Editing Roberto Clemente (section)

== Charity work and death ==
{{Further|1972 Puerto Rico DC-7 crash}}
Clemente spent much of his time during the off-season involved in charity work. One of the projects he was most invested in was creating a sports center for disadvantaged youth in Puerto Rico. In 1967, Clemente told reporters, "The biggest thing I want to do is for the youths... for the kids. When I am ready to quit baseball I will have my sports center... to me it will be the most important thing in the world."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Briley |first=Ron |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt2tvcq4?turn_away=true |title=Sports and the Racial Divide: African American and Latino Experience in an Era of Change |last2=Ezra |first2=Michael |last3=Fields |first3=Sarah K. |last4=Hawkins |first4=Billy |last5=Iber |first5=Jorge |last6=Kemper |first6=Kurt Edward |last7=Regalado |first7=Samuel O. |last8=Santillan |first8=Richard |last9=Smith |first9=Maureen |date=2008 |publisher=University Press of Mississippi |isbn=978-1-60473-014-2}}</ref> The center was so important to Clemente that shortly before recording his 3,000th hit, he told his manager [[Danny Murtaugh]] that the most important moment of his life would not be the hit, but the creation of the center.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Briley |first=Ron |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt2tvcq4?turn_away=true |title=Sports and the Racial Divide: African American and Latino Experience in an Era of Change |last2=Ezra |first2=Michael |last3=Fields |first3=Sarah K. |last4=Hawkins |first4=Billy |last5=Iber |first5=Jorge |last6=Kemper |first6=Kurt Edward |last7=Regalado |first7=Samuel O. |last8=Santillan |first8=Richard |last9=Smith |first9=Maureen |date=2008 |publisher=University Press of Mississippi |isbn=978-1-60473-014-2}}</ref> The project stalled after his death until his widow, [[Vera Clemente]], attained corporate assistance for the center in the late 1980s. Now, many professional Puerto Rican players have trained at the center.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Briley |first=Ron |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt2tvcq4?turn_away=true |title=Sports and the Racial Divide: African American and Latino Experience in an Era of Change |last2=Ezra |first2=Michael |last3=Fields |first3=Sarah K. |last4=Hawkins |first4=Billy |last5=Iber |first5=Jorge |last6=Kemper |first6=Kurt Edward |last7=Regalado |first7=Samuel O. |last8=Santillan |first8=Richard |last9=Smith |first9=Maureen |date=2008 |publisher=University Press of Mississippi |isbn=978-1-60473-014-2}}</ref> 

Clemente visited [[Managua]], the capital city of [[Nicaragua]], in late 1972, while managing the [[Puerto Rico national baseball team]] at the [[1972 Amateur World Series]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Veteran Cuban Team Captures Amateur Title; U.S. Runner-Up |url=https://paperofrecord.hypernet.ca/paper_view.asp?PaperId=834&RecordId=43&PageId=7627016 |access-date=30 September 2024 |agency=The Sporting News |date=30 December 1972}}</ref> When Managua was affected by a [[1972 Nicaragua earthquake|massive earthquake]] three weeks later, on December 23, 1972, Clemente immediately set to work arranging emergency relief flights.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/kids/ |title=White House Dream Team: Roberto Walker Clemente |publisher=White House |access-date=December 9, 2007 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071216085030/http://www.whitehouse.gov/kids/dreamteam/robertoclemente.html |archive-date=December 16, 2007 }}</ref> He soon learned, however, that the aid packages on the first three flights had been diverted by corrupt officials of the [[Anastasio Somoza Debayle|Somoza]] government, never reaching victims of the quake.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://archivo.elnuevodiario.com.ni/2004/diciembre/11-diciembre-2004/nacional/nacional-20041211-15.html |title=El vuelo solidario y temerario de Clemente |newspaper=El Nuevo Diario |access-date=December 9, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090204162100/http://archivo.elnuevodiario.com.ni/2004/diciembre/11-diciembre-2004/nacional/nacional-20041211-15.html |archive-date=February 4, 2009 }}</ref> He decided to accompany the fourth relief flight, hoping that his presence would ensure that the aid would be delivered to the survivors.<ref name="Gale">{{cite web|url=http://www.galegroup.com/free_resources/chh/bio/clemente_r.htm |title=Hispanic Heritage: Roberto Clemente |publisher=Gale Gengage Learning |access-date=December 9, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071223061635/http://www.galegroup.com/free_resources/chh/bio/clemente_r.htm |archive-date=December 23, 2007 }}</ref>

The airplane which he chartered for the New Year's Eve flight, a [[Douglas DC-7]] [[Cargo aircraft|cargo plane]], had a history of mechanical problems and it also had an insufficient number of flight personnel (the flight was missing a flight engineer and a copilot), and it was also overloaded by {{convert|4200|lb}}.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=fp4rAAAAIBAJ&pg=5781,1852044&dq=roberto+clemente+crash+overweight|title=Roberto Clemente plane ruled unfit|date=July 13, 1973|access-date=August 29, 2013 |newspaper=[[The Telegraph (Nashua, New Hampshire)|Nashua Telegraph]] |author=Bryant, Ted}}</ref> It [[1972 Puerto Rico DC-7 crash|crashed]] into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of [[Isla Verde, Puerto Rico]] immediately after takeoff on December 31, 1972, due to engine failure.<ref name="Latino Legends">{{cite web|url=http://www.latinosportslegends.com/clemente.htm|title=Roberto Clemente|publisher=Latino Legends in Sports|access-date=December 9, 2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071026063740/http://www.latinosportslegends.com/clemente.htm|archive-date=October 26, 2007}}</ref>

A search and rescue effort was immediately launched, led by the [[USCGC Sagebrush (WLB-399)|USCGC ''Sagebrush'']].<ref>{{Cite news |last=United Press International |date=January 1, 1973 |title=Clemente dies in crash |work=UPI Archives |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1973/01/01/Clemente-dies-in-crash/4581514685806/ |access-date=October 3, 2022}}</ref> A few days after the crash, the body of the pilot and part of the fuselage of the plane were found. An empty flight case which apparently belonged to Clemente was the only personal item of his which was recovered from the plane. Clemente's teammate and close friend [[Manny Sanguillén]] was the only member of the Pirates who did not attend Roberto's memorial service. Instead, the Pirates catcher chose to dive into the waters where Clemente's plane had crashed in an effort to find his teammate. The bodies of Clemente and three others who were also on the four-engine plane were never recovered.<ref name="Latino Legends" />

[[Montreal Expos]] pitcher [[Tom Walker (1970s pitcher)|Tom Walker]], then playing [[Liga de Béisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente|winter league ball]] in Puerto Rico, had helped him load the plane. Because Clemente wanted Walker, who was single, to go and enjoy New Year's Eve,<ref name="Kepner">{{cite news|last=Kepner|first=Tyler|title=Pittsburgh's Stirring Leap From the Abyss|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/02/sports/baseball/surprising-break-for-the-pittsburgh-pirates.html?pagewanted=2|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=September 1, 2013}}</ref> Clemente told him not to join him on the flight. A few hours later, Walker returned to his condo and discovered that the plane carrying Clemente had crashed.<ref>{{cite news |last1=McCalvy |first1=Adam |title=Tom Walker recalls memories of Clemente |url=https://www.mlb.com/news/neil-walker-s-father-tom-shares-clemente-story-c252844358 |work=[[Major League Baseball|MLB.com]] |date=September 7, 2017}}</ref>

Immediately following Clemente's death, a relief-aid organization for the victims of the Nicaraguan earthquake was created in his name. President [[Richard Nixon]] was one of the most prominent contributors to Roberto Clemente Memorial Fund. Shortly after the inception of the fund, donations grew to $350,000.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Briley |first1=Ron |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt2tvcq4 |title=Sports and the Racial Divide: African American and Latino Experience in an Era of Change |last2=Ezra |first2=Michael |last3=Fields |first3=Sarah K. |last4=Hawkins |first4=Billy |last5=Iber |first5=Jorge |last6=Kemper |first6=Kurt Edward |last7=Regalado |first7=Samuel O. |last8=Santillan |first8=Richard |last9=Smith |first9=Maureen |date=2008 |publisher=University Press of Mississippi |jstor=j.ctt2tvcq4 |isbn=978-1-60473-014-2}}</ref>

In an interview for the [[ESPN]] documentary series ''[[SportsCentury]]'' in 2002, Clemente's widow Vera mentioned that Clemente had told her several times that he thought he was going to die young.<ref name="SportsCentury" /> Indeed, while he was being asked when he would get his 3,000th career hit by broadcaster and future fellow Hall of Famer [[Richie Ashburn]] in July 1971 during the All-Star Game activities, Clemente's response was "Well, uh, you never know. I, I, uh, if I'm alive, like I said before, you never know because God tells you how long you're going to be here. So you never know what can happen tomorrow."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfuckArQ_dQ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/PfuckArQ_dQ| archive-date=2021-12-11 |url-status=live|title=Roberto Clemente Prophecy|publisher=YouTube|date=November 8, 1973|access-date=August 29, 2013}}{{cbignore}}</ref>