Pirates to restore Clemente's No. 21 to wall at PNC Park

PITTSBURGH -- After some voiced displeasure from fans and Roberto Clemente Jr., the Pirates announced Sunday that they are adding the No. 21 logo back to the pad on PNC Park’s right-field wall, where it had been displayed the past three seasons.

Prior to the 2022 season, the Pirates added a logo in honor of Roberto Clemente Wall, but it was never meant to be a permanent tribute to the Hall of Fame right fielder and humanitarian. In the opening series at PNC Park, that logo had been replaced by an advertisement.

PNC Park’s right-field wall has two 21s above the videoboard that were unchanged – and there are other tributes to Clemente throughout the ballpark and the surrounding area – but those numbers are smaller than the removed logo.

The change drew ire, including from Clemente’s son, who took to X to voice his displeasure about the team not communicating with the Clemente family that the logo was removed:

The Pirates announced Sunday that they will be adding the logo back to the pad, with the news coming from a released statement by team president Travis Williams, which can be found below:

“We did not intend to disrespect the legacy of Roberto Clemente by adding the advertisement to the pad in right field.

“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.

“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. It was a replica of the Three Rivers signage honoring him.

“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.

“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.”