Remembering the man, Roberto Clemente.(The Orlando Sentinel)

ORLANDO _ His legacy resonates everywhere, from sandlot fields in Puerto Rico where children hit tin cans with sticks to lavish major-league stadiums where his proteges play for multimillion-dollar paychecks.

Roberto Clemente is a ubiquitous presence in baseball, a player who fought gallantly to cut through racial lines with a prideful and defiant touch.

He endured insulting taunts fueled with ignorance and bigotry. He was once asked if he wore a loincloth back in Puerto Rico. Sports writers would often quote him in broken English ("Let me peetch, I theenk . . ."). Some would cast him as a malcontent and malingerer, labeling him a "Puerto Rican hot dog."

Through it all, Clemente responded with dignity, occasionally returning fire with the same passion he applied as he stepped into the batter's box, neck twitching with nervous energy like a man possessed with chiropractic demons. Moments later, he would smash the dickens out of a baseball.

In 18 years as a right fielder for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Clemente would rise as one of the greatest players in the game in the 1960s and set an even higher standard as a Hispanic role model for those who followed.

Thirty years after his death, as a new season begins today, his impact continues to touch our nation's pastime.

"For me he is the Jackie Robinson of Latin baseball," said Ozzie Guillen, a Venezuelan and former major-leaguer who is now a coach with the Florida Marlins and owns an extensive collection of Clemente memorabilia.

"He lived racism. He was a man who was happy to be not only Puerto Rican, but Latin American. He let people know that. And that is something that is very important for all of us."

Look around, and see, hear and touch the Latin accent in America's game:

{bullet} More than 20 percent of the players in the majors_and 40 percent of all pro baseball players_are from Latin America. A third of them are Hispanic but born in the United States, like Alex Rodriguez, who played at Miami's Westminster High School. As late as 1987, the number of players from Latin America was only 8 percent in the majors.

{bullet} Since 1996, Hispanic pitchers have won three Cy Young Awards (all by Pedro Martinez) and four league MVPs that includes the unprecedented 1998 sweep by former Texas Ranger Juan Gonzalez of Puerto Rico in the AL and the Chicago Cubs' Sammy Sosa of the Dominican Republic in the NL.

{bullet} Four of the eight highest-paid players in baseball are Hispanic. Perhaps Rodriguez ($25.2 million per year), Manny Ramirez ($20 …