He was such a good player that the Baseball Writers’ Association of America changed its Hall of Fame rules after his death, to make sure he got in, but Roberto Clemente’s impact on the world went well beyond the baseball diamond.

Clemente, who died in a plane crash Dec. 31, 1972, at the age of 38, was a superstar baseball player and a world-renowned philanthropist. And as an article on the Baseball Hall of Fame website explained, his baseball talent earned him an extra honor.

“Clemente became the second player to have the mandatory five-year waiting period waived to get into the Hall of Fame when he was elected on March 20, 1973,” the article read. “Just months after his tragic death, the Baseball Writers’ Association of America proclaimed Clemente a Hall of Famer after holding a special election.”

His dozen Gold Glove wins tie him for the most with Willie Mays.

Clemente’s career ended with 3,000 hits, a batting average of .315, 240 home runs and 1,305 RBIs.

Clemente’s numbers are impressive, but so was the rest of his life.

Born in 1934 in Carolina, Puerto Rico, Clemente discovered a passion for baseball in his teenage years.

A Society for American Baseball Research biography of Clemente quotes his journal.

“I loved the game so much that even though our playing field was muddy and we had many trees on it, I used to play many hours every day,” he wrote. “The fences were about 150 feet away from home plate, and I used to hit many homers. One day I hit 10 home runs in a game we started about 11 a.m. and finished about 6:30 p.m.”

His innate athletic ability and his dedication to the game made him an attractive prospect, and in 1954, the Brooklyn Dodgers signed him for $15,000 — including a fateful $10,000 signing bonus.

That money — equivalent to more than $115,000 today — meant the Dodgers were supposed to keep Clemente on their main roster for at least two years. If they failed to do that, another team would be able to draft him.

The Dodgers sent Clemente to the minor leagues, though, and at the end of the 1954 season, the Pittsburgh Pirates snapped him up. He would play for the Pirates for the next 18 years.

His Major League Baseball debut was April 17, 1955, against the Dodgers, where he notched a hit and scored the first run of the game. Over the next several years, both Clemente and the Pirates improved, eventually reaching and winning the World Series in 1960.

Despite Clemente’s role in the Pirates’ victory, he finished eighth in MVP voting, something he took as a slight.

“After I failed to win the Most Valuable Player Award in 1960, I made up my mind I’d win the batting title in 1961 for the first time,” he said.

He did just that, and in 1966 he’d win National League MVP, followed by the World Series MVP in 1971.

An article about Clemente’s charitable work in The Occidental points out that part of what he did was make sure others had the chance to play ball.

“Much of Clemente’s humanitarian efforts went towards making baseball accessible for everyone,” the authors wrote. “As Clemente soared to fame through his play on the field, he began to utilize his influence to promote equality both inside baseball and out. During his off-seasons, Clemente would host free baseball clinics for underprivileged youth, giving aspiring players an opportunity they wouldn’t have had otherwise.”

Giving people opportunity was a focus of much of what Clemente did, in large ways and small.

Former MLB trainer Tony Bartirome told of Clemente staying in Pirate City, the community the team built for its spring training in Florida. Most star players stayed elsewhere, but not Clemente.

“Clemente was staying there for the young Latin ballplayers. Every night after dinner, he would sit in the front of the building and teach the players how to order off a menu and to communicate with the other players. He did that every spring and no one knew about that,” Bartirome said.

Perhaps Clemente’s most famous humanitarian work was his last.

On Dec. 23, 1972, a massive earthquake shook Managua, the capital city of Nicaragua. The quake killed as many as 11,000 people and left up to 300,000 homeless.

Clemente contributed money and helped raise more. His work led to three cargo flights with aid heading to Nicaragua.

There were problems, however. There were reports that the contents of the three flights had been taken by the military.

Clemente believed that his celebrity could protect him while also ensuring the aid got to the people who needed it, so he made plans to go to Nicaragua himself.

On New Year’s Eve, Clemente boarded a Douglas DC-7 cargo plane with several others for the flight. Just moments after lifting off, the plane crashed into the ocean, killing all aboard.

A subsequent investigation found problems with maintenance and safety oversight likely contributed to the crash.

Just as the Hall of Fame scrambled to deal with Clemente’s death, so did Major League Baseball at large. One major honor was the renaming of a relatively new award.

Starting in 1971, the Commissioner’s Award was for the player who “best exemplifies the game of baseball, sportsmanship, community involvement and the individual's contribution to his team.” In 1971, Willie Mays was the first recipient.

In 1973, it was renamed the Roberto Clemente Award, which it remains to this day, a permanent reminder of Clemente’s impact on and off the field.