PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK

It’s near impossible to live in the Steel City without having encountered the name Roberto Clemente. The legendary Pirates baseball player was a pioneer in almost every sense of the word — plus, his namesake bridge aptly connects Downtown to PNC Park. However, his trailblazing nature seemingly made him some enemies: in this week in 1972, Clemente was threatened with assassination.

The heavily redacted FBI report file number 9-55112 recounts the threat made against Clemente’s life a mere few months before his untimely death.

A letter, type-written in red ink, was addressed to Three Rivers Stadium, where the Pirates played at the time. The threat itself was intended to take place there as well, stating, “On September 29th, Friday at Pittsburgh Pirates Three Rivers Stadium in the top of the second inning you will be shot while playing right field.” The note also said to consider the threat “a present from a Met’s [sic] fan.”

The letter was postmarked from Clifton, New Jersey, on Sept. 26, 1972; however, it was thought to be fan mail upon its reception and was not read until Nov. 1 — more than a month after the game was played.

After a week of investigation, it was decided that since the game was played without incident, Clemente’s case did not require further investigation, though police in Clemente’s hometown of San Juan, Puerto Rico, were made aware of the situation. The FBI file was declassified in 1982 and no specific information is provided about the identity of the letter writer.

On Dec. 31, 1972, a little over three months after the threat on the ballplayer’s life, Clemente died in a plane crash on the way to deliver relief supplies following an earthquake that had hit Nicaragua.

Clemente’s altruistic spirit elevated him from Pirates great to Pittsburgh hero. Following his death, the Pirates retired his jersey number, 21, and the Major League’s Commissioner’s Award was renamed the Roberto Clemente Award to honor his legacy of humanitarianism.