Pittsburgh Pirates fans haven't had much to celebrate so far this MLB season, with the team starting the 2025 campaign with a 2-7 record. The team's first series at PNC Park brought further frustration from the fanbase thanks to a big change in the outfield.
Pirates fans in attendance for the first home series of the year noticed the franchise had replaced a Roberto Clemente logo on the right field wall with an advertisement for Surfside, an alcoholic beverage brand. Clemente was a Hall of Fame player for the Pirates widely admired for his philantropic work, and MLB hands out an annual award in his honor to the player who most exemplifies community and sportsmanship for their team.
Just realized they replaced the Clemente logo on the right field wall with a Surfside ad 🥴 pic.twitter.com/Hz8qUBy6Sp
— Pittsburgh Clothing Co. (@PGHClothingCo) April 5, 2025
This development was not met with a positive reception, as fans blasted the team for choosing advertising money over honoring a baseball hero and franchise legend. It even got the attention of his son, Roberto Clemente Jr., who tweeted his astonishment from his X account.
WOW………….. https://t.co/qcL1O6zPZ2
— Roberto Clemente Jr (@RClementejr21) April 5, 2025
After the Pirates lost to the New York Yankees on Saturday, the organization released a statement explaining Clemente's logo on the right field wall was meant to be temporary and the team honors him in numerous other ways.
"Roberto Clemente is more than a Hall-of-Fame player to us," said Pirates Senior Vice President of Communications and Broadcasting Brian Warecki, via Noah Hiles of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "His legacy helps define who we are as an organization. One would be hard-pressed to find a franchise that pays tribute to one of their historically great players more than the Pittsburgh Pirates do of Roberto Clemente, and rightfully so. Each and every day, we proudly honor and celebrate Roberto Clemente, the person, the player, and the humanitarian in and around our ballpark, as well as through our charitable endeavors.
"The 21-foot-high wall that officially bears Roberto Clemente’s name continues to, and will forever, display his No. 21 in two separate locations. The temporary wall sign in question was put in place prior to the 2022 season and was never meant to be a permanent tribute, simply another cap tip to 'The Great One.' We apologize that we didn’t directly communicate that fact to the Clemente family and our fans."
The statement went on to list every way the Pirates continue to pay homage to Clemente, including that the wall in question was designed to be 21 feet in honor of his No. 21, and the statue of the Hall of Famer that resides outside the center field gate. There was no mention from the organization of potentially removing the ad to reinstall Clemente's logo.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Pirates Issue Statement on Replacing Roberto Clemente Logo With Advertisement.
