SR0574

LRB095 20341 GRL 47627 r






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SENATE RESOLUTION


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

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

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

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

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

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

 
 


 






SR0574
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LRB095 20341 GRL 47627 r




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

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


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