If you were a kid growing up in Pittsburgh 40 years ago, you probably feel a little different when New Year's Eve rolls around from the rest of the revelers out there. It was on Dec. 31, 1972, that Pirates Hall of Fame right fielder Roberto Clemente died in a plane crash while delivering relief supplies to earthquake-ravaged Nicaragua.
In those pre-Internet/Twitter days four decades ago, news didn't travel as fast as it does now so most of us didn't hear of the tragedy until the next day, New Year's Day. I was lying half-awake in my bed, trying to ignore the bright, mid-morning sun peeking through the curtains, when my 9-year-old brother burst into my room to tell me what he had heard from one of his neighborhood friends.
"Roberto Clemente is dead! He died in the ocean," he said.
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