September 15 declared 'Roberto Clemente Day' in Pennsylvania
HARRISBURG (KDKA) - September 15 in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is now known as Roberto Clemente Day.
On Tuesday, his family was at the state capitol when the Pennsylvania House of Representatives adopted a resolution that officially recognized the new day.
One of the resolution's authors, State Rep. Nick Pisciottano helped make it possible.
"In addition to his legendary career in baseball, Roberto Clemente was also a dedicated humanitarian and a shining example of what a human being should strive to be," he said. "I was grateful to welcome members of his family to Harrisburg as we adopted a resolution to honor his legacy and recognize September 15 as Roberto Clemente Day in Pennsylvania."
Clemente played 18 seasons for the Pirates between 1955 and 1972, recording exactly 3,000 hits.
He died on New Year's Eve 1972 in a plane crash as he was on a humanitarian mission to Nicaragua after an earthquake rocked the region.
He was 38 years old.