A book worthy of a hero

In the winter of 1996, a freelance writer from Sports Illustrated named Myron Cope visited Roberto Clemente in Puerto Rico to work on a feature about the misunderstood Pirates outfielder.
Cope, who had tired of writing about "boring superstars" for the Saturday Evening Post, came to SI because he wanted to write about more colorful subjects. (This preference earned Cope the nickname "The Nut Specialist.")
In Clemente, Cope said, he found the best of both worlds: "a superstar and a nut."
Cope's story centered around Clemente's quirks, his strange clothing, his stretching exercises that helped relieve the constant pain in his back, his trouble sleeping, his phobias and, of course, his talent.
Before submitting the article, Cope (who, as most of you know, is slightly more famous for his long stint as the Pittsburgh Steelers' radio analyst) showed it to a Pittsburgh newspaperman named Roy McHugh, who said, "This is Clemente to the life, but he's going to hate it."
"I know it," Cope said.
Following the careerof a baseball legend
They were right. This was just one of the many run-ins between Clemente and the press over his Hall of Fame career, which biographer David Maraniss' chronicles in his latest book, "Clemente: The Passion and Grace of Baseball's Last Hero," which comes out on April 25. The book follows Clemente from his childhood in Puerto Rico to his one-year stint with the Montreal Royals to his 18-year career with the Pirates.
The book's strength is in its last chapters, when Maraniss recounts the events leading up to Clemente's tragic plane crash as well as the aftermath. He not only explains what went wrong with the flight (pretty much everything), but also why a baseball legend would leave his family on New Year's Eve to deliver humanitarian aid to Nicaragua. Part of it was his concern that the food and medical supplies weren't getting to those in need, but part of it was Clemente's core belief that if you have a chance to help others, and don't, you are wasting your time on this earth.
"Clemente" isn't quite as good as Maraniss' other two notable books, "First in his class," which chronicles the early years of Bill Clinton (Maraniss won a Pulitzer Prize at the Washington Post for his coverage of Clinton during the 1992 election) and the Vince Lombardi biography "When Pride Still Mattered," which is one of best sports books ever written.
But it's still terrific. Maraniss is a first-rate writer and reporter (usually authors are better at one or the other) and his affection for Clemente comes through on every page.
My advice? Buy it, read it and lend it to your friends.
Save your money,read the excerpt
I can't say the same about the other notable baseball book published this spring, "Game of Shadows," which chronicles the BALCO scandal.
Both "Clemente" and "Game of Shadows" were excerpted in Sports Illustrated this spring. But while the "Clemente" excerpt leaves you wanting to read more, the "Game of Shadows" excerpt tells you pretty much all you need to know.
San Francisco Chronicle reporters Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams do a terrific job reporting on the BALCO scandal and how it affects baseball and track and field, but there's no stirring narrative to carry you through the book. It's just a straightforward account of how BALCO founder Victor Conte systematically cheated the drug testing (or lack of) in sports and, ultimately, faced very little punishment for it.
If you read it, you'll be educated, you'll be outraged and you'll be saddened as the top baseball players and track athletes have their covers blown. But you won't feel any better.
And if you read both books, you'll be struck by the contrast between Clemente, who put others first and was beloved by millions, and Giants outfielder Barry Bonds, who puts himself first and is beloved by no one.
As Maraniss writes in the final chapter, "The classic definition of [a hero] is someone who gives his life in the service of others, and that is exactly what Clemente did."
Joe Scalzo is a sportswriter for The Vindicator. Write him at scalzo@vindy.com.