A Drive into the Gap

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?