The World Series starts tonight with the Nationals and Astros vying to be kings of baseball.

Which players will be part of memorable moments, the kind that stand the test of time? Who will be named World Series MVP?

It was 48 years ago that a Pittsburgh legend turned in one of the most indelible performances in the history of the Fall Classic.

Roberto Clemente batted .414, including five extra-base hits, and was flawless in right field to lead Pittsburgh over Baltimore in 1971.

It was not Clemente's first World Series. He hit .310 when the Pirates upset the Yankees in 1960, but that series is remembered for one swing by Bill Mazeroski.

But Clemente made the 1971 World Series his series. He had turned 37 years old that summer. At an age when many ballplayers are slowing down, Clemente continued to play at an exceptionally high level. He hit .341 that season.

He entered that fall with a resume filled with awards and honors. But these were the days before ESPN, Twitter and YouTube.

These days, a player does something great at the plate or in the field and within minutes people three time zones away can access it on their phone.

A small percentage of baseball fans around the country had actually seen Clemente play. The '71 series changed that. The media coverage allowed people to grasp the magnitude of Clemente's talent that simply could not be relayed on the back of a baseball card.

He had three hits in Pittsburgh's 4-3 win in Game 4, which tied the series at 2-2.

There was Clemente's throw in Game 6. Just feet from the wall in right field, he fielded a ball hit by Baltimore's Don Buford, turned and fired a one-hopper to catcher Manny Sanguillen, preventing Mark Belanger from scoring — no relay throw needed.

In Game 7, Clemente hit a solo home run in the fourth inning off of 20-game winner Mike Cuellar. The Pirates clinched the series that day with a 2-1 win.

It was the culmination of a Hall-of-Fame career and played out in front of the whole nation. Clemente played one more season, batting .312 and collecting his 3,000th career hit in 1972. Nobody suspected that Clemente was done. He wanted to play several more years, but a plane crash in the waters off the coast of Puerto Rico brought his untimely death.

If you go to a Pirates game nowadays, you see a fair number of Willie Stargell and Andrew McCutchen jerseys .... even an Andy Van Slyke or Jason Kendall jersey here and there. Each of those players have a special place in Pirates' history, but the number you see more often than any other is Clemente's 21.

It's fitting, considering all that he brought to the city of Pittsburgh, including one unforgettable October.

Derek Pyda is a staff writer for the Butler Eagle