PHOTO COURTESY OF THE CLEMENTE MUSEUM

When baseball fans visit the North Shore, they’re walking in the footsteps of Roberto Clemente. On Thursday, April 17, a plaque will be unveiled marking the exact location.

On the 70th anniversary of Clemente’s first Major League hit, a series of commemorative plaques will be unveiled on the former site of Three Rivers Stadium. The event, which will be held adjacent to General Robinson Street near the current North Side Gold Lot 1A, is open to the public.

Clemente recorded his first big-league hit on April 17, 1955 — a single, off of Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher Johnny Podres.

The plaques also commemorate Clemente’s 3,000th and final hit, which came 17 years later, in the final game of the Pirates’ 1972 season. Clemente died in a plane crash Dec. 31 of that year while delivering earthquake relief aid to Nicaragua.

Thursday’s event, which will be emceed by Pittsburgh Pirates play-by-play announcer Greg Brown, is set to feature Steve Blass and other former Pirates players sharing memories of Clemente and Three Rivers Stadium.

The event is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m., rain or shine.