Plot
'Baseball's Last Hero: 21 Clemente Stories' blends baseball with a redemptive story of sacrifice. In the words of the Gospel of John, "Greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends..." These words from scripture inspire Puerto Rican baseball superstar Roberto Clemente to make a difference, to die giving. The film traces the life of the greatest right fielder of all time, as he faces and overcomes the racist reporters of the Pittsburgh Press and struggles to prove his talents despite the baseball writers conspiring to cheat him out of his due recognition. Baseball's Last Hero is a love story at his core. Roberto meets the love of his life, Vera, and they create a family, a safe haven for Roberto who is plagued by nightmares and a growing sense he will die young. Roberto's love for the poor compels him on a mission of mercy. On New Year's Eve 1972, following eighteen magnificent seasons in the major leagues, Roberto Clemente dies a hero's death, killed in a plane crash as he attempts to deliver food and medical supplies to Nicaragua after a devastating earthquake. Clemente is a work of artistry in a game too often defined by scorecards. During his career with the Pittsburgh Pirates, he leads his team to championships in 1960 and 1971, getting a hit in all fourteen World Series games in which he plays. His career ends with three thousand hits, the magical three-thousandth coming in his final at-bat. In his final years, his faith grows. To Clemente, wealth and fame are created to be resources of compassion to those less fortunate. His moral global responsibility extends beyond the playing field. "Baseball's Last Hero" retraces Clemente's final days, from the earthquake to the accident, the mission of mercy that exemplifies his commitment to sacrifice. At a time when athletes are in the headlines for greed and steroid abuse, the movie is at once a call for modern day heroes who will dedicate themselves to service and an introspective look at ourselves.
Keywords: baseball, pittsburgh-pirates
Greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends...
Roberto Clemente: Greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.
Roberto Clemente: Anytime you have the opportunity to help someone and you don't do it, you're wasting your time on earth.
No wonder everyone is teed off.
Jack: [looks at the written figure of the fees for joining a sports club] Oh another digit and it could almost be a telephone number.
Albert Oliver, Jr. (born October 14, 1946 in Portsmouth, Ohio) is a former Major League Baseball player. Over the course of his 18-year career, he played for the Pittsburgh Pirates (1968–77), Texas Rangers (1978–81), Montreal Expos (1982–83), San Francisco Giants (1984), Philadelphia Phillies (1984), Los Angeles Dodgers (1985) and Toronto Blue Jays (1985). Nicknamed "Scoop", Oliver batted and threw left-handed.
Oliver was a center fielder who also played left and right as well as first base. He was signed by the Pirates as an amateur free agent in 1964. From 1970 to 1976 he played on five Pirates division champions, including the team that defeated the Orioles in the 1971 World Series.
Oliver was called to the Major Leagues on September 14, 1968, which was the day his father, Al Oliver, Sr., died. He appeared in 4 games that season. In his official rookie season, Oliver batted .285 with 17 home runs and drove in 70 runs, placing second in the 1969 National League Rookie of the Year voting. The following season, 1970, Oliver hit .270 and was fifth in the NL with seven sacrifice files. He also finished second in the league with the 14 times he was hit by a pitch (the previous year he was plunked 12 times, fourth in the league). The Pirates won the National League East title for their first trip to the postseason since winning the 1960 World Series. However, they lost to the Cincinnati Reds in the NLCS.
Enos Milton Cabell, Jr. (pronounced "ca-BELL", born October 8, 1949 in Fort Riley, Kansas) is a former third baseman and first baseman in Major League Baseball who played 15 seasons with the Baltimore Orioles, the Houston Astros, the San Francisco Giants, the Detroit Tigers, and the Los Angeles Dodgers. Cabell is a cousin of center fielder Ken Landreaux.
Cabell was traded from Baltimore to Houston on December 3, 1974 for 1B Lee May. On December 8, 1980, Cabell was then traded to San Francisco for P Bob Knepper and OF Chris Bourjos.
On February 28, 1986, Cabell and six others were suspended for the entire season for admitting during the Pittsburgh drug trials that they were involved in cocaine abuse. The suspensions for all seven were avoided after agreeing to large anti-drug donations and community service.
In December 2008, Tennessee Titans quarterback Vince Young filed suit against Cabell and two others for applying for a trademark to use Young's initials and "Invinceable" nickname to sell products without Young's permission in 2006. The suit claims that their use of Young's name has damaged endorsement deals for Young; he is asking the court to give him the exclusive rights to use the initials and nickname. Cabell denies any wrongdoing.
David Gene "The Cobra" Parker (born June 9, 1951 in Calhoun, Mississippi) is an American former player in Major League Baseball. He was the 1978 National League MVP and a two-time batting champion. Parker was the first professional athlete to earn an average of one million dollars per year, having signed a 5-year, $5 million dollar contract in January 1979. Parker's career achievements include 2712 hits, 339 home runs, 1493 runs batted in and a lifetime batting average of .290. Parker was also known as a solid defensive outfielder during the first half of his career, with a powerful arm. From 1975 to 1979, he threw out 72 runners, including 26 in 1977.
He was a baseball All-Star in 1977, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1985, 1986, and 1990. In the 1979 All-Star Game, Parker showcased his defensive ability and powerful arm by throwing out Jim Rice at third base and Angels catcher Brian Downing at home. Parker also contributed an RBI on a sacrifice fly and was named the game's MVP.
In the early 1970s, as a member of the Pirates AAA minor league ball team Charleston (WV) Charlies, Parker hit a home run that landed on a coal car on a passing train and the ball was later picked up in Columbus Ohio. He began his major league career on July 12, 1973 with the Pittsburgh Pirates, for whom he played from 1973 to 1983. In 1977, he was National League batting champion, a feat he repeated in 1978 when he was named the National League's MVP. This was in spite of a collision at home plate with John Stearns during a game against the Mets on June 30, 1978 in which Parker fractured his jaw and cheekbone; he wore a facemask in order to minimize his time away from the lineup. The Pirates rewarded him with baseball's first million-dollar-per-year contract. The following year, he was an instrumental part of the Pirates' World Series championship team.
William Oliver Stone (born September 15, 1946) is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. Stone became well known in the late 1980s and the early 1990s for directing a series of films about the Vietnam War, in which he had previously participated as an infantry soldier. He won further attention - and controversy - with films JFK (1991) and Natural Born Killers (1994). Stone's movies frequently focus on contemporary political and cultural issues. He has received three Academy Awards: Best Adapted Screenplay for Midnight Express (1978), and Best Director for Platoon (1986) and Born on the Fourth of July (1989). British newspaper The Guardian described Stone as "one of the few committed men of the left working in mainstream American cinema." Stone's films often combine different cameras and film formats within a single scene (including VHS and 8 mm film) as evidenced in JFK and Natural Born Killers.
Does it feel like ya
You're never gonna find it
Does it feel like ya
Always one step behind it
Does it feel like ya
Out in this world alone 'cause you been lookin and prayin for love so long
Does it feel like ya
Wishing on a falling star
Does it feel like ya
Lonely and it breaks your heart
'Cause it feels like ya
Ready to let down your guard
Finding somebdy's just so hard
How do you find the one you dream about (how do u find it yeah)
If I knew I'd tell you how (swear to God swear to God)
It's kinda hard for me to figure out (and I know you're ready to settle down)
I know you're ready to settle down
If there's a God above please tell me
Tell me will I ever fall in love
Will I be alone forever
Will I ever fall in love
Or will I be alone forever
Does it feel like ya
Moving too fast
Does it feel like ya
Want something you can't have
Does it feel like ya
Living in the past
And the thought of going home alone again makes you sad
Does it feel like ya
Feeling so bad
Does it feel like ya
Getting so mad
'Cause it feels like ya
Just want someone to call
To tell ya that you're human after all
To fall in love (I would do anything, anything)
To fall in love
To fall in love, love, love, love
To fall in love
Oh, oh our Father... in Heaven
The 3-6 has summoned the Devil, ok, you blessed me with 3-7s
I love God, but I refuse to put my trust in the rapping
Or a priest, or a bishop that drunk drive
That touch little boys on to boys and on to lies
and when that chikd grows and confesses
and that preacher got the nerve to act surprise.
The pain.. the wrong words to a perfect Scripture
The grass grew the expectations for what the Serpent bitching
Personification of all my feelings and said I ain't working with you
Truth.. guess that's what they drunk drive and drinking liquor
The small things appear bigger
When you put small things in front of reality base mirror
When that boy from the slums realize that he could scare a niggar
Just by pulling a trigger
So he rap somebody to let his dough grow
A car descending in the ghetto is a no, no,no
Chorus:
The gun, the bullet, the man that pulled it
It's all slavery, it's all slavery
Religion and politics is bullshit
It's all slavery, it's all slavery
No matter how you look at it, man is all slavery
No matter what you say about it man, it's all slavery
Money, politics, same religion
It's all the same to me, it's all slavery!
Guns don't kill people, stupid people with guns do
What do you say to a mother that lost her son, too?
Gun violence, cold thing, man, her son too
Weapons of mass destruction is ignorance, you damn fool
The inner rate get richer,
every day a youngster can't get a job, but she can sure get killed
City council want more cops, but they're just like black...
They patrol black spots and shoot out the black box
Every school I went to growing up and closed down
Only school opened now is on the other side of town
Parents can't afford bus... the kids round
And the gas is too high, so guess what now!
The prison pipe line form just a part of the plan
To incarcerate another young black man
Cause he don't go to school, he on the block
Better chances of going to jail or getting killed by a black man!
Chorus:
The gun, the bullet, the man that pulled it
It's all slavery, it's all slavery
Religion and politics is bullshit
It's all slavery, it's all slavery
No matter how you look at it, man is all slavery
No matter what you say about it man, it's all slavery
Money, politics, same religion
It's all the same to me, it's all slavery!
..that stuff you talk slave masters really work
Cause nowadays is just working much faster
Our great, great grandparents worked on them pastors
And it's sad to see us kill each others and making our father's bastards
If I was from the future, ain't gonna talk to a slave master
I say I'm not here to shoot you, and no need to salute you
Cause part my people fertilize these plantations
I'm just here to tell you that you're still working doing incarceration
Slaves turn to inmates, whips, and shackles
From being on a plantation on being in jails whipped and shackled
All string of a struggle, the story that put blacks through
From cotton picking to tobacco, look who we are, dude!
Yeah, we pick cotton for a living
Now we go to.. and pick up cotton, true religions
So much for progression
Praying into the sky, but can't even afford to bless 'em!
So then you wonder why I'm stressing
You wonder why I am worried and I am mad
And we're destined!
They say the struggle will continue
ROSE SELLER
Who will buy my sweet red roses?
Two blooms for a penny.
Who will buy my sweet red roses?
Two blooms for a penny.
MILKMAID
Will you buy any milk today, mistress?
Any milk today, mistress?
ROSE SELLER
Who will buy my sweet red roses?
MILKMAID
Any milk today, mistress?
ROSE SELLER
Two blooms for a penny.
STRAWBERRY SELLER
Ripe strawberries, ripe!
Ripe strawberries, ripe!
STRAWBERRY SELLER
Ripe strawberries, ripe!
MILKMAID
Any milk today, mistress?
ROSE SELLER
Who will buy my sweet red roses?
KNIFE GRINDER
Knives, knives to grind!
Any knives to grind?
Knives, knives to grind!
Any knives to grind?
Who will buy?
STRAWBERRY SELLER
Who will buy?
MILKMAID
Who will buy?
ROSE SELLER
Who will buy?
OLIVER
Who will buy
This wonderful morning?
Such a sky
You never did see!
ROSE SELLER
Who will buy my sweet red roses?
OLIVER
Who will tie
It up with a ribbon
And put it in a box for me?
STRAWBERRY SELLER
Ripe strawberries, ripe!
OLIVER
So I could see it at my leisure
Whenever things go wrong
And I would keep it as a treasure
To last my whole life long.
MILKMAID
Any milk today?
OLIVER
Who will buy
This wonderful feeling?
I'm so high
I swear I could fly.
KNIFE GRINDER
Knives! Knives to grind!
STRAWBERRY SELLER
Ripe strawberries, ripe!
OLIVER
Me, oh my!
I don't want to lose it
So what am I to do
To keep the sky so blue?
There must be someone who will buy...
LONG SONG SELLER
Who will buy?
KNIFE GRINDER
Who will buy?
MILKMAID
Who will buy?
ROSE SELLER
Who will buy?
COMPANY AND OLIVER (as opposed to "Oliver and Company" [Disney movie])
Who will buy
This wonderful morning?
Such a sky
You never did see!
Who will tie
It up with a ribbon
And put it in a box for me?
There'll never be a day so sunny,
It could not happen twice.
Where is the man with all the money?
It's cheap at half the price!
Who will buy
Who will buy
This wonderful feeling?
I'm so high
I swear I could fly.
Me, oh my!
I don't want to lose it
So what am I to do
To keep the sky so blue?
OLIVER
There must be someone who will buy...
MILKMAID
Must be someone
STRAWBERRY SELLER
Must be someone
KNIFE GRINDER
Must be someone
When I'm with you I only feel completness,
I can feel taste on my lips,
It's so hard to conceal the weakness caused by your fingertips.
If I told you just how deep my lovin' really goes for you,
And that you got all my trust,
If you knew tell me what would you do?
All I ever wanna do is love you,
That's why I take the time to make it special,
Night after night,
Night after night.
Everything I have is yours only yours,
Bothing ever touched my soul like this before,
Feels so right,
Feels so right.
Now if I told you taht you're worth the world and all it's love to me,
If I told you that I wanna birth a family with you some day,
If I told you that i wanna grow old together what would you say?
If I was to let you know I wanna see forever with you,
Would you run away?
If I told you I wanna be your drive,
Your strength and courage when your weak,
I send my angels out every night to protect you from the street.
If you knew I'd sacrafice almost everything to keep you happy,
Would you let me love you for life,
Nanana...
I don't care to let it show,
Therefore you will never know.
What I really feel inside,
and how I lay awake at night.
(Chorus)
Will I ever fall in love,
and if I do will it be with you?
Will I ever fall in love,
and will you be the one for me?
Will I ever fall in love,
and if I do will it be with you?
Will I ever fall in love,
and will you be the one for me?
Nananawheho nanana nananawheho
Nananawheho nanana nananawheho
I guess it's all in my head,
and I will be alone instead.
Dreaming of a night with you,
and all the things that we would do.
Will I ever fall in love,
and if I do will it be with you?
Will I ever fall in love,
and will you be the one for me?
(3 X)
Nananawheho nanana nananawheho
I heard you for so long
And the promises you made
Keep me hanging on
Don't know why
I've got to know
Is this love enough to show it
Let it go
Will I ever get to heaven with you?
Will I ever breath the air that you do?
Will I ever touch the angels?
Will we fly?
Will I ever?
Will I ever get to heaven with you?
Another night starts to fall
And the wind carries me
When I wanna crawl
?Coz when I look inside
There's a fire in me
That I can't hide, who
Wishin? for an angel
Searchin' in my mind
Getting tired of waiting in me
The way you make me feel,
it's like a dream to me.
Almost a fantasy
but it's reality.
The way you hold me tight,
the gentle kiss goodnight
and when you talk to me,
you call me your baby.
And I say I don't know,
but the thought you my way
and if I never know,
it's alright it's ok.
One thing that is for sure,
It seems that I adore,
What I'm saying boy
Is that you bring me joy
To know that you have stayed
with me through everything.
It's like heaven sent you,
I'm glad I'm with you.
You mean so much to me...
You know how i feel about you
I don't know what I would do without you
I need your touch, can't get enough
baby please don't ever take this feeling from me.
Can't take when we're not together
make no mistakes i wanna stay with you forever
Everynight and everyday in every way
All I ever think about you.
Sometimes I think about
how I sursummed the past.
The things there weren't true,
things that wouldn't last.
And then I found you,
you made my hope anew.
Cause when I gave my trust,
you turned and gave me love.
I'll tell no promises,
but some I never kept
But boy you change the way
I thank you for everything.
That's what I look for,
a world of so much more.
And each and everyday,
you take my breath away.
To know that you have stayed
with me through everything.
It's like heaven sent you,
I'm glad I'm with you.
You mean so much to me...
You know, You know
You know how i feel about you
I don't know what I would do without you
I need your touch, can't get enough
baby please don't ever take this feeling from me.
Can't take when we're not together
make no mistakes i wanna stay with you forever
Everynight and everyday in every way
All I ever think about you.
You got me high,
feeling so alive.
Everything about you,
you know I like
Glad your in my life
your my type of guy
Another just won't do babe
The way you walk,
the way you talk
Boy you got me caught
cause I can't deny how I feel inside
Boy you really blow my mind
All I ever do is sit and think of you
All I ever do is sit and think of you
You know how i feel about you
I don't know what I would do without you
I need your touch, can't get enough
baby please don't ever take this feeling from me.
Can't take when we're not together
make no mistakes i wanna stay with you forever
Everynight and everyday in every way
All I ever think about you.
You know how i feel about you
I don't know what I would do without you
I need your touch, can't get enough
baby please don't ever take this feeling from me.
Can't take when we're not together
make no mistakes i wanna stay with you forever
Everynight and everyday in every way
So you think you've seen it all before
And you think that you know what's in store
Now you're telling me that no one can knock you down
Well it's gonna happen pretty soon
While you're busy singing out of tune
Next thing you know you're lieing there on the ground
I knew a man by the name of Jack
Always want to stab his friends in the back
When all they ever did was try and give him love
Pretty soon he chased them all away
Even still he's got lots to say
But no one was there to listen they had enough
Eyes are closed and your ears are shut
Head's full of rocks and your brain's in your butt
And all I ever hear from you is blah blah blah blah blah
Words just like a spice
A little bit makes the dish taste nice
Use too much you'll find it burns too hot
Listen up and here and now
While I make a solemn vow