Deseret News archives: Clemente recorded his 3,000th hit. It was his last MLB hit

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For baseball fans, Roberto Clemente’s 3,000th career hit — on this day in 1972, the last game of the season — was a poignant one indeed.
On Sept. 30, 1972, Clemente and the defending world champion Pittsburgh Pirates hosted the New York Mets at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. Clemente, an amazing star from Carolina, Puerto Rico, was hitting an impressive .311 heading into the season finale. He also sat at 2,999 career hits. At the time, only 10 other players had joined the 3,000-hit club, and only three — Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and Stan Musial — had done so in the latter half of the 20th century.
Historians say Clemente, besides being a world-renowned humanitarian, now had a chance to be the first Latin American ballplayer to reach 3,000 hits.
On Sept. 30, he hit a double in the fourth inning off eventual Rookie of the Year Jon Matlack to get his 3,000th hit. Though Clemente and the Pirates made the playoffs, Major League Baseball does not count postseason statistics toward a player’s career totals.
Three months later, on Dec. 31, the 38-year-old chartered a plane from his native Puerto Rico to personally deliver supplies to the victims of an earthquake that struck near Managua, the capital of Nicaragua, on Dec. 23.
The aircraft crashed in the ocean shortly after takeoff, claiming the lives of everyone on board.
Clemente was also a 15-time All-Star, a four-time National League batting champion, a two-time World Series champion and the 1971 World Series MVP. In 1973, Clemente was posthumously inducted, becoming the first player from the Caribbean and Latin America to be honored in the Hall of Fame.
Clemente is a hero in his country, and rightly so. Also, every year, the Roberto Clemente Award is given to the player who best exemplifies the game of baseball both on and off the field.
Here are some stories from Deseret News archives about Clemente:
“All-Star game glory will belong to Roberto Clemente once again”
“Clemente legend looms over games”
“Puerto Rico honors Clemente with holiday”
“Pirate debate: Clemente or Barry Bonds?”
“Rose Jr., Clemente Jr. form bond to help each other rise in baseball”
“Essence of Clemente’s bravery captured in new children’s book”