On September 30, 1972, Roberto Clemente became only the eleventh player in Major League Baseball history to get 3,000 career hits. Three months later, he died in a plane crash delivering humanitarian aid from his home country of Puerto Rico to earthquake-ravaged Nicaragua. He was 38 years old at the time of his death.
Clemente is a baseball legend, winning numerous awards throughout his 18-season career with the Pittsburgh Pirates: batting champion, Golden Glove, All-Star, Most Valuable Player, and of course his induction into the 3,000-hit club. The bat he used to get that 3,000th hit has been on display in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, for years.
Or has it?