Roberto Clemente spent seventeen years as a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates. He was a Gold Glove winner, a batting champion, a two-time World Series winner, a fifteen-time All Star, and in the upper echelon of Hall of Famers.
The Roberto Clemente Award is not about any of that.
After an earthquake hit Managua, the capital city of Nicaragua, Clemente began a relief effort. When he discovered his supplies were not reaching the people in need, he chose to personally escort them to the survivors. On December 31, 1972 the plane carrying those supplies along with Roberto Clemente crashed into the Atlantic Ocean.