Major League Baseball announced that Jose Ramirez was named the Guardians 2023 nominee for the Roberto Clemente Award presented by Capital One, baseball’s most prestigious individual honor for Major Leaguers.
The Roberto Clemente Award presented by Capital One is the annual recognition of a Major League player who best represents the game of Baseball through extraordinary character, community involvement, philanthropy and positive contributions, both on and off the field.
As part of the annual program, each MLB Club nominates one player to be considered for the league-wide Award in tribute to Clemente’s achievements and character.
Ramírez feels responsible for youth in each of his homes, Cleveland and Baní, and is investing in the future of each community. Last year, Ramírez worked with the Guardians to build José Ramírez Field in the Clark-Fulton neighborhood, home of the largest Latino population in Ohio. Ramírez’s gift rejuvenates a growing community and provides a home turf for the nearby Lincoln West High School baseball team and the Guardians RBI teams.
In Baní, Ramírez has partnered with the Guardians to refurbish El Play de Villa Majega, the baseball field he played on as a kid. The field will provide the community of Baní with a safe space to compete on the field and escape the threats of everyday life. An outfield wall will keep kids away from dangerous streets and will prevent garbage from entering the playing field. Bases and rubber on the pitcher’s mound will allow kids to play without pipes and tires serving as bases. Youth will have a place to develop, to share in new experiences, to work hard, and to work as a team. “El play,” or “the field,” the central focus of the neighborhood, will become even more popular of a hangout.
In his second year as a Guardians Youth Baseball and Softball Ambassador, Ramírez visits youth baseball and softball players in Cleveland and in Baní to teach them the game, answer their questions, and distribute equipment.
Most recently, Ramírez hosted a Play Ball Clinic at Estadio De Baseball Luis Maria Herrera in Baní. He came with present and former teammates and spoke about respect for parents, hard work, the importance of education, and dedication to baseball. He pitched to the kids. And he handed out matte helmets, aluminum bats, and gloves to youth who likely had never owned any real baseball equipment.
In Cleveland, Ramírez has developed a relationship with the Guardians RBI program. His visit with RBI players in July allowed him to relate to the baseball and softball players about what it’s like to live in poverty, what it’s like to want to make it to the big leagues, and in one case even what it’s like to be a father.
Friday, September 15th marks the 22nd annual Roberto Clemente Day presented by Capital One, which was established by Major League Baseball to honor Clemente’s legacy as a humanitarian and to formally acknowledge Club nominees of the Roberto Clemente Award. As part of the league-wide celebration, the Roberto Clemente Day logo will appear on the bases and official dugout lineup cards and a customized tribute video to Roberto will be shown in all MLB ballparks on Roberto Clemente Day as well as on MLB Network, MLB.com, Club sites and MLB Social Media Platforms.
- English-version: https://www.mlb.com/video/roberto-clemente-award
- Spanish-version:https://www.mlb.com/es/video/premio-roberto-clemente
The league-wide winner of the Roberto Clemente Award presented by Capital One will be honored at the 2023 World Series following selection by a blue-ribbon panel. This panel includes representatives from the Commissioner’s Office, Capital One, MLB-affiliated networks (MLB Network, FOX Sports, ESPN and TBS), MLB.com, the National Baseball Hall of Fame, as well as Roberto’s children, Enrique, Luis and Roberto Clemente, Jr. Beginning today, fans can vote for the Roberto Clemente Award presented by Capital One via MLBTogether.com/clemente21 (in both English and Spanish). The site, which will feature bios of each of the nominees, will allow fans to vote until the end of the season on Sunday, October 1st. The winner of the fan vote will count as one vote among those cast by the blue-ribbon panel.
The concept of honoring Major League players for their philanthropic work was created in 1971 as the “Commissioner’s Award.” The recognition was renamed to the “Roberto Clemente Award” in 1973 tribute to Clemente following his passing
Jose will be honored pregame on Friday, September 15.
Official Cleveland Guardians Press Release
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