Jan 22 2008 07:39 AM
New York's City Council attempting to force Bud Selig into a no-win spot.
Clemente's No. 21 May Be Retired From Play
By BENJAMIN SARLIN
Special to the Sun
January 22, 2008
Hispanic baseball pioneer Roberto Clemente's uniform number 21 will be retired from use by all 30 teams in Major League Baseball if the New York City Council has its way.
The council will debate a resolution today calling on the commissioner of baseball, Allan "Bud" Selig, to permanently set aside Clemente's number in honor of the player's achievements on and off the field.
Only Brooklyn Dodger Jackie Robinson, who broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball, has been previously afforded such an honor. Mr. Selig announced at a 1997 event commemorating the 50th anniversary of Robinson's first game that no player would ever again be allowed to wear the number 42. Members of Robinson's family have since argued that his status should remain unique given his iconic role in America's civil rights struggle, and leaders of the Jackie Robinson Foundation say the City Council should mind its own business and stop meddling in baseball.
The president of the Jackie Robinson Foundation, Della Brittan Baeza, responded to the City Council's new push with a statement: "All of us at the Jackie Robinson Foundation respect and admire Roberto Clemente's achievements. The decision as to how to honor his legacy in baseball belongs solely to Major League Baseball." The foundation, which was founded by Robinson's family after his death in 1972, awards college scholarships to minority students.
Clemente was one of the most accomplished baseball players of his generation, winning World Series rings in 1960 and 1971, an MVP award in 1966, and making 12 all-star appearances over 18 seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Hailing from Puerto Rico, Clemente helped lay the groundwork for the many Latino baseball stars that followed him. After he died in 1972 in a plane crash while delivering aid to earthquake victims in Nicaragua, he became the first Latino player to be admitted to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Every year Major League Baseball honors a player who has distinguished himself through volunteer work with the Roberto Clemente Award in honor of the late ballplayer's humanitarian efforts.
City Council members say Clemente's achievements have earned him a place alongside Robinson.
"I'm supporting it because Roberto Clemente is a major hero with the Latino community," a co-sponsor of the resolution calling for his number to be retired, Council Member Joel Rivera, said yesterday. "While Jackie Robinson represents so much to our community, we have to recognize that so does Roberto Clemente."
Council Member Michael Nelson, another co-sponsor of the resolution, defended the Council's role in stepping up to the plate for Clemente.
"It's not important of course as saving people in Darfur," Mr. Nelson said. "But it is something we can express our feelings on. I think all legislative bodies get involved with these kinds of activities occasionally."
Behind the effort is Fernando Mateo, the president of Hispanics Across America, an advocacy group in New York City. Mr. Mateo, who also leads the New York State Federation of Taxi Drivers and was a big campaign fundraiser for President Bush, has been pressing Major League Baseball for years to recognize Clemente's achievements by retiring his number.
Mr. Mateo says he has collected nearly a quarter of a million signatures in support of Clemente, but that his efforts have lost some momentum since Mr. Selig in 2006 awarded Clemente a Commissioner's Historic Achievement Award, which the player's widow, Vera Clemente, accepted on his behalf.
"We believe that one African-American should not get all of the merits of having his number retired," Mr. Mateo said in a phone interview yesterday. "I think it's an honor that should be shared with the Hispanic community and we should be able to honor the ballplayer that fought for our civil rights within the game, struggled during his entire career to send a message of equality, a man that was compassionate, a man that had much better records and statistics than Jackie Robinson."
In 2006, Robinson's daughter, Sharon Robinson, told the press that she wanted her father's jersey number to be the only one retired across the league.
"To my understanding, the purpose of retiring my father's number is that what he did changed all of baseball, not only for African-Americans but also for Latinos, so I think that purpose has been met," Ms. Robinson said at the time when asked about an earlier drive to retire Clemente's number. "When you start retiring numbers across the board, for all different groups, you're kind of diluting the original purpose."
The question of which player was better on the field is debatable. Baseball scholar Bill James ranks Robinson 32nd and Clemente 74th all-time while the Sporting News puts Clemente at 22nd and Robinson at 44th. Robinson's career was significantly shorter than Clemente's, giving Clemente the edge on most overall stats. But Robinson played his first season at age 27, raising the question of what he might have achieved if he had been allowed to begin his career earlier. The two compiled similar batting averages, home runs, and RBIs, given their career lengths, but Robinson was a much faster player than Clemente and also had a significantly higher on-base percentage.
As for their off-the-field significance, Robinson is generally regarded as the more important player. While Robinson was the first modern player to break the famous color barrier, many Latino players preceded Clemente, where the barrier was always murkier. Cuban pitcher Dolf Luque, for example, won three ERA titles from 1914-1935 during his career with the Dodgers and Giants. Chico Carrasquel became the first Latino all-star in 1951, playing for a White Sox team that featured several Latino players. He participated in four all-star games including one in 1955, the year Roberto Clemente arrived in the league.
Currently about a dozen active players wear Clemente's number 21, including Mets star Carlos Delgado, who is also from Puerto Rico, Tigers pitcher Dontrelle Willis, and Nationals first baseman Dmitri Young.
