Kiké Hernández makes uniquely beautiful tribute to Roberto Clemente

This week, the players and teams of Major League Baseball paid tribute to one of baseball’s greatest stars and humanitarians, Roberto Clemente.

The Pittsburgh Pirates star tragically passed away on New Year’s Eve 1972, when the plane he’d chartered to deliver supplies to Nicaragua after a devastating earthquake crashed in the ocean after taking off from his native Puerto Rico. He was only 38 years old.

In his honor, MLB presents the Roberto Clemente Award each year to one player who “who best represents the game of Baseball through extraordinary character, community involvement, philanthropy and positive contributions, both on and off the field.” Since 2002, September 15, the first day of Hispanic Heritage Month, has been Roberto Clemente Day, honoring the man known as “The Great One.”

The Boston Red Sox had Thursday off, so they wore the ’21’ patches on their jerseys on Friday night, instead. But super utilityman Kiké Hernández also came up with a unique tribute of his own:

Red Sox star Kiké Hernández paid tribute to Roberto Clemente with custom cleats

The bespoke footwear from Stadium Custom Kicks depicts highlights of Clemente’s life and career. His visage peers out at you from the right heel; the Puerto Rican flag and a Flor de Maga, the island’s national symbol, are on the left, alongside a reminder that Clemente collected exactly 3,000 hits in his career. The jersey number many think should be retired league-wide peppers the right shoe, accompanied by ‘Santurce’ and a vibrant blue crab for the Cangrejeros (Crabbers) team he played on as a teen. 1966, the year he won the only MVP award of his 18-year career (though he received MVP votes in 12 of the last 13 seasons), winds around the toe bed, and his graceful signature is on each cleat. Pittsburgh’s iconic Sixth Street Bridge, renamed in Clemente’s honor in 1998, is there too. And it’s all emblazoned on a bright yellow background, the color of the team he played for his entire Hall of Fame career.

A fellow native of Puerto Rico, Hernández has proudly paid tribute to Clemente throughout his career and campaigned for his number to be retired by the league. In September 2016, he posted an Instagram wearing special Clemente caps, and captioned it “Roberto Clemente Day #Retire21.” In 2020, he and Dodgers teammate Edwin Rios, the two Puerto Rican players on the roster, wore 21 on Clemente Day.

Kiké Hernández and Alex Cora strive to carry on Roberto Clemente’s legacy

Hernández was born in San Juan and helped Puerto Rico take home the silver medal in the 2017 World Baseball Classic. Signing with the Red Sox ahead of the 2021 season reunited him with someone who also strives to honor and emulate Clemente: his WBC manager who’s now Red Sox skipper, Alex Cora.

Cora grew up in Caguas, south of San Juan. His brother Joey was a member of the Pirates coaching staff from 2017-21, and their father played in winter leagues with Clemente when he’d come home from Pittsburgh in the offseason. Before the younger Cora managed Team Puerto Rico to the 2017 WBC, he played on the team in 2006 and 2009.

When the Sox offered Cora the job in the fall of 2017, he made only one demand: that the organization provide aid to his homeland after the devastation of Hurricane Maria. The stipulation was inspired by Clemente’s work.

Two months later, the Sox and JetBlue delivered nearly ten tons of supplies to San Juan and Caguas. Chris Sale, Christian Vázquez, team president/CEO Sam Kennedy, Boston mayor Marty Walsh, and Sox assistant GM, Eddie Romero Jr., a San Juan native whose father had played for the Sox, joined Cora on the trip.

Less than a year later, Cora became the first Puerto Rican manager to win a World Series. As he stood on the podium holding the trophy, he had a message for his beloved island: “This is for you, guys.”

Days later, he arrived home, trophy in hand.

When the Sox played in Pittsburgh last month, Cora brought his players, including Hernández, to the Roberto Clemente Museum. Later, as he sat in the visiting dugout at PNC Park, the beautiful successor to Three Rivers Stadium and Forbes Field, the ballparks Clemente called home for so many years, he reflected on the legend’s impact:

“The guy was, I always said a Hall of Famer as a baseball player, [but] there has to be something bigger than the Hall of Fame up there, and he’s part of that.”

On his t-shirt, a duotone depiction of Clemente’s face wore a thoughtful expression.

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