Farewell, Pelé

Plus: Thinking about Roberto Clemente, Andrew Toles, Rich Hill and some sacred keepsakes

Today, we catch up on some inspiring heroes, across space and time.

Pelé … Clemente

I’ve been more than clear about my outsider status when it comes to #futbolislife. But Pelé was a transcendent athlete about the same way that Beethoven was a transcendent piano player. Pelé probably penetrated my consciousness before I even really understood was soccer was.

The news came Thursday that Pele died in São Paulo at the age of 82. Obviously, I could not begin to capture his life, so I’ll leave it to the likes of Liz Clarke of the Washington Post. (One has to wonder what Grant Wahl would have written about him.)

By coincidence (but not by irony), Pelé’s passing came almost exactly on the 50th anniversary of the death of another beloved icon, Roberto Clemente. In the Los Angeles Times on Thursday, Dave Bennett goes into the aftermath of the 38-year-old Clemente’s perishment in a plane crash. The plane was on its way to provide relief for earthquake victims in Nicaragua on New Year’s Eve, 1972.

Major League Baseball’s award for character and community service is named after Clemente.

Missing Andrew Toles

Andrew Toles has been in at least 20 mental health facilities since 2019, his sister says, but he never stays long enough to get the help he needs. He usually stays a week, and then vanishes, moving onto the next city.

This is kind of out of nowhere, but the Dodgers’ ongoing search this offseason for a starting outfielder made me think of Andrew Toles. However, I can’t recall seeing any real news about Toles since Bob Nightengale’s lengthy feature in USA Today — that was 2 1/2 years ago.

Jon Weisman @jonweisman

Haven't had an Andrew Toles update in a while. Had melancholy thoughts just now about how the Dodgers could use him in the outfield. Hope somehow he's getting back on his own two feet.