Forever 21: Curve retire Clemente's number

The Altoona Curve -- the Pirates’ Double-A affiliate -- retired the number of one of Pittsburgh’s all-time greats: Roberto Clemente.

The retirement ceremony took place ahead of Friday’s game against Reading. Altoona’s defeat to the Reading Fightin Phils, 4-1, barely put a damper on the day’s festivities.

The Curve conducted interviews with the Clemente family pregame, and while these stories were played on the videoboard, the Roberto Clemente Museum brought artifacts -- including game-worn jerseys and bat replicas -- for fans to view and touch.

“It's one of the heaviest bats that was ever used in the Majors,” Altoona general manager Nate Bowen said. “So that was cool that [fans] could actually see and touch something that was essentially a replica of what he used when he was playing.”

Altoona has been Pittsburgh’s Double-A affiliate since its inception in 1999. The organizational relationship with the Pirates, plus Altoona's proximity to the Steel City -- less than a two-hour drive -- added to the sentimentality of the event honoring one of baseball's legends.

The black and gold "21" is commemorated in right field of PNG Field, in front of the iconic Skyliner roller coaster.

“It took me back to when we unveiled the Clemente statue in 1994 [in Pittsburgh],” Roberto Clemente Jr. said. “Just kind of seeing and just waiting for that moment to see it was pretty cool.”

RCIII got tonight’s game underway! pic.twitter.com/3QvmoDLCPA

— Altoona Curve (@AltoonaCurve) July 22, 2023

Though Clemente is an icon in both the Pirates' organization and Major League Baseball at-large, it was the ballplayers with Latin American roots that took to the promotion most.

“Really, the players on both teams that are from anywhere in Latin America have such a respect for Clemente, his whole family and his legacy,” Bowen said. “It's awesome to be able to see that now."

Since 2002, MLB has used Sept. 15 as Roberto Clemente Day, yet another way that the Hall of Famer is commemorated. Earlier this year, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania established a holiday on the same day to honor the legendary Pirate.

In addition, the Roberto Clemente Award remains one of the most prestigious and respected awards baseball bestows. The award is given each year to the player who best exemplifies character and service on and off the field, traits which were part of Clemente's overall persona. Though the award has been presented since 1971, its name changed from the Commissioner’s Award shortly after Clemente’s tragic death in a plane crash while attempting to deliver relief supplies to earthquake victims in Nicaragua.

“[Fans] believe that he was perhaps the first Latino superstar,” Clemente Jr. said. “But he was someone that represented us -- all of us.”