CHICAGO (670 The Score) -- MLB teams and players celebrated Roberto Clemente on Wednesday, honoring the late Hall of Fame outfielder for the Pirates who passed away in a plane crash in 1972.
The big celebration came in Pittsburgh, where the entire Pirates team wore Clemente’s No. 21, marking the first time a player in their organization wore that number since it was retired by the team in 1973. In Chicago, Cubs shortstop Javier Baez – a native of Puerto Rico, like Clemente – also wore No. 21.
“I am really excited, man,” Baez said before the Cubs hosted the Reds. “A lot of people are talking now about retiring it. It's a pretty important number. Clemente and Jackie Robinson have different stories, but people see them to be both (very important). It will be an honor to wear 21.”
MLB hands out the prestigious Roberto Clemente Award at the World Series each year to honor a player who best exemplifies the qualities and strong character that Clemente had on and off the field. Clemente was renowned for his charitable work and died trying to deliver supplies to earthquake victims in Nicaragua.
Cubs outfielder Jason Heyward was his team’s Clemente Award nominee this season.
"We have had discussions around the game and with Nike that this is a day that really needs to be there,” Heyward said. "We talk about Jackie Robinson Day, and that opened the doors for everyone to play. To me, he is about a huge piece of our game and our culture. Everyone should be proud of where they come from. I am happy to go out today with Javy and Victor (Caratini, another Puerto Rice native) and know we will have a patch on our jersey and some of us will get a chance to wear No. 21. Hopefully, next year everyone will wear them.”
Robinson’s No. 42 is retired in baseball. Should Clemente’s No. 21 be retired by all teams as well?
“Why not?” Heyward said. “42 is retired, why not 21? You can’t leave out significant people with that big of movements in our game going on. I know he wasn't the first and only Hispanic player in the game. He left a mark. So for me to be the nominee this year, it’s all about humility, giving back and putting others before yourself. So I feel like how can you not retire a number that important in our game of baseball?”
Bruce Levine covers the Cubs and White Sox for 670 The Score. Follow him on Twitter @MLBBruceLevine.