21

The PG reports today that the President of Hispanics Across America, Francisco Mateo, plans to start a crusade to have Roberto Clemente's #21 retired across the league by the All-Star Game next year. I initially wasn't sure if this was a good idea or not because I had the impression that most of the guys that wore 21 in the majors were Latino and were doing it to honor Roberto, a tribute as fitting as having his number retired league-wise in my eyes. A quick survey of the rosters proved me quite wrong, however. I could find only Esteban Loaizia and Sammy Sosa among Latino players wearing 21 (and I'd speculate Upper Saint Clare native Sean Casey wears 21 for the same reason). According to Wikipedia, only two other teams have 21 retired, the Indians and the Braves (Bob Lemon and Warren Spahn). One would assume that Roger Clemens' 21 will be retired at least in New York and maybe Boston, though he may have made enough enemies along the way to prevent that from ever happening anywhere but in Houston. Obviously, from the point of view as a Pirate fan who grew up with stories of the great Roberto and his heroic death, I think this is a great idea. Still, I'm curious what other people think about this from outside of a Pittsburgh perspective. Roberto Clemente wasn't the first Latino player in the league, though you could argue he was the most influential. I'm not sure if this will fly, though, because if you were to retire Clemente's number leaguewide you would open the door for a lot of other people to argue their number should be retired league-wise. Thoughts?