Editing Roberto Clemente (section)

===Minor league baseball (1954)===
At the time of Clemente's signing, the [[bonus rule]] implemented by [[Major League Baseball]] was still in effect. The rule stipulated that when a major league team signed a player to a contract with a signing bonus in excess of $4,000 (${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|4000|1947|r=-3}}}} today), the team was required to keep that player on their 25-man active roster for two full seasons and failure to comply with the rule would result in the team losing the rights to that player's contract, and the player would then be exposed to the waiver wire.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.baseball-almanac.com/legendary/Bonus_Babies.shtml |title=MLB Bonus Babies |publisher=[[Baseball Almanac]]}}</ref>

As Clemente's bonus was larger than $4,000, he was considered a bonus baby. However, the Dodgers decided against benching him for two years in the majors and decided to place him with the [[Montreal Royals]], their [[International League]] Triple-A affiliate. While it is often believed that the Dodgers instructed manager [[Max Macon]] to use Clemente sparingly to prevent him from being drafted under the [[Rule 5 Draft]], Macon himself denied it. Box scores also suggest that Macon platooned Clemente the same as he did with other outfielders.<ref>{{cite web |title=Max Macon (SABR BioProject) |url=https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/max-macon/ |publisher=[[Society for American Baseball Research]] |quote=Brooklyn general manager Buzzie Bavasi later acknowledged that the team hoped to hide Clemente so no other team would see his incandescent talent and draft him — as Pittsburgh did after the season... Researcher Stew Thornley found that Clemente was platooned for much of the season, starting only against left-handed pitchers, just as Macon platooned other outfielders.}}</ref>

Affected early on by both climate and language differences, Clemente received assistance from bilingual teammates such as infielder [[Chico Fernandez]] and pitchers [[Tommy Lasorda]] and [[Joe Black]].{{efn|To what extent Lasorda assisted Clemente is open to debate. Fellow Royals hurler Joe Black categorically denies Lasorda's characterization of Clemente as unable to "speak one word of English": <blockquote>''"I saw him on the field and I said, 'Tommy, why did you tell that story?' He said, 'What do you mean?' I said, 'One: Clemente didn't hang out with you. Second: Clemente speaks English.' ... Puerto Rico, you know, is part of the United States. So, over there, youngsters do have the privilege of taking English in classrooms. He wouldn't give a speech like Shakespeare, but he knew how to order breakfast and eggs. He knew how to say, 'it's a good day,' 'let's play,' or 'why I don't play?' He could say, 'Let's go to the movies.'"''<ref>[[#Markusen|Markusen]], pp. 19–20.</ref></blockquote>}}

Black was the original target of the [[Pittsburgh Pirates]]' scouting trip to [[Parker Field (Richmond)|Richmond]] on June 1, 1954. Noticing Clemente in batting practice, Pirates scout [[Clyde Sukeforth]] made inquiries and soon learned about Clemente's status as an unprotected [[bonus baby]].<ref>[[#Markusen|Markusen]], p. 23.</ref> Twelve years later, manager Macon acknowledged that "we tried to sneak him through the draft, but it didn't work" but denied being instructed to not play Clemente, stating that the player needed time to develop and was struggling against Triple-A pitching.<ref>{{cite web |title=Max Macon (SABR BioProject) |url=https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/max-macon/ |publisher=[[Society for American Baseball Research]] |quote=Macon always denied it, but he was not believed... "I never had any orders not to play Clemente," Macon said.}}</ref> However, Pittsburgh noticed his raw talents; as Sukeforth recalled years later, "I knew then he'd be our first draft choice. I told Montreal manager Max Macon to take good care of 'our boy' and see that he didn't get hurt."<ref>{{cite news |author= Biederman, Les |date=July 29, 1956 |url=http://www.mediafire.com/view/t1rmnke6tg5g1dt |title=Bob Clemente Discovered by Clyde Sukeforth |newspaper=[[The Pittsburgh Press]] |access-date=April 14, 2020}}</ref>

In 87 games with the Royals, Clemente hit .257 with two home runs.<ref>{{cite web |title=Roberto Clemente Minor League Statistics |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=clemen004rob |website=Baseball-Reference.com}}</ref> The first home run of his North American baseball career came on July 25, 1954; Clemente's [[extra inning]], [[walk-off home run]] was hit in his first at-bat after entering the game as a [[defensive replacement]]. His only other minor league home run came on September 5. On his 20th birthday, August 8, he made a notable game-ending outfield [[assist (baseball)|assist]], cutting down the potential tying run at the plate.<ref>{{cite news |agency=[[United Press International|UPI]] |url=http://www.mediafire.com/view/ocuk9gj1hri4et3/.png |title=Clemente's Toss helps Beat Toronto |newspaper=[[Montreal Gazette]] |date=August 19, 1954}}</ref>

At the end of the season, Clemente returned to play for Santurce where one of his teammates was [[Willie Mays]].<ref>[[#Maraniss|Maraniss]], pp. 54–58.</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Monagan |first1=Matt |title=Mays, Clemente in the same outfield? It happened |url=https://www.mlb.com/news/willie-mays-and-roberto-clemente-on-same-team |website=[[Major League Baseball|MLB.com]] |date=December 28, 2023}}</ref> While with the team, the Pirates made Clemente the first selection of the [[Rule 5 draft]] that took place on November 22, 1954.<ref>{{cite news |title=How the Pirates stole Roberto Clemente from the Dodgers |url=https://www.espn.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/id/62869/how-the-pirates-stole-roberto-clemente-from-the-dodgers |author=Schoenfield, David |work=[[ESPN]] |date=September 16, 2015}}</ref>