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Eddie Rosario, the Minnesota Twins left-field player, can not remember the exact year, but he was a junior baseball player in his port, Puerto Rico, when he had the choice between two jerseys: the number 21 or another.
"I'm not Roberto Clemente," said Rosario, 27, who now wears one of the closest options, No. 20. "I can not wear that."
Number 21 is sacred to baseball, especially for Puerto Ricans, because it was the long-standing number of Clemente, the iconic player from the island. Even when he was young at Guayama, Rosario knew the importance of Clemente, which led him to join the majority of major leagues in Puerto Rico to do something that the Major League Baseball did not do. did not: refuse the use of the number 21 to try to remove it. .
Of the 235 Puerto Rican-born players who have played in the major leagues since Clemente's death 47 years ago, only 16 have used the number 21 – and none in the past five seasons, according to Baseball Reference.
"It's very powerful," said Luis Clemente, 52, one of Roberto Clemente's sons.
In addition to Roberto Clemente's achievements on the field – 15-time All Glory Award winner, 12-time Gold Glove Award winner, two-time World Series champion with the Pittsburgh Pirates and a 3,000-hit club member – he was a fervent defender of Latino players and Jim Crow's segregation. A year after his death in a plane crash on December 31, 1972, while escorting relief after the Puerto Rico earthquake in Nicaragua, Clemente became the first Latin American player to be inducted at the Baseball Hall of Fame.
On Monday and Tuesday, the Major League Baseball paid tribute to Jackie Robinson, who broke through the color barrier on April 15, 1947, forcing each player to wear his No. 42 jersey, which was retired in 1997 and remains the only one. to receive this special offer. honor by all 30 teams. Many Puerto Ricans believe that the same retirement on the MBT scale should also go to Clemente, who also debuted in the major leagues this week, April 17, 1955.
In the four decades since Clemente's death, movements, campaigns and petitions calling for the withdrawal of No. 21 have been abundant. The argument is particularly strong today, with the percentage of Latino players rising to nearly 30% in the major leagues. he is even higher in the minor leagues. M.L.B. more and more effort to take into account the influence of Latinos in general, whether through television advertising or the Ponle Acento campaign ("Emphasize it") which led to more authentic renditions of names on jerseys.
At an event in San Juan, Dominican Republic last year, at the unveiling of a memorial dedicated to Clemente, Governor Ricardo A. Rosselló of Puerto Rico asked Commissioner Rob Manfred, also present, to remove number 21 from the commission.
"His work speaks volumes, so I think that, as Jackie Robinson represents the greatness of baseball and much more, Roberto Clemente thinks so much, especially for Latinos around the world," Rosselló said later. "So I think the time is right to retire, No. 21."
With or without official direction, many Puerto Rican players have basically tried to delete the number themselves, thus leaving a chance to use the number 21 all their lives. (The only Clemente team in the Major League, the Pirates, retired at No. 21.)
"No Puerto Rican will use this number because of Roberto Clemente," Spanish-born Carlos Correa, a 24-year-old star of Puerto Rican superstar Houston Astros, said in Spanish. "In my eyes: Roberto Clemente is a figure for Latinos, just as Jackie Robinson was for African Americans. Clemente not only broke the barriers but inspired other Latinos to get into baseball. "
"I never tried to use the number 21," added his compatriot Edwin Díaz, 25, who is the closest to the Mets who uses the number 39. "This is something everyone can not not use it. "
Yadier Molina, the star receiver of the Cardinals of St. Louis, and Carlos Beltrán, a former star player and currently special advisor to the Yankees, they both won the Clemente Award and the two Puerto Ricans also gave up using the number 21 during their career.
"You can use it to honor it or you can see it as something you do not want to touch because the way it wore the # 21 is difficult to do the same way", said Beltrán in Spanish. "It's not impossible, but it will be really difficult. You will always have this shadow of Clemente, and many players avoid using it. "
Clemente's legacy remains strong in Puerto Rico, where its resemblance points to the island. Near a main entrance to Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan, "#Remove21" is painted in a mural depicting a memorable image of Clemente: After clinching the 3,000th and last shot of his career, he put his cap on the crowd at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. In 2016, No. 21 was officially retired all over the island, from the professional winter league named Clemente at the youth level.
All players did not avoid the number. Ruben Sierra, who has spent most of his 20 seasons in the big leagues with the Texas Rangers, and first-timer Carlos Delgado, who has played for 17 seasons, were among the few Puerto Rico-born players. to wear number 21 during their career.
Delgado said he used it in the minor leagues and during the 1996 season with the Toronto Blue Jays before giving it to starter Roger Clemens, a new acquisition and more experienced player, in 1997. Delgado returned to No. ° 21 from 2006 to 2009., when he was with the Mets.
"In my case, the decision was not difficult," he said in Spanish during a phone interview. "I thought it was so important that it was a way to recognize it. I understand the flip side, I do not use the number to honor it, but as long as you honor his memory and his career, I think it's an O.K. "
Even then, Delgado said he was in favor of removing Clemente's number, his legacy being comparable to Robinson's. Delgado, who won the Clemente Award in 2006, said he did not know why the 21st had not yet retired, but he wondered if Mr. L..B. One could also feel the pressure to also remove a number of illustrious actors from Venezuela or the Dominican Republic, two countries that have produced many great defenders.
Luis Clemente, whose family worked with M.L.B. about past initiatives involving his father and his legacy, has a different idea regarding the honor of No. 21. He pleaded not only in favor of a starting figure to the retirement, but somehow a unique and visible recognition – such as a badge on the jersey or hat – to be worn by the winner of the Clemente Prize the previous year; he did not have official discussions with Mr.L.B. about the idea.
"My uncle – my father's only living brother – thinks people will forget if they do not see the number," Clemente said. "I do not think that's necessarily true. But that must go hand in hand with a visible reminder.
For the moment, so many current and former players have taken the case in hand that for some, the problem is solved.
"We recognize what he's done and we know that this number should be retired," said Ricky Bones, 50, former Major League Thrower and coach of Guayama, PR. "In our hearts, he is retired. "
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