Very often I come across fans that remember Carlos Bernier, the proud Puerto Rican who played centerfield for the Pittsburgh Pirates during the 1953 season and the player who had an illustrious minor league career with Hollywood Stars and the Hawaiian Islanders. Many will recall his great base-stealing abilities. It took Rickey Henderson to break his thirty-two year stolen base record in the Puerto Rican winter baseball league. Others remember his impressive hitting, fielding, and exceptional base running. I remember all of those, but most particularly, the wonderful father, husband, and family man that he was. Despite his extremely competitive demeanor on the field, he was a gentle soul off the field with the greatest qualities: kindness, compassionate, generous, responsible, and loving. I knew Carlos Bernier beyond the baseball field because he played the greatest of all roles- that of a father. He was the very best Dad any kid could hope to have-ever. Many people don't know what a wonderful person he was because they only witnessed his exploits and his aggressive style of play on the field. Unfortunately he lived in an era when it was fashionable to discriminate, in fact, many states upheld laws that discriminated against people of color. My father's only shortfall was that he did not handle the injustices of society with the same grace and patience of a Jackie Robinson or a Roberto Clemente. He was quite angry at the injustices and faced them head on, even if it meant challenging a white major league umpire who made a racial slur. I have often wondered how different life would have been for him with all of his talents if he had played now, instead of then. His career would have been spent primarily in the majors, rather than the minors. Fans must understand that he did not leave the major leagues because he did not have the talent to be there, in fact, in his short visit to the majors, he established and / or tied longstanding records. He did not remain in the majors because he could not tolerate the injustices of a country where it was still acceptable to hang people of color for drinking out of fountains designated for whites only. In the Pacific Coast League, he did not have to confront the challenges he had to confront in Pittsburgh. In essence, given his talents, he might have been named to many all-star games or even been a participant of the 1960 World Series. Who knows? No one will ever know the true potential of Carlos Bernier in the Major Leagues because of the era in which he lived. I am very proud of the life Carlos Bernier led and of his many accomplishments on and off the field, but most of all, of the wonderful father he was to me.

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