According to the article "Clemente's Impact Wanes in Puerto Rico 40 Years after His Death," which event takes place months before the author attends a party on New Year’s Eve 1972?

Roberto Clemente recorded his 3,000th hit on September 30, 1972, about three months before New Year’s Eve. He died in a plane crash on December 31, 1972, the same day as the party, so that event did not happen months earlier.

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