Are Pirates destined for Puerto Rico?
How likely Pittsburgh will play games in Clemente’s hometown
A report surfaced out of Puerto Rico on Thursday that said the Pirates could play in Roberto Clemente’s hometown of Carolina as early as 2025, either during the regular season or spring training.
An article in El Nuevo Dia, Puerto Rico’s largest daily newspaper, quoted Pirates vice president of people and strategy Nayli Russo-Long as saying there have been cursory discussions with the local entrant in the Roberto Clemente Professional Baseball League, the Carolina Giants, who play their home games at Roberto Clemente Walker Stadium.
Sources later contacted by the Post-Gazette indicated that it hasn’t been much more than that — planning and very preliminary talks as opposed to something formal that has involved Major League Baseball, which would obviously have to occur before an event like this could be staged.
That said, it does make a lot of sense.
The Pirates were supposed to play the Marlins in Puerto Rico in 2016, but Zika virus concerns scuttled those plans. The last time MLB played games in Puerto Rico was 2018, when the Twins and Guardians met at Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan.
As for why something like this could come together …
MLB remains interested in international events and special-event games. In fact, this season MLB will hold games in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; Seoul, South Korea; Mexico City; London; and Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Ala.
A return trip seems long overdue, and aligning the Pirates with Clemente’s hometown and a 13,000-seat stadium bearing his name would be perfect. At the same time, when contacted by the Post-Gazette, the league said it was basically still in the evaluative stages for future events.
If something like this were to happen, the first step would be for the Pirates and the Carolina
Giants to get together and discuss logistics. That also doesn’t mean that anything is imminent, a point MLB made in its response.
Spearheaded by a push from manager Derek Shelton and the rest of the current Pirates regime, the group has been aggressive when it comes to celebrating the legacy of Clemente.
When team president Travis Williams talked at MLB’s Winter Meetings earlier this month, the Post-Gazette asked about the possibility that the Pirates could force an MLB-wide retirement of his iconic No. 21.
“Obviously we all celebrate the legacy and life of Roberto Clemente, what he meant to the Pirates in particular,” Williams said. “I think we’d all love to see his number retired across the league. We certainly celebrate on Clemente Day. We’ve retired it ourselves, but we also celebrate on Clemente Day by wearing 21.
“It’s nice that the league has now recognized that as a day of service and a day that is celebrated across the entire league. We would certainly support the league in its efforts if that happened. We would love to see it happen if it would be possible.”
This all happened because the Roberto Clemente Professional Baseball League declared that “Roberto Clemente Day” would be celebrated every Dec. 21 during the local championship and everyone would celebrate by wearing 21.
The interplay between the clubs also makes sense because there’s an agreement that creates a pathway for Pirates minor leaguers to play winter ball with the Giants. Eddy Yean and Valentin Linares did that this year.
Bottom line, the Pirates returning to Puerto Rico could very well happen. It’s hard to see the organization fighting it, and there would be benefits for MLB. But much exists between now and that becoming reality.