Roberto Clemente Swing The Roberto Clemente swing was probably the most on-orthadox batting style ever. His stride was very long. His front foot stepped "in the bucket", meaning he stepped more toward third base than toward the pitcher. He stood about as far away from home plate as he could get and used a very heavy, long bat. Most great hitters stay back with their weight on their back foot during their stride. Roberto flung his weight forward, ending up with everything on his front foot. The thing he was excellent at though, was keeping his hands back. He was seldom fooled by an off speed pitch because of this. A notorious opposite field hitter Roberto Clemente won four batting titles and finished with exactly 3,000 hits. He is the all time Pirates leader in Hits, games played, at bats and total bases. Roberto Clemente was inducted into baseball's hall Of Fame in 1973.
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