Tuesday marks Roberto Clemente Day around Major League Baseball, and most fans might not even realize it until the fifth inning.
There are no grandiose leaguewide celebrations for the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Hall of Fame outfielder, nor will you see every player wearing his No. 21 on the back of their jersey. They’ll instead wear a patch on the center of their uniforms, and each stadium’s public address announcer will most likely mention Clemente's name during pregame commentary.
Respectfully, that’s not enough. If Major League Baseball plans to continue holding Roberto Clemente Day, then the time has come for them to do much more than a patch and a few social media posts.
Do the Pittsburgh Pirates or Major League Baseball truly care about honoring Roberto Clemente?
Unlike Jackie Robinson Day and the various traditions associated with April 15, the league arguably treats Roberto Clemente Day more like an obligation than a meaningful event. What’s the point in having a day in his honor if the league doesn’t have every player wearing No. 21, as they do with Robinson each spring?
In fact, the Pirates pretty much told us how they, and the league itself, view Clemente. You might remember when the team went viral last April after removing his No. 21 logo from the right field wall at PNC Park. The replacement? An advertisement for an alcoholic drink.
Pirates president Travis Williams called it an “honest mistake,” which rightfully drew further criticism. Imagine if the Dodgers moved something celebrating Robinson to put up a banner for a car company or an online sportsbook. So why doesn’t anyone seemingly care about furthering Clemente’s legacy beyond the bare minimum?
In a story published Tuesday addressing a diminishing number of Puerto Rican-born All-Stars, ESPN’s Jorge Castillo called Clemente a “hero” and someone who “inspired generations” of Latin American players.
“Clemente was the island’s first baseball superstar, and his tragic death only added to his lore,” Castillo wrote.
What kind of message does it send, then, that not even Clemente’s former team truly appreciated what he meant to the sport as both a 15-time All-Star and an immensely respected humanitarian?
What can Major League Baseball do to properly honor Pittsburgh Pirates legend Roberto Clemente?
The easy answer is for Major League Baseball to simply retire Clemente’s No. 21 leaguewide, which is an incredibly rare feat in North American professional sports. Outside of Robinson, only the NHL (Wayne Gretzky’s No. 99) and NBA (Bill Russell’s No. 6) have entirely retired a number, outside of those who were grandfathered in until their careers ended. (That’s why Mariano Rivera kept wearing No. 42 until throwing his final pitch in 2013.)
Counting the Pirates, there are five MLB teams that have retired No. 21, although the others did it for their own players.
Team | Player | When was No. 21 retired? |
|---|---|---|
Atlanta Braves | Warren Spahn | 1965 |
Cleveland Guardians | Bob Lemon | 1998 |
New York Yankees | Paul O'Neill | 2022 |
San Francisco Giants | Jeff Kent | 2026 |
That’s an impressive group, by the way. Kent just joined Spahn and Lemon in the Hall of Fame earlier this summer, and O’Neill was a beloved All-Star outfielder who won four championships with the Core Four Yankees. Even now, the sound of fans chanting O’Neill’s name in his final game at the old Yankee Stadium might warm your heart.
You know what else would warm our hearts? Seeing Major League Baseball take Roberto Clemente Day seriously and begin the process of retiring No. 21.
As of September 2026, there is no indication that the league plans to retire Clemente’s No. 21 across the sport. Robinson didn’t have his No. 42 retired leaguewide until 1997, a full 50 years after he broke the color barrier. This December marks 54 years since Clemente’s death.
But in the eyes of Major League Baseball, a patch is enough. For the Pirates, their priority was whatever money they received from Surfside. To them, Clemente is nothing more than a Hall of Famer who has his own day every Sept.15 to coincide with Hispanic Heritage Month.
At this point, why even bother? The league might as well have all 15 home stadiums put an “in memoriam” photo of Clemente on the jumbotron and call it a night.
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