Letter to the editor: Clemente was the greatest

OK, OK, enough already! Where’d you get this Paul Kengor guy from, anyhow? Put a couple letters and a title after his name and he goes berserk?

I usually ignore his “oblique” ramblings, but this time he went too far (“From GOAT to Groat,” May 12, TribLIVE). I’m not going to disparage the local hero he was promoting; the guy was a fabulous athlete and deserved the accolades. But to say he was better than Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente is absurd.

Clemente had 3,000 hits. Hit for average, could have hit for more power, but it was a different game then; yet he had good power, could run, steal and catch, and had a magnificent arm. If you could start a team with any player of that era, he stood tall with players like Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle, Joe DiMaggio and “Duke” Snider. You could make a good case that Clemente could force the issue of a game as well as they. Of course, his greatest play was his last one, when he went down trying to improve the lot of fellow beings.

I know Kengor is probably good for your circulation, but please reel him in a bit (or send him to Disneyland maybe).

Tom Kerek

Oakmont