Indians Pitcher Carrasco Named as 2015 Nominee for the Roberto Clemente Award

CLEVELAND – The Indians announced today that pitcher Carlos Carrasco has been named as the 2015 nominee for the Roberto Clemente Award. Here is the official release about Carrasco and his efforts in the community.

Major League Baseball and Chevrolet, the official vehicle of MLB, today announced that Carlos Carrasco was named the Cleveland Indians 2015 nominee for the prestigious Roberto Clemente Award presented by Chevrolet.

Carrasco, who’s also come into his own on the field – he ranks sixth in the AL in strikeouts this season — has sought out opportunities to make a difference in the lives of Cleveland-area kids and students.

Those efforts include:

* Luis Munoz Marin School: Carrasco visited kids in grades K-8 at the inner-city school, stressing the importance of reading to the students.

* Indians Youth Baseball Camp: Carrasco has visited summer camps a few occasions to teach children the game’s fundamentals.

* Oberlin College students: Met with Spanish-as-a-second-language students from the school to detail his challenges in speaking his native tongue in a new country.

Through Cleveland Indians Charities, he and his wife, Karelis, have and will continue to participate in other worthwhile endeavors to impact the Cleveland-area community. Upon signing a long-term contract extension this past offseason, Carrasco said that once he’d committed to Cleveland long term, his goal was to make a larger impact in the community.

Wednesday, September 16th marks the fourteenth annual Roberto Clemente Day, which was established by Major League Baseball to honor Clemente’s legacy and to officially recognize local Club nominees of the Roberto Clemente Award presented by Chevrolet. Carrasco is one of the 30 Club finalists for the annual award, which recognizes a Major League Baseball player who best represents the game of baseball through positive contributions on and off the field, including sportsmanship and community involvement. The Roberto Clemente Award presented by Chevrolet pays tribute to Clemente’s achievements and character by recognizing current players who truly understand the value of helping others.

Beginning on Roberto Clemente Day, fans are encouraged to participate in the process of selecting the winner of the Roberto Clemente Award presented by Chevrolet by visiting ChevyBaseball.com, which is powered by MLB Advanced Media, to vote for one of the 30 Club nominees. Voting ends on Friday, October 9th, and participating fans will be automatically registered for a chance to win a trip to the 2015 World Series, where the winner of the Roberto Clemente Award presented by Chevrolet will be announced.

Clubs playing at home on September 16th will recognize their local nominees as part of Roberto Clemente Day ceremonies, while visiting Clubs will honor their nominees before another September home game. As part of the league-wide celebration, the Roberto Clemente Day logo will appear on the bases and official dugout lineup cards and a special tribute video will be played in ballparks.

The concept of honoring players for their philanthropic work was created in 1971 as the “Commissioner’s Award,” but was renamed to the “Roberto Clemente Award” in 1973 in honor of the Hall of Famer and 15-time All-Star who died in a plane crash on New Year’s Eve 1972 while attempting to deliver supplies to earthquake victims in Nicaragua. Each September since 2002, Major League Baseball has commemorated Roberto Clemente Day.