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The beginning of MLB’s modern era circa the 1960s saw a plethora of legends gracing baseball’s outfields, from Al Kaline, Carl Yastrzemski, and Mickey Mantle in the AL to Hank Aaron and Willie Mays in the NL, just to name a few. Also shining brightly among this constellation of superstars were right fielders Roberto Clemente and Frank Robinson – one was an electrifying all-around talent, the other a powerful slugger, but each can stake a claim to being among the greatest ever at the position. Nearly fifty years after each player last suited up for a major league game, their respective legacies are still intact, with Clemente having an annual award named him for community contributions and Robinson still being the only player to win MVP in both the AL and NL. Between these two baseball titans of yesteryear, it is an interesting question to ponder:
Who was better – Roberto Clemente or Frank Robinson?
The Beginning
As the youngest children of large families, Clemente and Robinson each had humble upbringings, but displayed an athletic aptitude and would be signed by professional baseball teams as teenagers; whereas the former had quiet beginnings in the major leagues, the latter burst onto the scene with a bang.
Born in Puerto Rico as the youngest of seven children, Clemente worked in the fields as a youngster while also starring in track and field before devoting his attention to baseball. At the age of 16, he joined the amateur baseball league before graduating on to the island’s professional league at 18; there, he was signed to a minor league contract by the Brooklyn Dodgers and joined their minor league affiliate Montreal Royals. Subsequently, Clemente was selected by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 1954 rookie draft and made his major league debut in 1955 with a solid, but unspectacular rookie season: .255 batting average with 5 home runs, 47 runs batted in, 48 runs scored, a .284 on-base percentage, and a .382 slugging percentage, good for a 77 OPS+ (which measures on-base percentage plus slugging vs. a league-wide average set at 100).
In contrast, as the youngest of ten children, Robinson was born in Texas, but later moved to California with his divorced mother, where he played high school basketball with Hall of Famer Bill Russell and baseball with future MLB stars Vada Pinson and Curt Flood. Signed by the Cincinnati Reds in 1953, he gradually moved moved up the minor league ranks before making his big league debut in 1956 at age 20 – that year, he would win NL Rookie of the Year honors, make the first of 14 All-Star appearances, and finish seventh for NL MVP with a .290 batting average, 38 home runs, 83 runs batted in, a league-high 122 runs scored, a .379 on-base percentage, and a .558 slugging percentage (143 OPS+).
Career Comparison
Clemente and Robinson were among the premier players in baseball in the 1960s, perennial All-Star selections and consistent MVP contenders who put up monster statistical seasons year in and year out on their way to the Hall of Fame.
During his first few MLB seasons, Clemente was a solid all-around player, hitting .300+ once (.311 in 1956) before blossoming into a superstar in his age-25 season in 1960 – with a .314 batting average, 16 home runs, 94 runs batted in, 89 runs scored, a .357 on-base percentage, and a .458 slugging percentage (121 OPS+), he earned the first of 15 All-Star selections (he made the All-Star team every year between 1960 and 1972 except for 1968, with the odd quirk of two All-Star Games being played annually between 1959 and 1962) and finished eighth for NL MVP. The next year, he was even better, winning the first of four batting titles with a .351 batting average on 201 hits with 23 home runs, 89 runs batted in, 100 runs scored, a .390 on-base percentage, and a career-high .559 slugging percentage, good for a 150 OPS+ and fourth-place MVP finish, as well as the first of a dozen consecutive Gold Gloves in right field.
Throughout the 1960s, Clemente was a perennial All-Star and Gold Glover who hit .300+ every year except for the aforementioned “down” year in 1968 when he batted “only” .291. Notably, he won back-to-back batting titles in 1964 and 1965:
- 1964: .339 batting average with a league-high and career-best 211 hits, 12 home runs, 87 runs batted in, 95 runs scored, a .388 on-base percentage, and a .484 slugging percentage (146 OPS+); ninth for MVP
- 1965: .329 batting average with 10 home runs, 65 runs batted in, 91 runs scored, a .378 on-base percentage, and a .463 slugging percentage (136 OPS+); eighth for MVP
Though he did not win the batting title in 1966, Clemente would have perhaps his best all-around season, winning the NL MVP award on the strength of a .317 batting average (202 hits), career-highs of 29 home runs, 119 runs batted in, and 105 runs scored, and a .360 on-base percentage with a .536 slugging percentage (146 OPS+). As an encore to his MVP campaign, he won a fourth and final batting title with a career-high .357 batting average on a league-leading 209 hits with 23 home runs, 110 runs batted in, 103 runs scored, a .400 on-base percentage, and a .554 slugging percentage, good for a 171 OPS+ and third for MVP.
After his “down” year in 1968 (known as “The Year of the Pitcher”), Clemente returned to elite form, hitting .345 in 1969 with 19 home runs, 91 runs batted in, 87 runs scored, a career-best .411 on-base percentage, and a .544 slugging percentage (168 OPS+), racking up another top-10 MVP finish. He then almost matched his career-high with a .352 batting average in 1970 (across 108 games) before the final great season of his career in 1971: .341 batting average with 13 home runs, 86 runs batted in, 82 runs scored, a .370 on-base percentage, and a .502 slugging percentage, good for a 143 OPS+ and fifth-place for MVP. Despite battling nagging injuries in 1972, Clemente still hit .312 for the season and earned his final All-Star and Gold Glove selections; notably, on the last day of September, he achieved his 3,000th career hit and a couple of days later, would surpass Honus Wagner for most games played as a Pirate. Unfortunately, this would mark the end of his MLB career – during the offseason, he was tragically killed on New Year’s Eve at age 37 in a plane crash while delivering humanitarian aid/emergency supplies to Nicaragua.
Meanwhile, Robinson built on his sterling rookie campaign and quickly established himself as one of the league’s top sluggers – during his decade with Cincinnati, he would hit 20+ home runs every year and also won his only Gold Glove in 1958. After another All-Star and top-10 MVP season in 1957, he hit .311 in 1959 with 36 home runs, 125 runs batted in, 106 runs scored, a .391 on-base percentage, and a .583 slugging percentage, good for a 153 OPS+ and ninth-place MVP finish. A few years later in 1961, Robinson would win his first MVP award: .323 batting average with 37 home runs, 124 runs batted in, 117 runs scored, a .404 on-base percentage, and a league-best .611 slugging percentage (164 OPS+). He was arguably even better the next season, hitting a career-high .342 with a league-leading and career-high 51 doubles, 39 home runs, a career-best 136 runs batted in, a league-high and career-high 134 runs scored, and a league-high .421 on-base percentage and .624 slugging percentage (173 OPS+), though was “only” fourth for MVP. Over the next few seasons, he continued to dominate offensively, earning a final All-Star selection and a fourth-place MVP finish with the Reds in 1965: .296 batting average with 33 home runs, 113 runs batted in, 109 runs scored, a .386 on-base percentage, and a .540 slugging percentage (151 OPS+).
However, as he entered his 30s, the Reds thought he would be in decline and thus traded him to the Baltimore Orioles for Milt Pappas, Jack Baldschun, and Dick Simpson. Robinson quickly proved Cincinnati wrong – in his first year with the Orioles, he set numerous career-highs with a .316 batting average, 49 home runs, 122 runs batted in, 122 runs scored, a .410 on-base percentage, and a .637 on-base percentage (198 OPS+), thus earning both the AL MVP (in the process becoming the first and only player to win MVP in both leagues, as previously alluded to) and the rare AL Triple Crown (Yastrzemski would also win the AL Triple Crown the next year, but the feat would not be accomplished again until Miguel Cabrera in 2012). Overall, Robinson was an All-Star in five of his six years with Baltimore, the lone exception also being 1968; additionally, he would post two more top-three MVP showings:
- 1969: .308 batting average with 32 home runs, 100 runs batted in, 111 runs scored, a .415 on-base percentage, and a .540 slugging percentage (165 OPS+)
- 1971: .281 batting average with 28 home runs (including his 500th career home run), 99 runs batted in, 82 runs scored, a .384 on-base percentage, and a .510 slugging percentage (153 OPS+)
Post the 1971 season, Robinson was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers, where he would have one ho-hum season. The next year, he was dealt to the California Angels, where he would have his last great season (.266 with 30 home runs, 97 runs batted in, 85 runs scored, a .372 on-base percentage, and a .489 slugging percentage (151 OPS+)). He was then later traded during the 1974 season to the Cleveland Indians, where he would spend the last few years of his career before retiring in 1976 at age 40 and starting a long managerial/front office career.
Despite the tragic ending to his MLB career (and life), Clemente nevertheless accumulated more career hits with a much higher career batting average than Robinson in fewer seasons/games played; however, Robinson reigned supreme offensively with significant career advantages in nearly every counting and average category outside of hits/batting average. This is likewise reflected in their “great” seasons – Clemente racked up more .300+ and 200+ hit seasons (13 to 9 and 4 to 1, respectively), but Robinson more frequently hit 30+ home runs (11x to none, including a 40+ home run year), drove in 100+ runs (6x vs. 2x), and scored 100+ runs (8x vs. 3x). On the defensive side, it is a much different story, as Clemente is widely recognized as one of the greatest defensive outfielders and his 12 Gold Gloves are tied with Mays for most all-time among outfielders. Overall, even with Clemente earning one additional All-Star selection (15 to 14) and winning four batting titles to Robinson’s one, the latter won more MVPs (2 to 1, with the distinction of winning one in each league), was Rookie of the Year, and is in the elite company of Triple Crown winners. From the perspective of Wins Above Replacement (WAR), Robinson has the career edge at 107.2 to 94.8; as among the greatest players in baseball history, both legends were first ballot Hall of Famers – in fact, the customary waiting period was waived for Clemente and he was immediately inducted in 1973 following his untimely end, while Robinson earned his Cooperstown plaque in 1982.
Regular Season Statistics
| Roberto Clemente | Player | Frank Robinson |
| 18 (1955-1972) | Seasons | 21 (1956-1976) |
| 2,433 | Games Played | 2,808 |
| 9,454 | At-Bats | 10,006 |
| 3,000 | Hits | 2,943 |
| 1,416 | Runs | 1,829 |
| 240 | Home Runs | 586 |
| 1,305 | Runs Batted In | 1,812 |
| 621 | Walks | 1,420 |
| 83 | Stolen Bases | 204 |
| .317 | Batting Average | .294 |
| .359 | On-Base Percentage | .389 |
| .475 | Slugging Percentage | .537 |
| 130 | OPS+ | 154 |
| 94.8 | Wins Above Replacement | 107.2 |
| 15x | All-Star Games | 14x |
| 1x | MVP | 2x |
| 2x | World Series Titles | 2x |
| 12x Gold Glove, 4x Batting Title, 1x World Series MVP | Other Awards | 1x Triple Crown, 1x Gold Glove, 1x Batting Title, 1x World Series MVP, ROY |
| 1973 | Hall of Fame Induction | 1982 |
Source: Baseball-Reference.com
During their lengthy MLB careers, both Clemente and Robinson not only won a pair of World Series titles (with the former beating the latter head-to-head on one occasion), but each was also once named World Series MVP.
Across four playoff appearances, Clemente’s two World Series trips and titles came more than a decade apart. In 1960, he hit .310 (9 hits in 29 at-bats) as the Pirates defeated the Mantle and Yogi Berra-led New York Yankees on Bill Mazeroski’s famous walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 7. Then, in 1971, after batting .333 in a four-game NLCS victory over Willie McCovey’s San Francisco Giants, Clemente was named World Series MVP in a seven-game triumph over Robinson’s Orioles by hitting a stellar .414 (12 hits in 29 at-bats) with 2 home runs and four runs batted in.
After making one World Series appearance with the Reds (a five-game loss to the Yankees in 1961), Robinson was the MVP of the 1966 World Series in a sweep of Sandy Koufax and the Los Angeles Dodgers, batting .286 (4 hits in 14 at-bats) with a pair of home runs. A few years later, in a five-game victory over Johnny Bench’s Reds (i.e. Robinson’s old team), the slugger got his revenge by hitting .273 (6 hits in 22 at-bats) with 2 home runs and 4 runs batted in. Finally, in the aforementioned loss to Clemente and the Pirates in 1971, Robinson once again had a strong series with a .280 batting average (7 hits in 25 at-bats) and a pair of solo home runs.
Playoff Statistics
| Roberto Clemente | Player | Frank Robinson |
| 26 | Games Played | 35 |
| 107 | At-Bats | 126 |
| 34 | Hits | 30 |
| 8 | Runs | 25 |
| 3 | Home Runs | 10 |
| 14 | Runs Batted In | 19 |
| 6 | Walks | 20 |
| – | Stolen Bases | – |
| .318 | Batting Average | .238 |
| .354 | On-Base Percentage | .356 |
| .449 | Slugging Percentage | .532 |
Source: Baseball-Reference.com
Every athlete goes through a natural career lifecycle, from starting off as a rookie to reaching peak years of performance and finally, declining into the inevitable retirement due to a combination of age and/or injury; following a slow start, Clemente remained a .300+ hitter up until his death, while Robinson eased into his future managerial career towards the tail end of his playing days. For Hall of Fame caliber players across sports, I like to look at a concept I call a “decade of dominance.” The thinking behind this is that for most Hall of Fame type careers, there are roughly 10 great seasons that define an athlete (this idea is embodied in a sense by the NFL’s All-Decade teams), though due to injury or other factors, they might not be 10 consecutive years.
Decade of Dominance
| Roberto Clemente | Player | Frank Robinson |
| 1961, 1963-1971 | Decade of Dominance | 1956-1957, 1959-1962, 1964-1966, 1969 |
| 1,416 | Games Played | 1,517 |
| 5,549 | At-Bats | 5,606 |
| 1,853 | Hits | 1,747 |
| 879 | Runs | 1,107 |
| 178 | Home Runs | 353 |
| 840 | Runs Batted In | 1,057 |
| 418 | Walks | 730 |
| 55 | Stolen Bases | 142 |
| .334 | Batting Average | .312 |
| .381 | On-Base Percentage | .399 |
| .514 | Slugging Percentage | .576 |
| 71.6 | Wins Above Replacement | 70.1 |
Source: Baseball-Reference.com
The comparison becomes even tighter when you only consider each player’s decade of dominance – Robinson was still the superior slugger and overall offensive player, but Clemente had an incredible batting average and coupled with his otherworldly defense, actually outperforms his counterpart in terms of WAR during this span.
My Thoughts
As a pioneer among Puerto Rican baseball players and in part due to his untimely end, the mystique of Roberto Clemente continues to this day; in contrast, despite his career achievements, Frank Robinson may actually be a bit underrated from a historical perspective. Both were clear franchise cornerstones and had to overcome prejudice/racism to succeed (in fact, Robinson was always well-regarded as a team leader). I do believe Clemente was the superior all-around talent – he was the better contact hitter (though his ability to hit “bad” pitches in turn limited his walks and on-base percentage, a la Vladimir Guerrero) and arguably one of the top five defensive outfielders ever, overall much closer to a five-tool talent than Robinson. Nevertheless, despite being a relatively average defensive player, Robinson to me was far superior offensively – he could not only hit for average, but was a powerful slugger and run producer, as evidenced by being one of the select few in history to win the Triple Crown. While defense is important in baseball, ultimately, I think Robinson’s advantage as an offensive player outweighs Clemente’s multi-faceted abilities; perhaps due to the fact that he was often overshadowed during his own era by the likes of Aaron, Mays, Mantle, etc., Robinson does not quite get the acclaim his sterling career deserves.
Thus, after weighing their careers against each other in terms of statistics, achievements, and impact, the winner of this faceoff is:
Frank Robinson
As always, vote for your choice and leave your thoughts and comments below.
Further Reading
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