The Cangrejeros de Santurce (Santurce Crabbers) are a professional baseball team based in Santurce, Puerto Rico. One of the most successful teams in the Puerto Rican Baseball League, the Cangrejeros have won more games than any other team in Puerto Rican pro baseball history. Coming off a third-place finish in 1951-52, the team signed 18-year-old Robert Clemente. Clemente was primarily a sub that season, moving to the starting lineup the following year. Presented here is an outstanding composite photo of the 1952-53 Cangrejeros team, Clemente's first professional season.

Likely offered as some type of premium, the 5 1/8" x 4" piece is clear and crisp, with a bit of wear at the corners, but nothing to distract from the photo's outstanding eye appeal. The composite includes portrait images of 31 players associated with the 1952-53 team. In addition to Clemente, Hall of Famer Willard Brown is also pictured (top right), along with pitcher Ruben Gomez and outfielder Bill Bruton. Gomez has autographed the photo lightly in blue ink, his unauthenticated signature not detrimental to the overall eye appeal of the piece whatsoever. The key here is the pre-rookie image of Roberto Clemente, a beautiful "pre-rookie" photo of one of the most widely collected players in the hobby. Pre-rookie images of Roberto Clemente are extremely desirable due to the difficulty in obtaining them. Incredibly rare, this is only the second example of this piece we have ever handled and the second we have seen anywhere.

Size: medium
Condition: yes