The Pirates celebrated Roberto Clemente’s legacy by wearing his number during the organization’s first “Roberto Clemente Day” on last night against the White Sox. The number 21 was mowed into the right-field grass a few hundred yards from where Clemente stood at Three Rivers Stadium. Major League Baseball granted the Pirates permission for everyone to don No. 21 last week, then extended it to all Puerto Rican-born players.
Clemente’s iconic No. 21 has been a fixture in Pittsburgh for more than 60 years. Its presence has only grown since the Hall of Fame outfielder’s death at age 38 on New Year’s Eve 1972 in a plane crash off the coast of his native Puerto Rico.
Clemente’s family and the team he represented are hoping the league will one day honor Clemente by retiring his number across all of MLB as it did for Robinson’s No. 42 in 1997.