PHOENIX _ Kike Hernandez wasn't sure words such as honor and pride were enough, or if language existed to convey the depth of his feelings.
Instead, he used the diamond as his canvas and his bat as the paint brush, honoring his native Puerto Rico's preeminent sporting idol in perhaps the most profound way possible.
On Roberto Clemente Day, Hernandez homered in his first at-bat, sending a high fly ball into the left-field seats in the second inning of the Los Angeles Dodgers' 6-4 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks. A two-run 10th inning was fueled by RBIs from Chris Taylor and AJ Pollock.
Like other Puerto Rican MLB players on Wednesday, Hernandez donned Clemente's No. 21 on his jersey. After he crossed home, he patted the number and pointed to the sky.
"It was great, very fitting," manager Dave Roberts told SportsNet LA minutes later. "To get him a start, get him in there to wear 21, homer _ and I know he gave a little something as he crossed home plate _ very happy for Kike."
Hernandez was more than happy to honor one of his heroes.
Almost half-a-century after Clemente's death, when his plane en route to help Nicaraguan earthquake victims crashed in the ocean on New Year's Eve in 1972, the legacy of baseball's first Latin American Hall of Famer is still held high.
"It's special," said Edwin Rios, who also wore 21 on Wednesday as the Dodgers' only other Puerto Rican player. "As a Puerto Rican, you grow up looking up to Roberto Clemente for everything he did and what he stands for.
"I don't want to say (he was) the perfect human, but he put everybody else before himself. He died to go take food and clothes to people in Nicaragua. It's crazy the person he was. If I can be half the person he was, I think I'll be OK."
Words and remembrances, however, capture only so much of Clemente's greatness. Actions speak volume too. And an increasing number of voices inside the sport, Hernandez and Rios included, are pushing for more permanent methods to memorialize Clemente.
Hernandez on Wednesday repeatedly tweeted the hashtag #Retire21, supporting the movement around baseball to retire Clemente's number leaguewide.
Rios also supported that idea and said during a pregame video call that he wished all MLB players wore 21 on Wednesday, not just Puerto Rican players and members of the Pittsburgh Pirates, the team with which Clemente spent the entirety of his 18-year, 3,000-hit, 15-time-All-Star career.
"But," Rios added, "this is a start. Hopefully in the coming years, we'll be able to have every team wear his number on this day."
Roberts also believed the idea, which would be similar to how baseball honors Jackie Robinson, deserves further consideration.
"Latin players, not only Puerto Rican players, identify with Roberto Clemente," Roberts said. "You look at the landscape of Major League Baseball now, Latin American players a big part of it and why this industry has flourished. I probably don't know enough, but I really hope we consider as an industry to retire Roberto Clemente's number not only because of what he did for baseball when he was playing, but even currently."
Roberts joked that he wished he could have put Hernandez in Clemente's primary position of right field, where Mookie Betts is a mainstay, on Wednesday.
