1970 Roberto Clemente Game Worn Cap

Auction: June 2005

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June 2005
Roberto Clemente

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1970 Roberto Clemente Game Worn Cap

This very special cap was worn by Clemente at a propitious moment in a career, when he turned 35 yet seemed to be only getting better, even though he'd already won 4 batting titles, 10 Gold Gloves, 10 All-Star selections and an MVP award in '66. That 1970 season, he amazed baseball by racking up the highest average of his career -- .352 -- though injuries kept him to 108 games. Clemente was surely on a mission, to prove he deserved greater national media recognition, and prove it he did the next year when he led the Bucs to a world championship, punctuating the season by hitting .414 with 12 hits and 2 home runs in the Series against the Orioles. Still, it would take his tragic premature death in another kind of mission, one of mercy to earthquake victims in Nicaragua, to magnify his brilliance. Clemente's legacy is written in every thread of the cap that was obviously a favorite item of his. It was taken right off his head by his close friend and personal assistant Phil Dorsey, who owned and preserved it with great care. The black cap has a gold "P" and button on top and shows tons of use. Handwritten on the interior is "1970 Forbes Field" and "21" in black marker, the first a very rare embellishment for a Clemente cap. Size tag is worn out but hat appears to be a 6 7/8 to 7. Brim has scattered staining and one crack that does not break through the green underside material. While Clemente's fingerprints are all over this cap, there are surely some by the gods as well.