Pittsburgh, Allegheny County recognize Friday as Roberto Clemente Day

Pittsburgh and Allegheny County leaders recognized Friday as Roberto Clemente Day to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the baseball legend’s 3,000th career hit.

To mark the event, leaders unveiled a marker where home plate was located at the former Three Rivers Stadium, now a parking lot near Heinz Field and PNC Park.

The day honoring Clemente recognized him for his extraordinary career with the Pittsburgh Pirates, as well as for his humanitarianism and his military service, officials said.

“His life and career were cut short by tragedy, but his legacy will live on forever,” Travis Williams, president of the Pittsburgh Pirates, said during the event.

U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Scranton, earlier in the month introduced a resolution to honor Clemente, and Gov. Tom Wolf issued a citation to recognize the anniversary of his 3,000th hit.

Clemente was the 11th player to reach 3,000 hits when he hit a double off New York Mets pitcher Jon Matlack on Sept. 30, 1972.

Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald recalled sitting by the radio as a little leaguer, listening to see if Clemente would reach the 3,000 landmark.

“Little did any of us know that was to be the last hit in the regular season he was going to get,” Fitzgerald said.

Clemente died in a plane crash on New Year’s Eve 1972 while trying to deliver relief supplies to Nicaragua after an earthquake rocked the Central American nation.

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Mayor Ed Gainey said that Clemente’s legacy as a Hall of Fame baseball star and two-time World Series champion will always be an important part of his story, but the mayor said he was most impressed by Clemente’s work as a humanitarian.

“I believe that baseball was just his profession,” Gainey said. “I believe he had a calling on his life. His calling was to lift up people who had not been uplifted before.”

As Clemente’s legacy continues to thrive in Pittsburgh, Gainey said it should encourage people to live like Clemente did.

“If we can all take a small percentage of Roberto Clemente and use it every single day of our lives, we can make this city a better place and we can make the world a better place,” Gainey said.

Speaking via phone from St. Louis, Roberto Clemente Jr. said the anniversary of his father’s milestone hit was an occasion to “cherish who he was as a hitter, who he was as a humanitarian.”

“I believe he is looking down upon us today,” he said.

Steve Blass, a former teammate of Clemente’s who delivered the eulogy at his funeral, recalled Clemente as someone who “had that awareness of the world around him” and related to people who were struggling.

“The legacy of this man is unbelievable,” Blass said. “I don’t know of many players whose legacy lasts 50 years and is still going strong.”

U.S. Rep. Mike Doyle, D-Forest Hills, described himself as a “Clemente fan for life,” recalled watching him play in the 1960s.

“The guy was really a hero of mine,” Doyle said. “He may be from Puerto Rico, but he’s Pittsburgh through and through.”

The home plate marker unveiled Friday is not only a nod to Clemente, but also a way to preserve the memory of Three Rivers Stadium, said Matthew Craig, executive director of the Young Preservationists Association.

Plans call for markers of all of the former stadium’s bases and the pitcher’s mound.

“We’d like to let everyone know forever that this isn’t just a parking lot,” Craig said. “This is a magical place.”