A few weeks after the SF Giants put Jeff Kent’s No. 21 into retirement, that number may still surface in orange and black - just not in the way fans are used to.
The Giants will never issue No. 21 to another player, but on Roberto Clemente Day, some players around MLB can still wear it as a tribute to Clemente, whose legacy is honored every September 15. Clemente, the Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder, was a phenomenal player who tragically died in a plane crash at 38. Since No. 21 was his number, MLB has allowed certain players to wear it for the day as part of the league’s remembrance.
That exception has grown over time. Pirates players can wear No. 21, players from Puerto Rico can wear it, and so can Roberto Clemente Award winners or nominees. Giants fans saw that before, when Heliot Ramos wore No. 21 after becoming the first right-handed hitter to launch a ball into McCovey Cove, doing so because he is from Puerto Rico.
Ramos is no longer with the team after being traded to the New York Yankees, and San Francisco’s Roberto Clemente Award nominee last year was Ryan Walker, who seems like he will never make another appearance for the Giants again. With no Giants from Puerto Rico currently on the active roster, there may not be anyone wearing the number this season.
Still, the possibility remains. At the very least, players will wear a patch with No. 21 on it.
For the number-history obsessives, there’s always a little extra intrigue in figuring out who wore a jersey right before it got retired. Some numbers, like Buster Posey’s and Barry Bonds’, feel unofficially locked away the moment those players stop. Others make their way through a few more hands before they’re retired for good.
In the case of No. 21, the last Giant to wear it before retirement was Andrew Knizner last season. And No. 22 had its own random final chapter too, with Dan Uggla, Eli Whiteside, and Jake Peavy all wearing it before the Giants retired it for Will Clark.
That’s part of what makes jersey numbers so fun: they become instant shorthand. Giants fans see Kent. 49ers fans think of Frank Gore.
Plenty of others think of Clemente. And now, with Kent’s number retired, there’s one fewer number in the twenties available for a Giants player to call his own.
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