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Report: MLB allowing more players to wear No. 21 on Roberto Clemente Day

Michael Zagaris / Getty Images Sport / Getty

Major League Baseball will allow more players to wear No. 21 on Wednesday to honor the late Roberto Clemente, sources told ESPN's Marly Rivera.

All Puerto Rican players and uniformed personnel, the 2021 Roberto Clemente Award nominees, and the six active recipients of past Clemente awards will be permitted to wear No. 21.

The 2021 nominees were announced on Tuesday.

Additionally, any player, regardless of heritage, can request to wear No. 21 as long as they give their team enough time to create a uniform, Rivera adds.

All uniformed MLB personnel will wear a No. 21 commemorative patch on their jersey to honor the legacy of the Puerto Rican Hall of Famer, who died in a plane crash on New Year's Eve in 1972 while attempting to deliver aid to earthquake victims in Nicaragua.

MLB is also set to announce Sept. 15 as the official commemoration date for Clemente moving forward, according to Rivera's sources. In the past, the league honored him in early-to-mid September.

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