Roberto Clemente Award Finalists Announced
By
Amanda
Posted at 11:20 pm
The press release is a little heavy on the marketing speak, but the award is a good one, so I’ll allow it.
Major League Baseball and Chevy, the official vehicle of Major League Baseball, today announced the names of the 30 Club nominees, including 13 MLB All-Stars, who are finalists for the prestigious 2009 Roberto Clemente Award presented by Chevy. The award is given annually to the Major League Baseball player who combines a dedication to giving back to the community with outstanding skills on the baseball field. Tomorrow will mark the eighth annual Roberto Clemente Day, which was established by Major League Baseball to honor Clemente’s legacy and to officially recognize local Club recipients of the Roberto Clemente Award presented by Chevy.
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Fans can once again participate in the selection process of the national winner of the Roberto Clemente Award presented by Chevy. From September 2 through October 4, fans are encouraged to log on to www.chevy.com/clemente and vote for one of the 30 Club nominees.
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The 30 Club recipients of the 2009 Roberto Clemente Award presented by Chevy feature 13 players selected for the 2009 All-Star Game:
- Arizona Diamondbacks – Eric Byrnes
- Milwaukee Brewers – Jeff Suppan
- Atlanta Braves – Tim Hudson
- Minnesota Twins – Joe Mauer*
- Baltimore Orioles – Nick Markakis
- New York Mets – Johan Santana*
- Boston Red Sox – Kevin Youkilis*
- New York Yankees – Derek Jeter*
- Chicago Cubs – Ted Lilly*
- Oakland Athletics – Kurt Suzuki
- Chicago White Sox – Paul Konerko
- Philadelphia Phillies – Cole Hamels
- Cincinnati Reds – Aaron Harang
- Pittsburgh Pirates – Paul Maholm
- Cleveland Indians – Jhonny Peralta
- St. Louis Cardinals – Albert Pujols*
- Colorado Rockies – Aaron Cook
- San Diego Padres – Adrian Gonzalez*
- Detroit Tigers – Curtis Granderson*
- San Francisco Giants – Barry Zito
- Florida Marlins – Hanley Ramirez*
- Seattle Mariners – Miguel Batista
- Houston Astros – Hunter Pence*
- Tampa Bay Rays – James Shields
- Kansas City Royals – Mark Teahen
- Texas Rangers – Michael Young*
- Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim – Torii Hunter*
- Toronto Blue Jays – Vernon Wells
- Los Angeles Dodgers – Orlando Hudson*
- Washington Nationals – John Lannan
*2009 MLB All-Star
The distinguished list of national Roberto Clemente Award recipients includes 13 members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame:
- 1971 Willie Mays*
- 1972 Brooks Robinson*
- 1973 Al Kaline*
- 1974 Willie Stargell*
- 1975 Lou Brock*
- 1976 Pete Rose
- 1977 Rod Carew*
- 1978 Greg Luzinski
- 1979 Andre Thornton
- 1980 Phil Niekro*
- 1981 Steve Garvey
- 1982 Ken Singleton
- 1983 Cecil Cooper
- 1984 Ron Guidry
- 1985 Don Baylor
- 1986 Garry Maddox
- 1987 Rick Sutcliffe
- 1988 Dale Murphy
- 1989 Gary Carter*
- 1990 Dave Stewart
- 1991 Harold Reynolds
- 1992 Cal Ripken, Jr.*
- 1993 Barry Larkin
- 1994 Dave Winfield*
- 1995 Ozzie Smith*
- 1996 Kirby Puckett*
- 1997 Eric Davis
- 1998 Sammy Sosa
- 1999 Tony Gwynn*
- 2000 Al Leiter
- 2001 Curt Schilling
- 2002 Jim Thome
- 2003 Jamie Moyer
- 2004 Edgar Martinez
- 2005 John Smoltz
- 2006 Carlos Delgado
- 2007 Craig Biggio
- 2008 Albert Pujols
* Member of Baseball Hall of Fame
The winner of the fan poll will receive one vote among those cast by the selection panel, which includes Vera Clemente, wife of the late Hall of Famer, and Commissioner Selig. Participating fans will also be automatically registered for a chance to win a trip to Game Three of the 2009 World Series, where the national winner of the Roberto Clemente Award presented by Chevy will be announced.
All Clubs playing at home on September 2 will acknowledge their local recipients as part of Roberto Clemente Day ceremonies. Visiting Clubs will honor their local Roberto Clemente Award presented by Chevy recipient during an upcoming homestand. As part of the league-wide celebration, the Roberto Clemente Day logo will appear on the bases and the official dugout lineup cards. MLB celebrates Roberto Clemente Day as part of its broader “MLB Going Beyond” platform, an initiative that strives to integrate community service and the importance of giving back.
great post “Any time you have the opportunity to accomplish something for somebody who comes behind you and you don’t do it, your wasting your time on earth”
Roberto clemente
lifetime ba .317 in 18 seasons all with the pirates. 13 seasons he batted over .300
won 4 batting titles, 12 gold gloves,NL mvp in 1969, world series mvp in 1971 which he batted .414 in the 1961 series he hit safely in all seven games tying a record
only one of 11 players with 3000 hits
was honored 2 times by the U S postal service with his likeness on a stamp,( which honors memories and accomplishments marking a enduring legacy) in 1984 & 2000 once is considered a great feat
Vin Scully said of Roberto’s arm ” Clemente could feild the ball in N.Y. and throw outb a guy in Pa.
Roberto devoted himself to helping others. in 1972 an earthquake devasted Nicaragua, Roberto headed up the Puerto Rican aid efforts. concerned that the Nicaraguan dictator milatary was stealing supplies, he personally decided to accompany one of the shipments. On new years eve he boarded a plane that crashed shortly after takeoff.His body was nevered recovered.
This event shook not only the world ,but baseball as well. Three days after his tragic death, the baseball hall of fame board of directors amended the eligibilty rules for Roberto and shortly thereafter, 93% of the baseball writers assc.voted for his inclusion in the hall of fame,and in doing so Roberto became the first latin americian player to enter the hall of fame
all info from http://www.postalmuseum.si.edu/clemente/exhibt
http://www.robertoclemente.si.edu/english/about_exhibit
the exhibit is called “beyond baseball: the life of Roberto Clemente”
it is a traveling exhibit and will be in cincy at the Underground Freedom Center from 2/11/11 through 4/17/11 and at the warren county historical society in lebanon 11/5/11 through 1/1/12
it is something you do not want to miss!!!!!
Wowee. Quite a guy.