SR0574 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SR0574 LRB095 20341 GRL 47627 r

SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, Roberto Clemente was born on August 18, 1934 in Carolina, Puerto Rico; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Clemente played 18 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a right fielder and right-handed batter from 1955 to 1972 with the Pittsburgh Pirates; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Clemente won the national League MLB Most Valuable Player Award in 1966; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Clemente died in a plane crash on December 31, 1972, while en route to deliver aid to earthquake victims in Nicaragua; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Clemente was posthumously elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1973; he was the first Latin American to be selected and the only exception to the mandatory five-year post-retirement waiting period since it was instituted in 1954; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Clemente was posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 1973 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2002; and

WHEREAS, There is a campaign under way nationwide for Major League Baseball to retire Mr. Clemente's jersey number 21; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we urge Major League Baseball to retire jersey number 21 in honor of the lifetime achievements of the late Roberto Clemente; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to Allan H. (Bud) Selig, Commissioner of Major League Baseball.