The film Clemente arrives at a strange time for Major League Baseball. 2025 has seen controversy around Jackie Robinson Day and Vin Scully’s call of Hank Aaron’s 715th home run being noticeably edited during the MLB All-Star Game. In the midst of these issues, to have a movie that deservedly celebrates one of the most memorable and impactful players of color feels like a welcome reminder.

Clemente, which is getting both a theatrical release and a television premiere on HISTORY, brings Pittsburgh Pirates icon Roberto Clemente front and center just a few months after the Pirates removed his number 21 from right field in what team president Travis Williams called “an honest mistake.” That additional context, plus the other recent events in MLB, makes this documentary even more poignant. Baseball fans all over the world are already aware of how much Roberto Clemente contributed not only to the sport, but to the greater community. Clemente does an excellent job of explaining why his story matters to anyone and everyone who isn’t a baseball fan.

Roberto Clemente is described in the press notes as “a double outsider,” being a Black Puerto Rican whose baseball career took flight in the 1950s. For perspective, this was over a decade and a half before the 1966 Texas Western College basketball team shocked the nation by winning the NCAA men’s basketball championship. He and many others experienced racism on profoundly terrible levels. What’s interesting about Clemente is that while the movie doesn’t flinch from the horrible things that Clemente experienced, it also doesn’t lean into the subject. Instead, like Roberto Clemente himself, it focuses on the positives of his baseball talent and his accomplishments off the field—like how he secured a station wagon so he and his teammates could travel safely on their own. A lesser movie would have dwelled on the negatives, wanting to be dramatic or shocking, but Clemente prefers to be inspirational and constructive.

The strongest parts of the film are naturally the video and audio recordings that allow the audience to hear from Clemente in his own words. One particular interview, conducted after he reached 3000 hits, is utilized multiple times for good reason—he has very strong words about how he’s been treated, particularly by the media. When he says he “[doesn’t] care one way or the other” about being sent to Puerto Rico, it’s chilling in the best way, as viewers understand how much that would potentially have cost him. He has such a firm sense of himself and his values that’s refreshing even by modern standards.

No amount of “talking head” interviews can compare to Clemente’s own voice, although contributions from his family add their own piece to the documentary. Clemente features the final interview with Roberto’s wife Vera Clemente, who passed away in 2019, as well as contributions from his three sons. No one knows the man better than them and they have their own legacy, in how they’ve carried his work forward. The other interviews are hit and miss, from fellow ballplayers to Bob Costas and Michael Keaton. A bigger miss is Clemente‘s use of animation; it’s an interesting idea from writer/director David Altrogge, but just doesn’t fit stylistically. The animation style is more akin to an anime feature.

But that’s a minor thing to complain about in a movie that has so much to offer. Clemente hits all the highs of Roberto Clemente’s baseball career, certainly, but it more importantly spends the majority of its time on the man: husband, father, teammate, friend, community leader. People who ask whether or not athletes should be role models need to watch this film. It illustrates what is possible through the platform of sport. Stories like that of Roberto Clemente are why sports stars are looked up to so highly. He did amazing things on the field, but he did even more amazing things off the field and touched countless lives. Clemente proves that over again—and encourages the viewer to be more like Clemente.

Clemente is in theaters now and premieres tonight at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT on HISTORY. Photo Credit: Courtesy of HISTORY.

Article content is (c)2020-2025 Brittany Frederick and may not be excerpted or reproduced without express written permission by the author. Follow me on Twitter at @BFTVTwtr and on Instagram at @BFTVGram. For story pitches, contact me at tvbrittanyf@yahoo.com.