Google honored Roberto Clemente with their homepage doodle on Oct. 12, 2018.
An image of the former baseball player swinging a bat was the image when users visited Google’s homepage on Friday. The country of Puerto Rico is drawn behind Clemente, along with a baseball being held by hands. The seams of the ball are in a shape of a heart.
Today we celebrate Puerto Rican, Hall of Fame baseball star Roberto Clemente, whose record-breaking on-the-field performance matched his groundbreaking off-the-field humanitarian efforts. #HispanicHeritageMonth #Boricua #GoogleDoodle → https://t.co/biMxcb7w08 pic.twitter.com/Mj30ERMhoe
— Google Doodles (@GoogleDoodles) October 12, 2018
Clemente was being honored as part of Hispanic Heritage Month. The Puerto Rico native was an NL MVP winner, two-time World Series champion, four-time NL batting champ, and he was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1973.
Google’s write-up explains why they wanted to honor Clemente:
“Aside from his talents on diamond, it was Clemente’s mission to help others that has solidified his legacy as one of the most humanitarian athletes to play the game. Whether it was delivering food and supplies to those in need, holding baseball clinics for kids, or making generous donations, he consistently sought to be an agent of positive impact and a role model for the youth of his community.”
Clemente tragically died in a plane crash in 1972 at the age of 38. He was flying to Nicaragua to transport supplies to help the country following an earthquake.
