The Roberto Clemente Award: Brothers showing up for others
Five MLBbros were recently nominated for one of the most prestigious honors in baseball—the Roberto Clemente Award.
Aaron Judge, Tony Kemp, Josiah Gray, Marcus Stroman, and Hunter Greene are among the players under consideration.
The award annually recognizes “the player who best represents the game through extraordinary character, community involvement, philanthropy, and positive contributions, both on and off the field,” according to MLB.com.
Clemente, an Afro Latino from Carolina, Puerto Rico, is widely viewed by baseball historians as one of the greatest players of all-time, spending his entire Major League Baseball career, spanning from 1955 to 1972, with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He was also a revered humanitarian who died at the age of 38 in a plane crash on December 31, 1972, on a mission to deliver aid to Nicaragua after a massive earthquake shook the country.
While the five Black candidates for Roberto Clemente Award have had success on the field, the work the players have carried out off the field has also been lauded. The last Black player to earn the accolade was Curtis Granderson in 2016 when he was a member of the New York Mets. Andrew McCutchen won the award the prior year while playing for the Pirates.
Aaron Judge, New York Yankees
The 2022 AL MVP’s ALL RISE Foundation was created in 2018 and has helped more than 2,000 children in New York and his hometown of Linden, California. The organization has a mini-grant program that helps pay for registration and transportation to leadership conferences. The New York Yankees outfielder holds baseball camps as well.
Tony Kemp, Oakland Athletics
Kemp is on the player committee of Players Alliance, a collective of current and retired baseball and softball players, endeavoring to increase opportunities for Black communities in every aspect of baseball.
One of the initiatives in which Kemp is involved is the +1 Effect campaign, which aims to combat social injustice. He also is a avid supporter of the non-profit HCP Cureblindness
Josiah Gray, Washington Nationals
Gray is a player ambassador to the Washington Nationals Youth Baseball Academy. In that role he helps with fundraising efforts and serves as a mentor to the participants of the program.
Marcus Stroman, Chicago Cubs
Stroman’s Height Doesn’t Measure Heart Foundation provides opportunities for young people facing adversity in various aspects of their life. At only 5 foot 8 inches tall, the Long Island native and former New York Met beat the odds as his physical stature did not deter him from becoming a star pitcher for Duke University, two-time MLB All-Star, and 2017 World Baseball Classic MVP.
Hunter Greene, Cincinnati Reds
In his young MLB career, Greene has already become a prominent presence in communities across Cincinnati. One of his signature initiatives is an annual camp named the Hunter Greene Baseball Camp.
Fans can vote for the nominees until October 1 using the link http://mlbtogether.com/clemente21,
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