roberto clemente is in my hall of famer collection

brian from collecting cutch sent me a card a couple of years ago that, when i look back, was an impetus for this formalization of my hall of famer collection:

that's a 2005 donruss greats roberto clemente hall of fame souvenirs relic card.  here's the back:

what can i say about roberto clemente that will do him justice?  he passed away before i was aware of baseball, but he was an iconic enough figure that i learned about him very early on in my fandom. i even wrote a report on him in elementary school, focusing on the relief efforts that led to his untimely passing.  when pete rose got his 3000th hit in the 1978 season, i learned how special that number is to baseball, and was immediately thankful that clemente had reached that milestone with his final career hit. his 1973 card - a true 'final tribute' - is one of my favorite cards ever produced.

i had placed this card with some other 'favorite' cards that otherwise didn't really fit in my collection - a marcel dionne relic card, a jack youngblood autograph card, and a cool cesar cedeno relic card to name a few other misfits that i want to hold on to.  now it sits with a bunch of other hall of famers in a more organized part of my collection.

here's my hall of famer collection as its been documented so far:

babe ruth - 2003 topps tribute world series edition world series tribute relic 351/425:

bob feller - 2001 topps archives

jackie robinson - 2004 topps clubhouse collection clubhouse relics

roberto clemente - 2005 donruss greats hall of fame souvenirs relic

warren spahn - 1999 upper deck century legends epic signatures

hank aaron - 2004 topps originals 1979 topps all-time record holders rbi 03/32:

bruce sutter - 2003 topps all-time fan favorites

pete rose* - 2018 panini flawless legendary signatures 15/25

you can find the full list of hall of famers (and some not - yet) that i aim to include in this collection at my want list site.

*not currently a member of the hall of fame