Roberto Clemente was a professional baseball player loved by fans of the Pittsburgh Pirates, for whom he played for 18 seasons. He died tragically at the age of 38 when a cargo plane loaded with relief supplies taking off for Managua, Nicaragua, crashed into the sea. Clemente had initiated a relief drive to help Nicaraguans caught in an earthquake two days before Christmas 1972. Considered the finest defensive right fielder in the history of professional baseball, Clemente also was only the 11th person in major league baseball to get 3,000 career base hits. He had a lifetime batting average of .318, the highest of active players at the time of his death. He played in 12 all-star games and was National League batting champion four times.