Roberto Clemente's son sheds light on Pirates meeting after team draws fury for removing tribute
EXCLUSIVE: Roberto Clemente Jr. met with Pittsburgh Pirates officials on Monday to figure out ways to further honor the legacy of his legendary father following the outcry about the team removing an outfield tribute to the Baseball Hall of Famer.
The tribute was placed on the right-field wall – a sign with Roberto Clemente’s name and No. 21. Fans noticed before the team’s home opener that the tribute was removed in favor of an advertisement for an alcoholic beverage.
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Clemente’s son expressed dismay about the decision in a statement over the weekend, but he told Fox News Digital the two sides were "brainstorming" ideas about how to properly rectify the situation after having an initial conversation with the team.
"Right now, we’re going to be brainstorming. We need to iron out some ideas that we have listed. I’m not going to get into the details right now," he said. "But I think we should have something in the next couple of weeks to at least really kind of tie in this new relationship with the Pirates. And I think things happen for a reason.
"This is something we feel really tied in with the team forever. I always say that I was born with an eyepatch and I would die with an eyepatch, even though I never played for the Pirates, but obviously, I’ve been connected and it doesn’t matter where I go, I am representing the Pirates and we, as a family, have always been ambassadors, not only to the game but for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
"I truly do know that fans show their support and some frustration to a lot of things that are going on. I believe that we can have a great outcome from this conversation that will benefit the fans of Clemente in Pittsburgh."
Clemente said he learned about the tribute’s removal through social media.
"I never really realized that the sign was down until later on when I got home through social media seeing the post there," he explained. "It was very surprising to me. I was surprised and obviously my reaction was ‘wow.’ That’s all I said and I left it at that.
"Little did I know it was going to catch fire and obviously there’s a lot of emotions with the fans and the team and some frustrations and I think that kind of was the last straw for a lot of the big Pirate and Clemente fans, and they took it upon themselves to express themselves, and obviously it was an overwhelming response. It was something that I didn’t think a ‘wow’ would actually be that big, but obviously it wasn’t really the wow, it was actually the fact that the sign had come down and there was an advertisement on the wall."
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The Pirates organization said removing the tribute was an "honest mistake."
"We did not intend to disrespect the legacy of Roberto Clemente by adding the advertisement to the pad in right field," team president Travis 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."
The team said it would return the No. 21 logo.
"We have used this area for advertisements for many years. When we didn’t have a sponsor coming out of COVID, we added an additional element in 2022 to honor the legacy of Roberto," Williams added. "It was a replica of the Three Rivers signate honoring him.
"This is in addition to the many elements throughout the ball park 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.
"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."
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