The Pittsburgh Pirates responded to their latest controversy by reversing their decision to remove a logo with Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente’s name and No. 21 below the right-field foul pole.
Pirates president Travis Williams took responsibility for replacing the logo with a Surfside ad without first informing the Clemente family. Clemente’s son, Roberto Jr., caused a stir Saturday when his one-word response – “WOW” — to a social media post about the logo change drew 1.7 million impressions.
WOW………….. https://t.co/qcL1O6zPZ2
— Roberto Clemente Jr (@RClementejr21) April 5, 2025
“We did not intend to disrespect the legacy of Roberto Clemente by adding the advertisement to the pad in right field,” Williams said in a statement. “When we added the advertisement to the pad, it was an oversight not to keep the No. 21 logo. This is ultimately on me, not anyone else in the organization. It was an honest mistake. We will be adding the No. 21 logo back to the pad.”
Williams said the Pirates have used the space for advertisements for “many years” but added the Clemente logo — a replica of Three Rivers Stadium signage honoring the 15-time All-Star, 12-time Gold Glove winner and four-time NL batting champion — when they didn’t have a sponsor after the covid-19 pandemic.
“This is in addition to the many elements throughout the ballpark that honor his legacy, including the fact that the wall is named the Roberto Clemente Wall, is 21 feet tall and has two No. 21s on it,” Williams said. “We want to make sure that the Clemente family understands that we intended no disrespect to their father. We look forward to continuing our relationship with the Clemente family and apologize to them and our fans for our honest mistake.”
The Clemente controversy comes after an offseason when fans paid for billboards around town urging Pirates chairman Bob Nutting to sell the team and had an airplane fly over PNC Park before the home opener with a banner that read, “SELL THE TEAM BOB.”
A two-time World Series champion who holds the franchise record with 3,000 hits, Clemente is the most beloved player in franchise history not only for his brilliant play but because he died at age 38 when his plane crashed while delivering humanitarian supplies to Nicaraguan earthquake victims on New Year’s Eve 1972.
That put the Pirates in the position of doing damage control Saturday night during the second game of their three-game series against the New York Yankees. Brian Warecki, the team’s senior vice president of communications and broadcasting, sought to clarify that the logo next to the 21-foot wall in right field that is named for Clemente was only meant to be temporary.
“Roberto Clemente is more than a Hall-of-Fame player to us,” Warecki said in a statement. “His legacy helps define who we are as an organization. One would be hard-pressed to find a franchise that pays tribute to one of their historically great players more than the Pittsburgh Pirates do of Roberto Clemente, and rightfully so. Each and every day, we proudly honor and celebrate Roberto Clemente, the person, the player, and the humanitarian in and around our ballpark, as well as through our charitable endeavors.”
Warecki listed all of the ways that Clemente is celebrated at PNC Park, from the bridge that bears his name connecting Downtown to the North Shore, the retired No. 21 on the riverwalk ramp leading up to Federal Street to the 12-foot-tall bronze statue outside the center field gate and retired No. 21 on the upper deck facia, two separate, stand-alone No. 21 logos on the facia of the right-field wall, artifacts in the newly created Season Ticket Holder headquarter location, his No. 21 jersey and photos on display on the club level, commissioned artwork commemorating his 3,000th hit on the main concourse and his photos and No. 21 on display in the office of manager Derek Shelton.
Warecki wrote that Clemente is the inspiration behind Pirates Charities and its signature programs, that the Pirates have worked to ensure the team is home every Sept. 15 to honor his legacy, including the pregame ceremony, in-game programming and the No. 21 logo stenciled into the right field grass. The Pirates also successfully petitioned MLB to allow the entire team to wear Roberto Clemente’s No. 21 on the league-wide Roberto Clemente Day, host a Roberto Clemente Day of Giving program in which current players and coaches conduct community service in his honor and conducted an organization-wide effort to collect needed supplies and personally deliver them to the people of Puerto Rico in the wake of Hurricane Maria in 2017.
“The 21-foot-high wall that officially bears Roberto Clemente’s name continues to, and will forever, display his No. 21 in two separate locations,” Warecki said in the statement. “The temporary wall sign in question was put in place prior to the 2022 season and was never meant to be a permanent tribute, simply another cap tip to ‘The Great One.’ We apologize that we didn’t directly communicate that fact to the Clemente family and our fans.”