MLB legend Roberto Clemente would've turned 81 today

Roberto Clemente was one of the most game-changing men that baseball has ever known. A member of the 3,000 hit club, a 15-time All Star and two-time World Series champion, Clemente is a legend not only among the Pittsburgh Pirates community but the MLB realm as a whole.

Clemente died prematurely on Dec. 31, 1972 at the age of 38, when attempting to deliver aid packages to an earthquake-ridden Nicaragua. His plane crashed into the ocean shortly after takeoff. He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame the following year -- bypassing the customary five-year wait upon retirement.

On what would've been Clemente's 81st birthday, we take time to remember the icon's legacy. Click through the gallery above to see Clemente in action over his 18-year career, and watch the video below for a brief biography.

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