At the time, a player who received a signing bonus could be drafted by another team if he wasn't placed on the major league roster after one season in the minors. The talent-laden Dodgers didn't put Clemente on their roster, and he was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates for $4,000.

Clemente became Pittsburgh's starting rightfielder during the 1955 season. He hit over .300 only once in his first five seasons, but he batted .314 with 16 homers in 1960, when the Pirates won the pennant, and he hit .310 in their seven-game win over the New York Yankees in the World Series.

In the next seven years, Clemente won four batting titles, hitting .351 in 1961, .339 in 1964, .329 in 1965, and .357 in 1967. He was named the NL's most valuable player in 1966, when he hit .317 with 29 home runs and 119 RBI. After slipping to .291 in 1968, Clemente hit .345, .352, .341, and .312 in the next four seasons.

Through most of his career, Clemente felt he was overlooked because of his Puerto Rican origin, and he was determined to impress the national television audience when the Pirates got into the 1971 World Series. He succeeded, batting .414 with 12 hits, including 2 doubles, 1 triple, and 2 home runs, and he made some outstanding plays in the field as Pittsburgh beat the Baltimore Orioles in seven games. Clemente easily won the most valuable player award for the series.

On September 30, 1972, Clemente got his 3,000th career hit. It was his last. In December, he was organizing relief missions for Managua, Nicaragua, which had been devastated by an earthquake. On New Years Eve, a plane carrying supplies from Puerto Rico to Nicaragua exploded and crashed shortly after takeoff, killing Clemente and the four others aboard.