[...]... to the Yankees’ farm system and the Gulf Coast Rookie League in Fort Lauderdale, Florida He was tall and thin—at 17 years old, he was 6-foot2 and 160 pounds (188 centimeters and 72.5 kilograms) He was very fast and had remarkable natural reflexes The Yankee coaches could see right away that he had plenty of natural ability but that he had much less baseball- playing time than most other minor-league prospects... What Jackie Robinson did for African-American players in opening up professional baseball, Clemente did for Latin players In late December 1972, a devastating earthquake hit the Central American country of Nicaragua Clemente always spent much of his time during the off-season involved in charity work, and on New Year’s Eve he coordinated the loading of a private plane with supplies for the earthquake... expensive, they started to be made in Haiti and then Taiwan In 1990, major-league balls began to be produced solely in Costa Rica The manufacturers have strict standards; they are inspected by representatives from Major League Baseball Yet, there is some leeway The ball can be as heavy as 5¼ ounces and as light as 5 ounces (142 grams) Its circumference (measured at its “equator”) can be as small as 9 inches... Puerto Ricans ever since Bernie had another tie to baseball: His uncle Jedan Figueroa had been drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates and had played briefly for Pittsburgh’s minor-league team in Batavia, New York Jedan was somewhat bitter about his experience; he had not been able to eat at the same restaurants as his teammates roberto clemente Game 6 of the 1971 World Series was a thriller The powerful Baltimore... season came to an end, Williams headed home to Vega Alta His first year was unremarkable—he batted 270 with 2 home runs and 25 RBIs in 61 games Everyone knew that he had potential, but some felt that his many interests showed a lack of drive toward one ambition: major-league success An intense focus is always stressed in professional sports, and Williams had trouble narrowing his many interests He was as... track in the Olympics He was good enough at baseball to become a “follow.” He had worked hard at all three A s For many years, he awoke at 5 a. m to get ready for school and did not return home until after 8:30 p.m His hard work gave him many choices for a career, and he was about to choose one path over all the others BECOMING A YANKEE The Free School of Music had no baseball team, so Williams had... guerrilla groups, paramilitary militias, and drug trafficking The officer told Williams that some 14,000 rebels were trying to overthrow the Colombian government, about 12,000 soldiers were A Cultural Ambassador for Baseball and the Country Bernie Williams offered tips to young players during a baseball clinic in Caracas, Venezuela During his trip as a cultural ambassador in February 2005, he also visited... professional baseball s most feared hitters for more than a decade He was a careful student of all aspects of the game; now, he was a careful teacher The nearly 2,000 fans in Cartagena watched as he took batting practice He felt rusty after so many months off from playing, but soon the rust fell away He began to smash home run after home run over the 315-foot (96-meter) fence in right field Young players... williams a certain amount of danger as a visible foreign celebrity Williams was not afraid and was determined to look beyond politics and poverty to see the people He wanted to have a positive influence on others and was not going to let any obstacle get in his way Williams met the U.S ambassador to Venezuela, Bill Brownfield, in Caracas, the country’s capital He spent a few days there teaching baseball. .. Yankee organization Williams, who was a natural right-handed batter, decided to become a switch-hitter 23 24 bernie williams plate, is even rarer Williams vowed to make himself a true switch-hitter He was a natural hitter from the right-hand side, and he realized that it would take years to feel as natural hitting from the left During 1987, he played 25 games for Fort Lauderdale in the Florida State . Ambassador for Baseball and the Country from China. Another was Yo-Yo Ma, a celebrated musician. Daniel Libeskind, a famous architect, was in attendance,. He was a careful student of all aspects of the game; now, he was a careful teacher. The nearly 2,000 fans in Cartagena watched as he took batting practice.