CLEMENTE

David Maraniss describes Roberto Clemente as a work of art in a game defined by statistics. Clemente, baseball's first great Latino player, spent 18 seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates, winning four batting titles, 12 Gold Gloves, and two World Series championships. Maraniss re-creates the drama of Clemente's career and the events surrounding his death in a plane crash in 1972, but the strongest feature of this audio is his portrait of Clemente the human being, which is sympathetic without being fawning. An author and reporter with a Pulitzer on his mantel, Maraniss also proves to be a surprisingly good narrator of his own work, reading with enthusiasm, an even tone, and a good command of Spanish. D.B. © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine [Published: AUG/ SEP 06]