Fans of Pittsburgh Pirates in Roberto Clemente Jersey are sitting behind the statue, paying tribute to the Hall of Glory near PNC Park. (Photo by Justin Berla/MLB using Getty images)
(Justin Berl via Getty Images)
The tribute of the Pittsburgh Pirates Pittsburgh Roberto Clemente, which adorned the wall of the right field in the PNC park, was removed and replaced by advertising. This decision was outraged by the Clemente family, who stated that it was not informed about changing the leadership of the team.
Advertising
Paying attention to this question, which received a quick answer from the pirates, who announced that a sign consisting of a diamond with the name Clemente and his T -shirt No. 21 will return to its place in the right field, where the Glory Hall played everything except 68 of its 2373 games on the field. (He played 2433 games as a whole.)
The sign was on the wall near the pole of the right field. Nevertheless, an advertisement for Surfside alcoholic drink is now in its place. The changes were noticed by those present for the first time when the pirates played in their pirated newcomer on Friday against New York Yankees.
The son of Clemente, Roberto Clemente, Jr., published a statement on Sunday – on the same day When the pirates resigned for the Hall of Fame – regarding the removal of the sign dedicated to his father.
“Yesterday I was shocked by learning that the sign of Clemente 21 – a tribute to my father on the right field wall in the PNC park in Pittsburgh – was deleted and replaced by advertising,” wrote Clement, the youngest. “This change was made without any communication or consultations with our family.
“Although we appreciate that the pirates recognized their inability to inform us, this reveals a broader problem, the lack of significant cooperation between the organization and on issues that are deeply personal and historically significant for us and fans.”
Clemente Jr. continued gratitude to the fans of Pittsburgh and Basball fans all over the country for drawing inspiration from his father’s heritage, including his achievements on the field and philanthropy outside the field.
Advertising
The President of the team Travis Williams took responsibility for calling “an honest mistake” and “supervision”, which was never intended to disrespect the heritage of Clemente.
“We used this area for advertising for many years,” Williams said in his statement. “When we did not have a sponsor leaving Covid, in 2022 we added an additional element in honor of Roberto’s heritage. It was a copy of the sign “Three Rivers”, the honor of it. “
Williams added that the wall of the right field is 21 foot high, in honor of the number of Clemente, named by the wall of Roberto Clemente and has two No. 21 above the board outside the city along the wall.
PNC Park also has a statue of the Clemente near the central field gate of the stadium near the Roberto Clemente bridge leading to the stadium.
“We want to make sure that the family of Clemente understands that we did not intend to disrespect their father,” Williams continued in his statement. “We are looking forward to continuing our relations with the Clemente family and apologize to them and our fans for our honest mistake.”
Clemente died in 1972, when the aircraft, on which he was in supporting humanitarian aid, for the victims of the earthquake in Nicaragua, who crashed off the coast of his native Puerto -Riko.
The pirates resigned No. 21 in 1973, and many called that the number would be retired throughout the Harse League, since No. 42 of Jackie Robinson.
Clemente played all 18 of his MLB seasons with pirates, ending with 3,000 career hits, 240 homes and 1305 RBI with an average value of 0.317 and 0.834 OPS. He is the leader of the team in hits and is tied to most games played in the history of the franchise. He was introduced into the National Hall of Glory of baseball in 1973.
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