Clemente Crusade: Group Wants MLB to Retire #21

Clemente crusade: Group wants major-league teams to retire Pirates great's No. 21

Wednesday, August 31, 2005
By Shelly Anderson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Fernando Mateo, president of Hispanics Across America, has a vision for July, when baseball's All-Star Game and its activities come to PNC Park.

He wants to see legendary Pirates right fielder and Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente's uniform No. 21 retired across the major leagues.

"One of the proudest days of my life will be to see Mrs. [Vera] Clemente with her three children watching that No. 21 being retired," Mateo said yesterday before he had a scheduled news conference in New York to promote his idea.

"Our goal is to get it retired by the All-Star Game," Mateo said. "We're starting a national campaign."

No. 42, worn by Jackie Robinson, who broke baseball's color barrier, is the only uniform retired across the major leagues.

Mateo believes Clemente is worthy of the same honor, and his organization is conducting a petition to gather support.

"The bottom line is that in this era of so many Latin ballplayers being caught up in scandals, and looking back at Roberto Clemente who was our true national hero in terms of baseball, the way he lived his life, the way he died to help save others -- that merits his number being retired by every ballclub," Mateo said.

Clemente spent his 18-year major-league career with the Pirates. He was a 12-time All-Star and a 12-time Gold Glove winner. He won four National League batting titles and had a career average of .317. In his last at-bat in 1972, Clemente got his 3,000th hit.

The following New Year's Eve, he died in a plane crash off the coast of his native Puerto Rico while on a relief mission to Nicaragua.

In 1973, the Pirates retired his No. 21, and he became the first Latin American to enter the Baseball Hall of Fame when the standard five-year waiting period was waived.

"We think we have a very strong argument," Mateo said.

Ray Schulte, agent for the Clemente family, said his clients support the campaign.

"The Clemente family would be honored," Schulte said. "We know there are people out there who admire him and feel the same way. There's so many people out there who loved him, so it doesn't surprise the family that somebody has undertaken this.

"Not only would it perpetuate his name, but it would help the Roberto Clemente Sports City."

Clemente's widow runs the sports complex in Puerto Rico.

Mateo said he wrote baseball commissioner Bud Selig about his idea.

"The response was fairly positive," he said. "They understand what our concerns are, they understand who Roberto Clemente was for our community, and they're going to very seriously consider it."

Richard Levin, spokesman for MLB, acknowledged correspondence with Mateo.
"We told him we would take it under advisement." Levin said, declining to speculate on any further action.

A Pirates spokeswoman said the team would defer comment to Major League Baseball.
"Right now we're at the beginning of a huge crusade and we're going need all the help we can get," Mateo said.

(Shelly Anderson can be reached at shanderson@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1721.)

On the Internet
To sign the online petition, in English or Spanish, go to retireclemente21.com.Fernando Mateo is looking for volunteers to collect signatures at all major-league ballparks. To get involved, call Hispanics Across America at 212-481-1820 or visit haamerica.org.