Pirates President Says Removing Roberto Clemente Logo From Stadium Wasn't Meant To Be 'Disrespectful'

The Pittsburgh Pirates have thankfully course-corrected one of the dumbest decisions they’ve made in recent memory.

It didn’t involve selling superstar pitching phenom Paul Skenes - it was way more idiotic than that. For absolutely no reason whatsoever, the Pirates thought it would be a great idea to remove a logo honoring franchise and MLB legend Roberto Clemente and replace it with an ad for Surfside, a booze company.

Clemente’s son, Roberto Jr., released a statement in which he shared that the Pirates didn’t even let him know they were going to make the change.

"Yesterday, I was shocked to learn that the Clemente 21 sign – a tribute to my father on the right wall at PNC Park at Pittsburgh – had been removed and replaced by an advertisement," his statement read. "The change was made without communication or consultation with our family. While we appreciate that the Pirates acknowledged their failure to inform us, it reveals a broader issue: a lack of meaningful collaboration between the organization and on matters that are deeply personal and historically significant to us and the fans."

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April isn’t even a full week old, and I can guarantee you this will be the dumbest organizational move we will see from an MLB franchise this season.

Pirates President Travis Williams released a statement after saying the spot on the right field wall has often been used for advertisements in the past. Thankfully, they are going to put the logo back.

"We did not intend to disrespect the legacy of Roberto Clemente by adding the advertisement to the pad in right field," the statement read in part.

While that’s a nice sentiment, Williams should have left that part out and said "This was my fault, it was wrong, we’re going to fix it." Intended or not, it was disrespectful, and you need to not try to save face in an obvious mistake like this.

Clemente’s memorial is going back to its rightful spot, but prioritizing a booze company over a franchise legend is a bad look that Pittsburgh fans will not soon forget.