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By Maren Angus-Coombs
Contributing Sports Writer
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There is a movement within the baseball community and it started with a hashtag on social media. The hashtag "#retire21" is being used by people who want Pittsburgh Pirates legend Roberto Clemente's No. 21 retired universally.
Clemente spent 18 seasons playing for Pittsburgh and his number is retired by the franchise but not by Major League Baseball. Pirates manager Derek Shelton recently posted a video of him at the Roberto Clemente exhibit outside of loanDepot Park in Miami. His post ends with the hashtag.
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The exhibit is titled "3,000" and consists of 10 bright yellow modules depicting photos of Clemente's life. He became the first Latin American-born major league player with 3,000 hits and the exhibit was on display during the Caribbean Series in early February.
Many of the photos had been unpublished before the museum debuted in September 2022 in Puerto Rico's capital city of San Juan. Several of the photos featured are moments that were captured before and after his 3,000th hit against the New York Mets at Pittsburgh's Three Rivers Stadium. There are other photos of him reading fan mail in the clubhouse and others of him with his family.
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The museum made its first stop in the United States in Pittsburgh in September 2023. Dennis Rivera-Pichardo is the director of photography at a Puerto Rican newspaper, El Nuevo Día, and curated the exhibit. He estimated more than 150,000 people showed up to view the collection in Puerto Rico, as well as another 200,000 in Pittsburgh.
"For Puerto Ricans, Clemente is the biggest ballplayer in our history," Rivera-Pichardo said. "But being able to take it to his baseball hometown in Pittsburgh, people love him (there) as much as people in Puerto Rico, and as much as people in Nicaragua."
Clemente wasn't just known for his efforts on the baseball field, he was also a philanthropist. Clemente died on Dec. 31, 1972, when his plane crashed off the coast of Puerto Rico while he was delivering relief supplies to earthquake victims in Nicaragua. He was 38.
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There are photos in the exhibit from the moments after the crash with his wife, Vera, looking through black binoculars at the rescue efforts. Also on display are photos of emergency personnel diving into the water on a search and rescue mission.
The museum will be on display in Miami until May 2 and will travel to New York in June. After that, Rivera-Pichardo plans to donate the exhibit to the Nicaraguan people.
Clemente became the first Latin American ever elected into the Hall of Fame. The five-year waiting period was waived and he was elected just months after his tragic death. His career ended with a .317 career batting average, 3,000 hits, four National League batting titles, 15 All-Star appearances, 12 Gold Gloves, and two World Series titles.
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