When it comes time to add up all of the class ever shown in baseball, the scales may very well be balanced between Roberto Clemente and everyone else. He was not only an amazing player, he was a humanitarian who died bringing relief to earthquake victims in the Third World.

Born in Puerto Rico, Clemente demonstrated his baseball skills from a young age — when he wasn’t working to help support his family and attending school. He caught the attention of recruiter after recruiter, and went from the barrios to the professional league of Puerto Rico before he turned 20.

From there, the Dodgers recruited him for the Montreal Royals, Brooklyn’s Triple-A team. Montreal in the 1950s was not teeming with Spanish-speakers, and Clemente’s English was limited, and Clemente ended up on the bench until a scout for the Pirates made him the first selection of the 1954 draft. By the end of the decade, his skills contributed to the Pirate’s first winning season in over a decade — despite the frustrating response of many to his color and ethnicity.

When baseball season was over, Clemente filled his time. During much of the 50s, he would return to play for the winter league in Puerto Rico; later, he served in the US Marine Corps Reserves at Parris Island and Camp LeJeune. The extra physical conditioning turned an already-amazing player into an unstoppable force with a batting average consistently over .300 and home runs galore, plus MVP awards, Gold Glove awards, and every All-Star game that was held during his career.

He was also passionate about humanitarian aid and relief. During the Holiday season in 1972, the Nicaraguan capital of Managua was the epicenter of a magnitude 7.5 earthquake which left 5,000 dead and three-quarters of a million people displaced. With fire services and hospitals almost completely destroyed, high winds spread the fires nearly unchecked across the devastated city. The corrupt ruling Junta intercepted foreign aid, such as three relief flights organized by Clemente.

To ensure delivery of the fourth, he accompanied a New Year’s Eve flight laden with aid to Managua. The flight never made it; the airplane crashed almost immediately after takeoff. Clemente’s body was never even recovered.