Call Me Roberto! Knocks it Out of the Park!

Call Me Roberto!: Roberto Clemente Goes to Bat for Latinos (Calkins Creek, 2024), by Nathalie Alonso, illustrated by Rudy Gutierrez (Ages 7-10).

Unless you’re an avid baseball fan, you probably remember Roberto Clemente as the baseball player known for his humanitarian work. Clemente died on December 31, 1972, when the plane he chartered to take supplies to earthquake victims in Nicaragua crashed shortly after takeoff. In 2002 (30 years after his death), Major League Baseball (“MLB”) proclaimed September 15 as “Roberto Clemente Day.” Each year at the World Series, the Roberto Clemente Award is presented to an active player who embodies Clemente’s values through sportsmanship, community involvement, and positive contributions, both on and off the field.

But Clemente’s humanitarianism is only one of the amazing aspects of the baseball player from Carolina, Puerto Rico. This wonderful picture book, Call Me Roberto!: Roberto Clemente Goes to Bat for Latinos, shares the rest of the story. Clemente was an exceptional athlete. He played 18 seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates, his batting average was .317, he hit 240 home runs, and he drove in 1305 runs. During his career he also claimed four batting titles, 12 consecutive Gold Gloves, and was an All-Star 15 consecutive seasons. Did I mention that he also led the Pittsburgh Pirates to win the 1960 and 1971 World Series?

On top of that, Clemente was the first Latino player to reach 3000 hits (11^th player in MLB history). In baseball slang, Clemente was a “five-tool player” – a player who did everything well. Even as one of the most accomplished players of all time, Clemente’s contribution went well beyond his athleticism. As stated in Alonso’s Author’s Note, Clemente’s “greatest contribution to baseball: his battle to get the sport to accept and embrace players from Latin America.”

When Clemente entered the Major Leagues, he was jeered by opposing players and people in the stands. He received no support from his teammates, and newspaper reporters made fun of his poor English by quoting him phonetically. During spring training, Clemente couldn’t enjoy sunny Florida because of Jim Crow laws! People even tried to call him “Bob” to make him sound more “American,” as shown in these baseball cards from 1968 and 1969.

But here’s the thing, when the haters went low, Clemente went high. As stated in Alonso’s Author’s Note, Clemente “remained fiercely and unapologetically proud of his roots” as an Afro-Puerto Rican man. When he became the first Spanish-speaking player to become a World Series MVP, he asked his parents for their blessing in Spanish on national television. If you watch the clip, you’ll note that the reporter calls him “Bobby.” Even after so many seasons in the MLB, he was still fighting to be recognized as Puerto Rican and to be called Roberto.  While Clemente wasn’t the first Afro-Latino player to play in the MLB, he paved the way for talented Latino players to have the opportunity to become stars.

This baseball card on the left is the last one for Clemente, as he would die in the plane crash only a few months later. It only took 18 seasons of hard work for Americans to finally listen when he said Call Me Roberto!

Why You’ll Love this Picture Book

Call Me Roberto!: Roberto Clemente Goes to Bat for Latinos is both a powerful and empowering biography of Clemente’s life. The play-by-play styled text is fast paced and energizing, and Alonso skillfully intertwines Spanish words and meaningful quotes from Clemente throughout. Alonso also provides extensive back matter, including an Author’s Note, archival photographs, a glossary of Spanish words, a translation of Clemente’s quote after winning his second World Series, a timeline of his life, and a selected bibliography.

I first learned about this picture book biography at the American Library Association Conference in San Diego earlier this year. A postcard advertising the arrival of Call Me Roberto! immediately caught my eye. I was struck by the artist’s ability to capture Clemente in constant motion, running, catching, and throwing.

The illustrations in this picture book were created in mixed media using acrylic paint with colored pencils and crayons, and the two-page spreads throughout are mural-like, filled with vibrant colors and motion – always motion. Through lines and swirls, Gutierrez expertly moves the story along, creating both time and place.

While the illustrations are mostly abstract with rich colors and textures, those of Clemente are more realistic, reflecting Clemente’s fortitude and determination. This distinction is especially noticeable when Clemente is facing jeering crowds and reporters, who are presented as cartoonish figures.

Gutierrez’s love for Clemente shines through, showing readers that Clemente represents “beauty, grace, dignity, divinity, social responsibility, poetry in motion, and of course love for our Puerto Rican souls and beyond” (Illustrator’s Note).

A Spanish version, ¡Llámenme Roberto!: Roberto Clemente alza la voz por los latinos, is also available.

 

 

 

 

Praise for Call Me Roberto!

• School Library Journal – starred review
• The Horn Book – starred review
• The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books – starred review
• Publishers Weekly – starred review

I will be surprised if Call Me Roberto! doesn’t amass several awards by the end of the year! I’m not alone. On September 6, 2024, the Horn Book blog, Calling Caldecott, released The List™ -Caldecott-eligible books they think are notable and worth discussion. Call Me Roberto! is at the top of the list!

Meet the Creators

Nathalie Alonso is a Cuban American journalist and children’s author from Queens, New York. She is the author and translator of Hispanic Star: Sonia Sotomayor and Hispanic Star: Ellen Ochoa. Alonso’s other picture books include Old Clothes for Dinner?! (Barefoot Books, 2024), illustrated by Natalia Rojas Castro and the forthcoming Take Me Out to the Ball Game! (Barefoot Books, 2025), and ¡Viva Valenzuela! (Calkins Creek, 2026).

Since 2006, Alonso has been part of the Spanish editorial team at MLB.com, the official website of Major League Baseball. She is also a freelance journalist with bylines in multiple publications. Here’s a clip of Alonzo talking about Call Me Roberto!

In my opinion, Alonso is a hero just like Clemente. Imagine being a first-generation Latina woman covering baseball for a living in a field dominated by white men. And like Clemente, she is using her voice to make the world a better place by writing picture books about and for Latinas. I think this makes her a rock star!

Rudy Gutierrez is an American artist and illustrator of Puerto Rican heritage. He is probably best known for the cover art of Santana’s multi-platinum smash hit record, Shaman, the Jimi Hendrix Forever Postage Stamp, and his work for Chasing Trane: The John Coltrane Documentary.

His work has been exhibited in many places including the Mesa Arts Center and the Norman Rockwell Museum. His other picture books include When I Get Older: The Story Behind “Wavin’ Flag” (Tundra Books, 2012) written by K’NAAN; Double Bass Blues (Knopf Books, 2019), written by Andrea J. Loney; and Window Fishing (Knopf Books, 2023), written by DK Dyson.

Looking for More Great Picture Books About Baseball?

Glenn Burke, Game Changer: The Man Who Invented the High Five (Farrar Straus Giroux, 2024), written by Phil Bildner, illustrated by Daniel J. O’Brien (Ages 6-9).

Glenn Burke was also a “five tool player,” but it was his enthusiasm and love of the game that led him to invent the high five on an October day in 1977 – a spontaneous gesture after Dusty Baker hit a home run. But despite the energy and joy Burke brought to the game of baseball, as a gay Black man, he was not always given support and acceptance in return.

This picture book recognizes the obstacles faced by Burke while celebrating his bravery and now-famous handshake. There is also a great ESPN 30 for 30 Short about this first high five.

Swinging into History: Toni Stone: Big-League Baseball’s First Woman Player (Calkins Creek, 2024), written by Karen L. Swanson and illustrated by Laura Freeman (Ages 7-10).

Marcenia “Tomboy” Stone loved baseball more than anything but being Black and a girl meant she had to learn the rule book better than her teammates, and most of all, score runs. Through grit and determination, Stone made it all the way to the Negro Leagues, taking Hank Aaron’s place on the Indianapolis Clowns when he was called up to the Big Leagues.

Contenders: Two Native Baseball Players, One World Series (Kokila, 2023), written by Traci Sorell and illustrated by Arigon Starr (Ages 7-10).

For the first time in 1911, two citizens of Native Nations faced off in the 1911 World Series. Charles “Al” Albert Bender (Mississippi Band of Ojibwe Indians) pitched for the Philadelphia Athletics, and John “Jack” Tortes Meyers (Santa Rosa Band of Cahuilla Indians) was catcher for the New York Giants. Follow their paths to the big leagues and the racism they and other Native players faced, as well as the sanctioned mocking of Native cultures that continues today.

We are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball (Sun/Disney-Hyperion, 2008) by Kadir Nelson (Ages 8 & Up).

No list of baseball books would be complete without the award-winning We are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball. Told in nine innings (plus one extra inning), We are the Ship follows the history of Negro League baseball chronologically from pre-Negro Leagues through its collapse as Major League baseball opened to Black players.

 

*Thanks to Jeff, my husband, for digging through his childhood baseball card collection to find these Clemente cards!