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ESPN’s Clinton Yates Lays Into Pirates After Roberto Clemente Controversy

Ryan Phillips

ESPN's Clinton Yates on "Around the Horn."
ESPN's Clinton Yates on "Around the Horn." / Via ESP
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The Pittsburgh Pirates are being blasted for a very dumb decision, and the roasting of the team continued into the new week.

On Monday's episode of Around the Horn, ESPN's Clinton Yates used his "Face Time" segment to lay into the Pirates for removing a tribute to franchise great Roberto Clemente at PNC Park and replacing it with an advertisement. Yates did not hold back.

"The Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park took down a sign commemorating Roberto Clemente in right field to put up a booze ad, and they didn't even consult the family," Yates said. "I'm sorry, what are we doing, Pirates? They didn't talk to the family about it, they said it was an honest mistake. An honest mistake? He's the most important player in the history of the franchise. How do you make that mistake at all?“

"There's two words for what's been going on in the Pirates organization for 40 years: bush league. Get it together, man. It's the most embarrassing thing I've seen happen in a major league ballpark in some time."

That's an epic, A-plus rant from Yates and he hit the nail squarely on the head.

The Pirates returned the tribute to the right field wall, but the damage was more than done.

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Ryan Phillips
RYAN PHILLIPS

Ryan Phillips is a senior writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has worked in digital media since 2009, spending eight years at The Big Lead before joining SI in 2024. Phillips also co-hosts The Assembly Call Podcast about Indiana Hoosiers basketball and previously worked at Bleacher Report. He is a proud San Diego native and a graduate of Indiana University’s journalism program.

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