Roberto Clemente’s legacy still felt in Pittsburgh and across MLB

Clemente is one of the most beloved figures in Pirates history.

Oxford Languages defines a hero as a person who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities. Pittsburgh Pirates icon Roberto Clemente was a hero and lives on in the words and actions of Pittsburgh natives and Latin Americans over 50 years later.

December 31, 2024, marks the 52nd anniversary of Clemente’s death, dying in a plane crash while delivering relief supplies to earthquake victims in Nicaragua. Baseball in Pittsburgh lives on, but has never been the same.

Major League Baseball immediately waived the five-year waiting period and inducted Clemente into Cooperstown at the Hall of Fame. He was only 38-years old.

Clemente is one of the most accomplished players in baseball history and the gatekeeper to the 3,000-hit club. Clemente earned his 3,000th hit in his final week of baseball and finished with a .317 career average.

He recorded a 94.9 WAR with an awards list necessitating multiple large trophy cases. Clemente was elected to 15 All-Star Games, won 12 Gold Gloves, four batting titles, and two World Series titles (1960, 1971). His 12 Gold Gloves all came in a row from 1961-1972.

The 1971 World Series MVP, Clemente hit an extraordinary .414 in 29 at-bats including two doubles, one triple, two home runs, and four RBIs. A clutch two-run homer in Game 7 catapulted the Pirates to their fourth World Series crown.

Clemente won the 1966 NL MVP with career highs in home runs (29) and RBIs (119). He slashed .317/.360/.536 with a .896 OPS and 11 triples during his age-31 season.

He represented the Pirates in the outfield at the 1961 All-Star Game alongside stars Willie Mays and Hank Aaron. Playing in the minors as a 19-year-old and eligible due to signing bonus and playing time rules, the Pirates saw an opportunity and took Clemente as the first pick of the 1954 Rule 5 Draft. It was the greatest decision in franchise history.

What Clemente did was change the culture of baseball. He paved the way for a new generation. Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in 1947, but Clemente took it a step further for players in Latin America. To them, Clemente is their hero, like he is to so many in Pittsburgh over 50 years after his passing.

It wasn’t just that Clemente was an incredible player on the field with arguably the greatest arm in right field anyone has ever seen. It was how he handled himself in the media, in the community, with children, young baseball fans and players, and with the Pirates organization.

It’s why you see numerous Clemente jerseys sometimes outweighing those of current players outside of Andrew McCutchen at the ballpark as paying homage and a sign of love and respect. I have three different styles in my own closet.

I never saw Clemente play. I never saw the way he made fans and players smile. I never saw the greatness Clemente displayed at the plate and in right field.

What I have seen is the 21-foot high right-field wall at PNC Park honoring the iconic Pirate.

I’ve had the chance to hold Clemente’s bat at a Pirates game while wearing a shirt honoring him.

For someone who talks and writes for a living, it’s difficult to put into words what Clemente means to Pittsburgh. My dad was 10 years old when Clemente died. He went to multiple games with my grandfather at Forbes Field and Three Rivers Stadium marveling at the greatness Clemente displayed with this bat and his incredible arm. My dad cried the day Clemente passed. Many Yinzers did the same.

A mural on Madison Ave. in East Allegheny sits just outside the parkway heading to the North Hills. You can’t drive by without admiring.

Clemente means the most to Pittsburgh and Latin Americans, but his reach and impact far exceeded the Steel City. You wouldn’t expect Chicago and Orlando to be hotbeds for No. 21.

The Clemente Award honors the player who best exemplifies humility, respect, humanitarianism, character, courage, and dedication to the fanbase and community, everything Clemente and his surviving family members stand for.

Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Perez is the 2024 recipient of the honor. A native of Valencia, Venezuela, Perez played in Pittsburgh on September 15, universally known as Clemente Day around baseball. The Royals captain honored “The Great One” by donning a large “21” on his catcher’s gear and later donated it to the Clemente Museum.

“When we do something, we do it because it’s coming from my heart,” Perez told ESPN. “I don’t like to do things because somebody asks me to do it. When I sit with my mom and want to do something, we just do. We don’t have to post anything on social media. I don’t like that. If I do, I do it for my heart.”

Perez assists over 200 athletes through his youth baseball league and actively volunteers in Columbia, Venezuela, and Kansas City. He leads those in Columbia and Venezuela dealing with food insecurity and already helped more than 10,000 families in Valencia.

“I’ve read a lot [about] Roberto Clemente. I know he was an amazing player, but he was even better outside the field,” Perez said.

All Pirates players and select players among the other 29 teams wore 21 this season and each team nominates a representative. Andrew McCutchen – Pittsburgh’s adopted son from Fort Meade, Florida, who named his son Steel in a very ironic tip of the cap to the city – won the award during the memorable 98-win 2015 season at PNC Park.

The Clemente Museum on Penn Ave in Lawrenceville is a time capsule taking fans back in time remembering why The Great One should have his stamp forever marked on Major League Baseball.

A “Retire 21” banner to universally retire Clemente’s No. 21 across the sport often waives on the left-field rotunda at the ballpark. Robinson’s No. 42 is the only number in any of the four major sports to remain in the rafters and all retired numbers. Clemente should receive similar treatment.

Sidney Crosby, Mario Lemieux, Franco Harris, Rocky Bleir, Troy Polamalu, and others exemplify what it means to be adapted Yinzers and past or present members of helping the community.

Clemente set the standard and established the impact a high-level athlete could have. It’s a story not fit for Hollywood, but perfect for a blue-collar area that might be a big city, but exemplifies a small town.

Roberto Clemente means more to Pittsburgh than it could ever mean to him and his family. But that’s exactly what makes him so great. That’s what makes Clemente a hero and the aura and inspiration of a legend still grasping the respect of baseball almost 70 years after debuting. The Great One left the greatest impact on Pittsburgh anyone could imagine and his legacy will live on for generations upon generations of Pirates and baseball fans to come.