April 17, 1955. Roberto Clemente begins his Hall of Fame career with a single off Johnny Podres of the Dodgers. Clemente would bang out 2,999 more hits before he tragically lost his life in a plane crash on December 31, 1972. Clemente was bringing relief supplies to earthquake victims in Nicaragua when the plane he was in crashed. His career slash line was .317/.359/.475 with 240 home runs and 1305 RBI. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in1973 via of a special election.
Clemente was an All-Star 12 times in 18 seasons of play, and saw action in 15 games . He was the National League MVP in 1966, and World Series MVP in 1971, 12 times he won the Gold Glove award from 1961 to 1972. He won four batting titles in 1961, 1964, 1965, and 1967. His number #21 was retired by the Pittsburgh Pirates.
He will be remembered not only for his play on the field, but his charity work that participated in the off-season.
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