Call Me Roberto!Call Me Roberto!

Young Roberto loved baseball so much that he played with a tree branch and tin cans in Carolina, Puerto Rico, practicing until he was chosen to play for a Major League team -- in chilly Montreal! Although he showed his talent as part of the Pittsburgh Pirates, he still faced discrimination from people who wouldn't accept a black man who demanded to be called Roberto instead of Bob in the middle of the nuclear-family 1950s. Even after becoming an All-Star and winning a World Series, he had to remain segregated in Black hotels during spring training in Florida, but he never stopped speaking Spanish and demanding recognition.