According to Marly Rivera of ESPN, all Mets and Pirates players and coaches will wear No. 21 on Sept. 15 to commemorate Roberto Clemente Day. Last season, players of Puerto Rican descent across the league were granted permission to wear Clemente’s No. 21 on Roberto Clemente Day. Additionally, all nominees for the 2021 Roberto Clemente Award, six active winners of the award, and the entire Pirates roster were allowed to wear the retired number.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the tragic plane crash that Clemente died in while on a humanitarian mission to bring supplies to people affected by an earthquake in Nicaragua.
As part of the events on Roberto Clemente Day at Citi Field, Dave Winfield, former Met Carlos Delgado, and former Clemente Award winners will take part in a food-packaging volunteer event to honor Clemente. Delgado won the Roberto Clemente Award back in 2006 when he played for the Mets.
The Roberto Clemente Award nominees were announced on Thursday afternoon with catcher James McCann representing the Mets. The award is given annually to a player who demonstrates the values Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente displayed in his commitment to community and understanding the value of helping others. The winner is selected from 30 nominees during the World Series.
Pete Alonso was the Mets nominee in 2021 and the last Mets player to win the award was outfielder Curtis Granderson in 2016. Delgado, Granderson, Al Leiter (2000), and Gary Carter (1989) are the four Mets to win the award that has been given out since 1971.
