedom in 2002; and
 

 

 

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1     WHEREAS, There is a campaign under way nationwide for Major
2 League Baseball to retire Mr. Clemente's jersey number 21;
3 therefore, be it
 
4     RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL
5 ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we urge Major League
6 Baseball to retire jersey number 21 in honor of the lifetime
7 achievements of the late Roberto Clemente; and be it further
 
8     RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
9 presented to Allan H. (Bud) Selig, Commissioner of Major League
10 Baseball.