Country	Russia
Party name	Communist Party of the Russian Federation
Name native	Коммунистическая партия Российской Федерации
Party logo
Leader	Gennady Zyuganov
Colorcode	red
Foundation	14 February 1993
Ideology	CommunismMarxism-LeninismStalinismAnti-RevisionismRussian left-wing nationalism
Position	Far-left
Headquarters	Moscow, Russia
International	Union of Communist Parties — Communist Party of the Soviet Union
Colours	Red
Website	http://kprf.ru/
Seats1 title	Seats in the State Duma
Seats1
Seats2 title	Seats in the Regional Parliaments
Seats2	}}

The Communist Party of the Russian Federation () is a Russian political party. It is the second major political party in the Russian Federation. It is sometimes seen as a successor to the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), although it is most likely a successor to the CPSU during the rule of Joseph Stalin as opposed to the CPSU after 1956. However, its structure and ideologies have changed.

History

The party was founded in February 1993 at a 'Second Extraordinary Congress', declaring itself as the successor to the Communist Party of the RSFSR.

The CPRF is led by Gennady Zyuganov, who co-founded the party in early 1993 with senior former Soviet politicians Yegor Ligachev and Anatoly Lukyanov among others. Zyuganov had been a critic of Alexander Yakovlev, the "godfather of glasnost", on the CPSU Central Committee, and after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 he became active in the Russian "national-patriotic" movement, being the chairman of the National Salvation Front (some authors call him a nationalist). Early external collaborators included Eurasianist philosopher Aleksandr Dugin who helped to draft earlier party documents and pushed the party in the direction of nationalism.

A new umbrella movement was formed on the initiative of the CPRF on August 7, 1996. It was called People's Patriotic Union of Russia (NPSR) and consisted of more than 30 left-wing and right-wing nationalist organizations, such as the Russian All-People's Union led by Sergey Baburin. Gennady Zyuganov was its chairman. He was supported by the party as a candidate for Russia's presidency during the 1996 Presidential elections and 2000 Presidential elections. During the presidential elections of 1996, the CPRF was supported by prominent intellectual Aleksandr Zinovyev (a former Soviet dissident who became a supporter of Communism at the time of Perestroika). Another prominent supporter of the CPRF is the physicist Zhores Alferov, who received the Nobel Prize for Physics in 2000.

Zyuganov called the 2003 elections a 'revolting spectacle' and accuses the Kremlin of setting up a "Potemkin party," Rodina, to steal its votes.

CPRF's former members include many popular politicians, who seceded after their ambitions on party leading collided with Zyuganov's, who held the stronger support. Gennady Seleznev in 2001, Sergey Glazyev in 2003 and Gennady Semigin in 2004 were the most notable "dissenters". Commentators characterize the dominating Zyuganov wing as nationalist or 'popular-patriotic' (which is often used by the party militants themselves), rather than orthodox Marxist-Leninist. Some observers consider only Richard Kosolapov's minority faction of the CPRF as ideologically communist ''per se''.

A minority faction criticised the decision to candidate "millionaires" (such as Sergei Sobko, general director and owner of the TEKHOS company) in the CPRF's lists, which was seen as a contradiction to the Marxist-Leninist and anti-oligarchic policies of the Party.

In July 2004 a breakaway faction elected Vladimir Tikhonov as its leader. The faction later formed the All-Russia Communist Party of the Future. The operation wasn't successful and recently Tikhonov's party has suspended active operations, seeking rapprochement with Zyuganov's side.

CPRF was endorsed by Sergey Baburin's People's Union for the 2007 Russian parliamentary elections.

The Russian Federal Registration Service says that 164,546 voters have registered with the government as members of the CPRF.

Ideology

The official ideology of the party is Communism, Marxism-Leninism and patriotism. The party has emphasized its uniquely Russian character and it has consistently invoked Russian patriotism and nationalism in addition to the official Marxism-Leninism of the CPSU. Unlike the CPSU after 1956, the CPRF celebrates the rule of Joseph Stalinmaking it anti-revisionist. On the occasion of Stalin's birthday on 21 December 2010, Zyuganov called for the "re-Stalinisation" of Russian society in an open letter to President Dmitry Medvedev.

Electoral results

In parliament, after an initial slow start with just 12.4% of vote in the first 1993 parliamentary elections, it grew to 22% in the 1995 parliamentary elections, making it by far the biggest Russian party, raised after that, to 24% in the 1999 elections and then declined dramatically by losing almost half of its votes to 13% in the 2003 parliamentary elections, resulting in 51 out of 450 seats. In the 2007 Russian parliamentary elections the party won 11.6% of the vote, a slight decrease in percentage points, although the election resulted in an increase in the number of votes obtained by the party (more than 8 million votes) and in the number of seats held by the party. The CPRF enjoyed highest support in Tambov Oblast (19.17%), Oryol Oblast (17.58%) and Bryansk Oblast (17.09%). the Communist Party continues to be the second largest party in Russia, as well as the largest opposition party.

In all presidential elections since the fall of the Soviet Union, the Communist candidate came second. In the 1996 elections, candidate Gennady Zyuganov rose to 32% of the votes, just short of Yeltsin's 35%. In the 2000 elections, Zyuganov was the communist candidate, and dropped slightly to 29%, but Vladimir Putin won a landslide victory with 53%. In the presidential election held on 14 March 2004, Putin's support rose to 71% and the Communist Party's candidate, Nikolay Kharitonov, won only 14%. Taking into consideration the fact that Kharitonov (a leading member of the Agrarian Party of Russia) was considered to be a "token" candidate, this was a better result than expected, showing that the CPRF still has a substantial base of support. In the 2008 presidential election, CPRF leader Gennady Zyuganov ran again for President, placing second with a surprising 17.8% (13,243,550 votes). Zyuganov even managed to beat United Russia's candidate Dimitry Medvedev in some small villages and towns. After the election, Zyuganov said that his supporters had uncovered numerous violations and that he should have gotten at least 30% of the vote and he added that he would challenge the results in court. Some weeks later, Russia's Central Election Commission admitted that most of the complaints by the CPRF regarding violations during the election were well grounded and justified, but wouldn't have changed the outcome of the vote.

In February 2005 the CPRF managed to beat the ruling pro-Kremlin party, United Russia, in elections to the regional legislature of Nenets Autonomous Okrug, obtaining 27% of the popular vote.

In the Moscow Duma election held on 4 December 2005, the Party won 16.75 % and 4 seats. This was the best ever result for the CPRF in Moscow. In some observers opinion, the absence of the Rodina party contributed to the Communists' success.

On March 11, 2007, elections took place for 14 regional and local legislatures. The CPRF performed very well and increased its votes in most of the territories; it came second in Oryol Oblast (23.78%), Omsk Oblast (22.58%), Pskov Oblast (19.21%) and Samara Oblast (18.87%), Moscow Oblast (18.80%), Murmansk Oblast (17.51%) and Tomsk Oblast (13.37%). These results testify that the CPRF is the most significant opposition party in Russia.

On May 21, 2007, the CPRF obtained an important success in the Volgograd's mayoral election. Communist candidate Roman Grebennikov was elected as mayor with 32.47% of the vote. Grebennikov is the youngest mayor of a regional capital. But since Roman Grebennikov has switched allegiances to United Russia, angering many Communists who accuse him of using the CPRF as a tool to become elected.

On April 7, 2011, the CPRF candidate Ilya Potapov won the Mayoral election in the town of Berdsk with a landslide victory over the United Russia candidate.

Electorate

The CPRF has its stronghold in large cities and major industrial and scientific centers ( the so-called "naukograds" ) and in small towns and cities around Moscow. For example, one of the few polling stations that CPRF were a success during Russian legislative election, 2007, was one at Moscow State University.

The Party's electorate is composed mainly of pensioners, industrial workers and not-for-profit organizations' employees. The past few years have also seen a growth in its support of the leftist youth groups, such as the Vanguard of Red Youth. A representative of CPRF was present at "the Other Russia" conference of opposition parties in 2006. Also recent 2007-2007 elections witnessed a growing number of protesting non-leftist voters who gave their votes to the Party since they saw no tangible alternative.

Criticism

According to Gorbachev Foundation analyst Dmitry Furman, the party's “fascistoid features are so salient that one has to be blind and deaf not to notice them.″ Marxist theoretician Boris Kagarlitsky writes: "It is enough to recall that within the Communist movement itself, Zyuganov's party was at first neither the sole organisation, nor the largest. Bit by bit, however, all other Communist organisations were forced out of political life. This occurred not because the organisations in question were weak, but because it was the CPRF that had received the Kremlin's official approval as the sole recognised opposition." Andrei Brezhnev, grandson of Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev, has criticised the CPRF's Zyuganov's rapprochement with the Russian Orthodox Church.

Gallery

See also

Communist Party of the Soviet Union

Russian Communist Workers' Party – Revolutionary Party of Communists

History of post-Soviet Russia

References

Lisa Horner "Communism and the CPRF in Modern Russia," ''The School of Russian and Asian Studies'' (23.01.2009)

Miriam Elder, "Communism: a love affair? The tyranny of daily bribes has many Russians nostalgic for Soviet social services," ''The Global Post'' (14 October 2009) (Updated 30 May 2010).

Further reading

''KPRF ideology and its implications for democratization in Russia'' by Syed Mohsin Hashim. In: Communist and Post-Communist Studies Volume 32, Issue 1, March 1999, pp. 77–89

External links

Political Program KPRF

Communist Party of the Russian Federation official website. English translation of the site by Google Translate

Communist Party of the Russian Federation forum

Category:Communist parties in Russia Category:Communist parties in the Former Soviet Union Category:Stalinist parties Category:Anti-Revisionist organizations Category:Political parties established in 1993 Category:Registered political parties in Russia Category:1993 establishments in Russia

az:Rusiya Federasiyası Kommunist Partiyası be:Камуністычная партыя Расійскай Федэрацыі be-x-old:Камуністычная партыя Расейскай Фэдэрацыі cs:Komunistická strana Ruské federace de:Kommunistische Partei der Russischen Föderation et:Venemaa Föderatsiooni Kommunistlik Partei es:Partido Comunista de la Federación Rusa fr:Parti communiste de la Fédération de Russie ko:러시아 공산당 hr:Komunistička stranka Ruske Federacije it:Partito Comunista della Federazione Russa he:המפלגה הקומוניסטית של הפדרציה הרוסית lv:Krievijas Federācijas Komunistiskā partija lt:Rusijos Federacijos Komunistų partija nl:Communistische Partij van de Russische Federatie ja:ロシア連邦共産党 no:Den russiske føderasjons kommunistparti nn:Den russiske føderasjonens kommunistiske parti pl:Komunistyczna Partia Federacji Rosyjskiej pt:Partido Comunista da Federação Russa ro:Partidul Comunist al Federației Ruse ru:Коммунистическая партия Российской Федерации sr:Комунистичка партија Руске Федерације fi:Venäjän federaation kommunistinen puolue sv:Ryska federationens kommunistiska parti uk:Комуністична партія Російської Федерації zh:俄罗斯联邦共产党

Name	Roberto Clemente
Position	Right fielder
Bats	Right
Throws	Right
Birth date	August 18, 1934
Birth place	Carolina, Puerto Rico
Death date	December 31, 1972
Death place	Near San Juan, Puerto Rico
Debutdate	April 17
Debutyear	1955
Debutteam	Pittsburgh Pirates
Finaldate	October 3
Finalyear	1972
Finalteam	Pittsburgh Pirates
Stat1label	Batting average
Stat1value	.317
Stat2label	Hits
Stat2value	3,000
Stat3label	Home runs
Stat3value	240
Stat4label	Runs batted in
Stat4value	1,305
Teams	Pittsburgh Pirates (–)
Highlights	15× All-Star (1960, 1960², 1961, 1961², 1962, 1962², 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972) 2× World Series champion (, ) 12× Gold Glove Award winner (1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972) 1966 NL MVP 1971 World Series MVP 1971 Babe Ruth Award Pittsburgh Pirates #21 retired
Hofdate
Hofvote	92.7% (first ballot) }}

Roberto Clemente Walker (August 18, 1934 – December 31, 1972) was a Puerto Rican Major League Baseball right fielder. He was born in Carolina, Puerto Rico, the youngest of seven children. Clemente played his entire 18-year baseball career with the Pittsburgh Pirates (1955–72). He was awarded the National League's Most Valuable Player Award in 1966. Clemente was selected to participate in the league's All Star Game on 12 occasions. He won 12 Gold Glove Awards and he led the league in batting average in four different seasons. He was also involved in humanitarian work in Puerto Rico and other Latin American countries, often delivering baseball equipment and food to them. He died in an aviation accident on December 31, 1972, while en route to deliver aid to earthquake victims in Nicaragua. He was elected to the Hall of Fame posthumously in 1973, thus becoming the first Latin American to be selected and the only current Hall of Famer for whom the mandatory five-year waiting period has been waived since the wait was instituted in 1954. Clemente is also the first Hispanic player to win a World Series as a starter (1960), win a league MVP award (1966) and win a World Series MVP award (1971).

Early life

Roberto was born in Carolina, Puerto Rico, to Don Melchor Clemente and Luisa Walker. He was the youngest of seven siblings, having four brothers and two sisters. During his childhood, Don Melchor worked as foreman of the sugar crops located in the municipality. The family's resources were limited and Roberto had to work to earn money; this work included delivering milk cans to the family's neighbors. Clemente demonstrated interest in baseball early in his life and would often play against neighboring barrios. He studied in Vizcarondo High School, a public school located in Carolina. During his first year in high school, he was recruited by Roberto Marin to play softball with the Sello Rojo team; Marin had taken interest in Clemente when he saw him playing baseball in Barrio San Anton. He was with the team two years, playing shortstop. Clemente joined Puerto Rico's amateur league when he was sixteen years old; while there, he played for the Ferdinand Juncos team, which represented the municipality of Juncos.

On November 14, 1964, he married Vera Zabala at San Fernando Church in Carolina. The couple had three children: Roberto Jr., Luis Roberto and Enrique Roberto.

Baseball career

Clemente's professional career began when Pedrín Zorilla offered him a contract with the Santurce Crabbers of the LBBPR. He was a bench player during his first campaign, but was promoted to the team's starting lineup the following season. During this season he hit .288 as the team's leadoff hitter. While Clemente was playing in the LBBPR, the Brooklyn Dodgers offered him a contract with the team's Triple-A subsidiary. He then moved to Montreal to play with the Montreal Royals. The climate and language differences affected Clemente early on, but he received the assistance of his teammate Joe Black, who was able to speak Spanish. In 1954, Clyde Sukeforth, a scout for the Pittsburgh Pirates, noticed that Clemente was being used as a bench player for the team and discussed the possibility of drafting Clemente to the Pirates with the team's manager, Max Macon. The Pirates selected Clemente as the first selection of the rookie draft that took place on November 22, 1954.

Pittsburgh Pirates

Clemente debuted with the Pittsburgh Pirates on April 17, 1955 in the first game of a double header against the Brooklyn Dodgers. At the beginning of his time with the Pirates, he experienced frustration because of racial tension with the local media and some teammates. Clemente responded to this by stating, "I don’t believe in color". He noted that, during his upbringing, he was taught to never discriminate against someone based on ethnicity.

During the middle of the season, Clemente was involved in a car accident; this caused him to miss several games with an injury in his lower back. He finished his rookie season with an average of .255, despite confronting trouble hitting certain types of pitches. His defensive skills, however, were highlighted during this season.

During the off season, Clemente played with the Santurce Crabbers in the Puerto Rican baseball winter league, where he was already considered a star.

The 1960s

The Pirates experienced several difficult seasons through the 1950s, although they did manage their first winning season since 1948 in 1959. During the winter season of 1958-59, Clemente didn't play winter baseball in Puerto Rico; instead, he served in the United States Marine Corps Reserves. He spent six months in his military commitment at Parris Island, South Carolina, and Camp LeJeune in North Carolina. At Parris Island, Clemente received his basic training with Platoon 346 of the 3rd Recruit Battalion. In Camp Lejeune, he served as an infantryman. The rigorous training program helped Clemente physically; he added strength by gaining ten pounds and said his back troubles had disappeared. He remained in the reserves until September 1964. Early in the 1960 season, Clemente led the league, batting an average of .353 and scoring Runs Batted In (RBIs) in twenty-five out of twenty-seven games. Roberto's batting average stayed above the .300 mark throughout the course of the campaign. In August, he was inactive for five games as a result of an injury on his chin; he received this injury when his head impacted a concrete wall while he was trying to catch a hard line hit that reached the park's outer wall. Following this accident, he was transported to a local hospital, where the doctors stitched his chin; this prohibited him from playing until the injury was healed. The Pirates compiled a 95-59 record during the regular season, winning the National League pennant, and defeated the New York Yankees in a seven-game World Series. Clemente batted .310 in the series, hitting safely at least once in every game. His .314 batting average, 16 home runs, and defense during the course of the season earned him his first participation in the All-Star game, where he served as a reserve player.

During 1961 spring training, Clemente tried to modify his batting technique by using a heavier bat in order to slow the speed of his swing, following advice from Pirates' batting coach George Sisler. During the 1961 season, Clemente was selected as the starting right fielder for the National League in the All-Star game. In this game, he batted a triple on his first at-bat and scored the team's first run. With the American League ahead 4-3 in the tenth inning, Clemente hit a double that gave the National League a decisive 5-4 win.

Following the season, he traveled to Puerto Rico along with Orlando Cepeda, who was a native of Ponce. When both players arrived, they were received by 18,000 people. On November 14, 1964, Clemente married Vera Zabula. The ceremony took place in the church of San Fernando in Carolina and was attended by thousands of fanatics. During this time, he was also involved in managing the ''Senadores de San Juan'' in the LBPPR, as well as playing with the team during the Major League offseason. During the course of the winter league, Clemente was injured and only participated as a pinch hitter in the league's All-Star game. He experienced a complication on his injury during the course of this game and underwent surgery shortly after being carried off of the playing field.

This condition limited his role with the Pirates in the first half of the 1965 season, during which he batted an average of .257. He was inactive for several games during this stage of the campaign before being fully active; when he returned to the starting lineup, he hit in thirty-three out of thirty-four games and his average improved to .340. Roberto and Vera had their first son on August 17, 1965, when Roberto Clemente, Jr. was born; he was the first of three children, along with Luis Roberto and Enrique Roberto. During the 1960s, he batted over .300 in every year except 1968, when he hit .291. He was selected to every All-Star game, and he was given a Gold Glove every season from 1961 onwards. He led the National League in batting average four times (1961, 1964, 1965, and 1967), led the National League in hits twice (1964 and 1967), and won the Most Valuable Player award in the 1966 season, when he hit .317 while setting career highs in home runs (29) and RBI (119). In 1967, he registered a career high .357 average and hit twenty-three home runs and 110 runs batted in.

The 1970s

The 1970 season was the last one that the Pittsburgh Pirates played in Forbes Field before moving to Three Rivers Stadium; for Clemente, abandoning this stadium was an emotional situation. The Pirates' final game at Forbes Field took place on June 28, 1970. That day, Clemente noted that it was hard to play in a different field, saying, "I spent half my life there". The night of July 4, 1970 was declared "Roberto Clemente Night"; on this day, several Puerto Rican fans traveled to Three Rivers Stadium and cheered Clemente while wearing traditional Puerto Rican indumentary. A ceremony to honor Clemente took place, during which he received a scroll with 300,000 signatures compiled in Puerto Rico, and several thousands of dollars were donated to charity work following Clemente's request.

During the 1970 campaign, Clemente compiled an average of .352; the Pirates won the National League East pennant but were subsequently eliminated by the Cincinnati Reds. In the offseason, Clemente experienced some tense situations while he was working as manager of the Senators and when his father, Melchor Clemente, experienced medical problems and was subjected to a surgery.

In the 1971 season, the Pirates won the National League pennant and faced the Baltimore Orioles in the World Series. Baltimore had won 100 games and swept the American League Championship Series, both for the third consecutive year, and were the defending World Series champions. The Orioles won the first two games in the series, but Pittsburgh won the championship in seven games. This marked the second occasion that Clemente had won a World Series with the Pirates. Over the course of the series, Clemente batted a .414 average (12 hits in 29 at-bats), performed well defensively, and hit a solo home run in the deciding 2-1 seventh game victory. Following the conclusion of the season, he received the World Series Most Valuable Player award. Struggling with injuries, Clemente only managed to appear in 102 games in 1972, but he still hit .312 for his final .300 season. On September 30, in a game at Three Rivers Stadium, he hit a double off Jon Matlack of the New York Mets for his 3,000th hit. It was the last at-bat of his career during a regular season, though he did play in the 1972 NLCS playoffs against the Cincinnati Reds. In the playoffs, he batted .235 as he went 4 for 17. His last game ever was at Cincinnati's Riverfront Stadium in the fifth game of the playoff series.

Death in airplane accident

Clemente spent much of his time during the off-season involved in charity work. When Managua, the capital city of Nicaragua, was affected by a massive earthquake on December 23, 1972, Clemente (who had been visiting Managua three weeks before the quake) immediately set to work arranging emergency relief flights. He soon learned, however, that the aid packages on the first three flights had been diverted by corrupt officials of the Somoza government, never reaching victims of the quake.

Clemente decided to accompany the fourth relief flight, hoping that his presence would ensure that the aid would be delivered to the survivors. The airplane he chartered for a New Year's Eve flight, a Douglas DC-7, had a history of mechanical problems and sub-par flight personnel, and it was overloaded by 5,000 pounds. It crashed into the ocean off the coast of Isla Verde, Puerto Rico immediately after takeoff on December 31, 1972. A few days after the crash, the body of the pilot and part of the fuselage of the plane were found. An empty flight case apparently belonging to Clemente was the only personal item recovered from the plane. Clemente's teammate and close friend Manny Sanguillen was the only member of the Pirates not to attend Roberto's memorial service. The catcher chose instead to dive into the waters where Clemente's plane had crashed in an effort to find his teammate. Clemente's body was never recovered.

At the time of his death, Clemente had established several records with the Pirates, including most triples in a game (three) and hits in two consecutive games (ten),. These include tying the record for most Gold Glove Awards won among outfielders with twelve, which he shares with Willie Mays. He also became the only player to have ever hit a walk-off inside-the-park grand slam. He accomplished this historic baseball-event on July 25, 1956 in a 9-8 Pittsburgh win against the Chicago Cubs, at Forbes Field. In addition, he was one of four players to have ten or more Gold Gloves and a lifetime batting average of over .300.

Posthumous honors

On March 20, 1973, the Baseball Writers Association of America held a special election for the Baseball Hall of Fame. They voted to waive the waiting period for Clemente, due to the circumstances of his death, and posthumously elected him for induction into the Hall of Fame, giving him 393 of the 420 available votes, or 92% of the vote. Clemente's Hall of Fame plaque had originally read "Roberto Walker Clemente". In 2000, the plaque was recast to express his name in the proper Hispanic format, "Roberto Clemente Walker".

MLB presents the Roberto Clemente Award every year to the player who best follows Clemente's example with humanitarian work. In 1973, Clemente was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal and the first Presidential Citizens Medal. In 2002, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. In 2003, he was inducted into the United States Marine Corps Sports Hall of Fame. On October 26, 2005, Clemente was named a member of Major League Baseball's Latino Legends Team. At the Major League Baseball All-Star game in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on July 11, 2006, many of the players on both teams wore yellow wristbands with the initials "RCW" in honor of Clemente. At the end of the fourth inning, Clemente was awarded the Commissioner's Historical Achievement Award by the Commissioner of Baseball; the award was accepted by his widow. During the award presentation, the Commissioner of Baseball Bud Selig stated that "Roberto was a hero in every sense of the word".

PNC Park, the home ballpark of the Pirates which opened in 2001, includes a right field wall high, in reference to Clemente's uniform number and his normal fielding position during his years with the Pirates. The Pirates originally erected a statue in memory of Clemente at Three Rivers Stadium, an honor previously awarded to Honus Wagner. The statue was moved to PNC Park when it opened, and stands at the corner near the Roberto Clemente Bridge. There was talk of the team even naming PNC Park after Clemente, but despite popular sentiment, the team chose instead to sell the naming rights to locally-based PNC Financial Services, with the bridge being renamed after him considered a compromise.

Puerto Rico has honored Clemente's memory by naming the coliseum in San Juan the Roberto Clemente Coliseum; two baseball parks are in Carolina, the professional one, Roberto Clemente Stadium, and the Double-A. There is also the Escuela de los Deportes (School of Sports) that has the Double-A baseball park. Today, this sports complex is called ''Ciudad Deportiva Roberto Clemente''. In Pittsburgh, the 6th Street Bridge was renamed in his memory, and the Pirates retired his number 21 at the start of the 1973 season. The City of Pittsburgh maintains Roberto Clemente Memorial Park along North Shore Drive in the city's North Side. In 2007, the Roberto Clemente Museum opened in the Lawrenceville section of Pittsburgh. Near the old Forbes Field where he began his pro career the city of Pittsburgh has renamed a street in his honor. In 1973, the state of New York opened Roberto Clemente State Park in The Bronx. Some schools, such as Roberto Clemente High School in Chicago, Illinois the Roberto Clemente Charter School in Allentown, Pennsylvania and Roberto Clemente Academy in Detroit, Michigan, were named in his honor. Clemente was inducted into the Hispanic Heritage Baseball Museum Hall of Fame. There's also a Roberto Clemente Stadium in Masaya, Nicaragua.

On August 17, 1984, the day before what would have been his 50th birthday, the United States Postal Service issued a postage stamp honoring Clemente. Designed by Juan Lopez-Bonilla, the spare clean design shows Clemente wearing his Pirates cap, with the Puerto Rican flag in the background. In 1999, he ranked Number 20 on ''The Sporting News''' list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, the highest-ranking Latino player on the list. Later that year, Clemente was nominated as a finalist for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team. As part of the Golden Anniversary of the Rawlings Gold Glove Award, Clemente was selected to the All-Time Rawlings Gold Glove Team.

Clemente's #21 remains active in Major League Baseball, and is worn by multiple players. Sammy Sosa wore #21 throughout his career as a tribute to his childhood hero. The number is unofficially retired in the Puerto Rico Baseball League. While the topic of retiring #21 throughout Major League Baseball like Jackie Robinson's #42 has been broached, and supported by groups such as Hispanics Across America, Jackie Robinson's daughter disagrees, believing that Major League Baseball should honor him another way.

Biographies and documentaries

Clemente's life has been the subject of numerous books, articles and documentaries. David Maraniss wrote a book titled ''Clemente: The Passion and Grace of Baseball's Last Hero'', which was published in 2006. Clemente is also the subject of a one-hour biography as part of the Public Broadcasting Service history series, American Experience which premiered on April 21, 2008. The film is directed by Bernardo Ruiz, narrated by Jimmy Smits and features interviews with Vera Clemente, Orlando Cepeda and George F. Will. The production received an ALMA Award. In 2011 ''21: The Story of Roberto Clemente'' was released, a graphic novel by Wilfred Santiago detailing Clemente's life in a comic-book format.

There is also a movie, called Chasing 3000 based on a true story of two kids named Mickey (played by Ray Liotta, Trevor Morgan and Blake Woodyard) and Roger (played by Jay Karnes, Rory Culkin and Nicholas Brady) as they go on an adventure to travel across America to see Roberto Clemente's 3000th hit.

Career statistics

''Offensive'' {|cellpadding=3 cellspacing=0 border=1 width=400 |- align=center |G |AB |R |H |2B |3B |HR |RBI |SB |BB |SO |BA |OBP |SLG |OPS |- align=center |2433 |9454 |1416 |3000 |440 |166 |240 |1305 |83 |621 |1230 |.317 |.359 |.475 |.834 |}

See also

Roberto Clemente Museum

Players from Puerto Rico in MLB

List of Puerto Ricans

Afro-Puerto Ricans

List of top 300 Major League Baseball home run hitters

List of Major League Baseball players with 400 doubles

List of Major League Baseball players with 100 triples

List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 runs

List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 RBI

3000 hit club

List of Major League Baseball batting champions

List of Major League Baseball triples champions

Hispanics in the United States Marine Corps

References

External links

Latino Sports Legends

Society of American Baseball Research BioProject biography of Clemente

Baseball-almanac

The American Presidency Project - ''Remarks at a Ceremony Honoring Roberto Clemente. May 14, 1973''

}}

Category:People from Carolina, Puerto Rico Category:National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees Category:Major League Baseball right fielders Category:Pittsburgh Pirates players Category:National League All-Stars Category:Major League Baseball players from Puerto Rico Category:Gold Glove Award winners Category:National League batting champions Category:United States Marines Category:Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients Category:Presidential Citizens Medal recipients Category:Congressional Gold Medal recipients Category:Puerto Rican Marines Category:Puerto Rican military personnel Category:Puerto Rican people of African descent Category:Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in Puerto Rico Category:Major League Baseball players with retired numbers Category:1934 births Category:1972 deaths

es:Roberto Clemente fr:Roberto Clemente ko:로베르토 클레멘테 it:Roberto Clemente ja:ロベルト・クレメンテ pt:Roberto Clemente zh:羅伯托·克萊門特

Edward Elzear "Zez" Confrey (April 3, 1895 – November 22, 1971) was an American composer and performer of piano music. His most noted works were "Kitten on the Keys," and "Dizzy Fingers."

Life and career

Confrey was born in Peru, Illinois, United States, the youngest child of Thomas and Margaret Confrey. After World War I he became a pianist and arranger for the QRS piano roll company. His novelty piano composition "Kitten on the Keys," released in 1921, became a hit, and he went on to compose many other pieces in the same genre. This piece was inspired by a cat at his grandmother's house that he discovered prancing up and down the piano keyboard. "Dizzy Fingers" (1923) was Confrey's other ragtime biggest seller.

After the 1920s he turned more and more toward composing for jazz bands. He retired after World War II but continued to compose occasionally until 1959. He died in Lakewood, New Jersey after suffering for many years from Parkinson's disease. He left behind more than a hundred piano works, miniature operas, and songs, plus numerous piano rolls, music publications, and recordings.

List of known works

For piano unless otherwise indicated.

"By the Waters of Minnetonka" (1915) (for voice & piano or orchestra)

"Afghanistan" (1920)

"The Sheik of Araby" (1921)

"My Pet" (1921)

"Kitten on the Keys" (1921)

"You Tell 'em Ivories" (1921)

"Poor Buttermilk" (1921)

"Greenwich Witch" (1921)

"Kitten on the Keys" - song (1922)

"Stumbling" (1922)

"Stumbling – Paraphrase" (1922)

"Coaxing the Piano" (1922)

"Dumbell" (1922)

"Tricks" (1922)

"Nickel in the Slot" (1923)

"Dizzy Fingers" (1923)

"Three Little Oddities" (1923) (for piano or violin and piano)

*"Impromptu"

*"Romanza"

*"Novelette"

"African Suite" (1924)

*"High Hattin'"

*"Kinda Careless"

*"Mississippi Shivers"

"Anticipation" (1924)

"Charleston Chuckles" (1925)

"Fantasy – Jazz Arrangement" (1925)

"Humorestless" (1925)

"Flower Song" (1925)

"Spring Song" (1925)

"Home Sweet Home" (1925)

"Melody in F" (1925)

"Traumerei" (1925)

"Fantasy – Classical" (1926)

"Jay Walk" (1927)

"Jack in the Box" (1927)

"Walse Mirage" (1927)

"Sparkling Waters" (1928)

"Concert Etude" (1929)

"Heaven's Garden" (1931)

"Heaven's Garden – Song" (1931)

"Moods of a New Yorker" (1932)

*"At Dusk"

*"Movie Ballet"

*"Relaxation"

*"After Theatre – Tango"

"Buffoon" (1932)

"Champagne" (1932)

"Desert Dance" (1932)

"In the South of France" (1932)

"Indian Prayer" (1932)

"Phantom Cadets" (1932)

"Wistfullness" (1932)

"Grandfather's Clock" (1933)

"Sittin' on a Log Pettin' My Dog" (1933)

"Smart Alec" (1933)

"Giddy Ditty" (1935)

"Rhythm Venture" (1935)

"Arabian Maid" (1935)

"A Heart Like the Ocean" (1935)

"Lullaby from Mars" (1935)

"Mouses' Hooves" (1935)

"Tin Pan Symphony" (1935)

"The Birds' Carnival" (1935)

"Blue Tornado" (1935)

"Rag Doll Dimples" (1935)

"Audacity" (1936)

"Meandering" (1936)

"Tap Dance of the Chimes" (1936)

"Ultra-Ultra" (1936)

"Home-Run on the Keys" (1936)

"Midsummer's Nightmare" (1936)

"Motif Du Concert" (1936)

"Wise Cracker Suite" (1936)

*"Yokel Opus"

*"Mighty Lackawanna"

*"The Sheriff's Lament"

"Sugar Dance" (1936)

"Sunshine from the Fingers" (1936)

"Sport Model Encore" (1937)

"The Hobble De Hoy" (1938)

"That Old Piano Roll Band" (1943)

"Dancing Shadow" (1944)

"Elihu's Harmonica" (1944)

"Parade of the Jumping Beans" (1944)

"Pickle Pepper Polka" (1944)

"Tune For Mademoiselle" (1944)

"Amazonia" (1945)

"Butterfly" (1945)

"Flutter By, Butterfly" (1945)

"Rag Doll Carnival" (1945)

"Four Candy Pieces" (1949)

"Song of Thanksgiving" (1952)

"Four Circus Pieces" (1959)

"Fourth Dimension" (1959)

Selected discography

''Zez Confrey: Creator of the Novelty Rag'', Zez Confrey (1976)

''The Dancing Twenties'', Various Artists (1976)

''The Piano Roll Artistry of Zez Confrey'', Zez Confrey (1982)

References

''Rags and Ragtime'' by Jasen and Tichenor, Dover, 1978.

External links

Partial re-issue Confrey discography at Smithsonian Folkways

Category:1895 births Category:1971 deaths Category:American pianists Category:American composers Category:Ragtime composers Category:Deaths from Parkinson's disease Category:Victor Records artists

fr:Zez Confrey it:Zez Confrey la:Zez Confrey fi:Zez Confrey