An Outfield of Clemente and Mays: A Puerto Rican Dream
An outfield of Hall of Famers Willie Mays and Roberto Clemente seems too good to be true. However, the lucky Cangrejeros de Santurce had the two in the same outfield during the 1955 Winter season.
Roberto Clemente and Willie Mays are arguably two of baseball’s best players ever. As for Mays, he has 660 home runs, a career batting average of .302, he made it to 20 consecutive All-Star games from 1954 to 1973, and won two National League Most Valuable Player Awards.
Mays first became an MVP in 1954, the same year the San Francisco Giants won the World Series, at the age of 23. This was Mays’ first great season, winning the batting title as well.
Not many people know this, but Mays went on to play Winter ball in the Puerto Rican professional league, Liga de Béisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente, after that season for the Cangrejeros de Santurce, nicknamed the Crabbers.
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No MVP would play Winter baseball in this day and age. However, Mays played to stay active, keep his skills sharp, and make more money. Athletes were not paid as lucrative as they are today.
Roberto Clemente is one of the best pure hitters to ever play in MLB. He has 3,000 career hits, and an average .317. He was a 15-time All-Star for the Pittsburgh Pirates. He began his professional baseball career in Puerto Rico, where he is originally from. He last played for Puerto Rico before making his debut for the Pirates on April 17, 1955.
In 1955, Mays joined Clemente and the Crabbers. The two led the team to win the league championship.
Both outfielders would go on to win another NL MVP and battle against each other for decades. They fought for batting titles, Gold Glove Awards, and pennant titles.
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Known as competitors and foes, it is rarely known that Mays and Clemente were once teammates.