The Pittsburgh Pirates found themselves in the news for all the wrong reasons this weekend. Not only did the team drop two of the first three games in its opening home series of the year to the New York Yankees, the organization placed itself firmly in the crosshairs of the entire fanbase by replacing a Roberto Clemente logo on the right field wall with an advertisement for a canned cocktail beverage.
The Pirates got slammed by many, including Clemente's son, on Saturday after fans realized the logo had been swapped out for an ad. The franchise's explanation didn't smooth matters over; the Pirates said the logo was never meant to be permanent and insisted they do a perfectly fine job of honoring Clemente's legacy otherwise. Yet the criticism continued to rain and Roberto Clemente Jr. torched the organization for how the whole matter was handled in a strong message.
Now, the Pirates have capitulated. In a statement released Sunday by team president Travis Williams, the franchise announced its intention to put the logo back on the wall— but not without attempting to explain, one last time, why the whole situation wasn't as bad as it seemed.
"We did not intend to disrespect the legacy of Roberto Clemente by adding the advertisement to the pad in right field," Williams said in the 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 organiztion. 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 all 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."
The Pirates have released another statement on the team's decision to cover a Roberto Clemente tribute logo with an advertisement, this one coming from team president Travis Williams. The logo will be added back to the wall. pic.twitter.com/aLJJkXbd1X
— Noah Hiles (@_NoahHiles) April 6, 2025
Calling the decision a "mistake" seems to fly in the face of the previous statement, which insisted the logo was supposed to be temporary. But the Pirates clearly heard the outcry of their fans.
The Clemente logo will be back on the PNC Park right field wall.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Pirates to Return Roberto Clemente Logo to Outfield Wall After Outcry.
