ROYALS OUTFIELDER ALEX GORDON AMONG NOMINEES FOR 2015 ROBERTO CLEMENTE AWARD PRESENTED BY CHEVROLET
MLB Players Will Be Recognized for Community & Philanthropic Efforts To Help Celebrate the 14th Annual Roberto Clemente Day on September 16th
Beginning on Roberto Clemente Day, Fans Can Vote on ChevyBaseball.com for the Overall Winner and Register for a Chance to Win a Trip to the 2015 World Series
Major League Baseball and Chevrolet, the official vehicle of MLB, today announced the names of the thirty Club nominees for the 2015 Roberto Clemente Award presented by Chevrolet. The annual, prestigious Award 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.
Each Club nominates one player to be considered for the Roberto Clemente Award presented by Chevrolet in an effort to pay tribute to Clemente’s achievements and character by recognizing current players who truly understand the value of helping others. 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 acknowledge local Club nominees of the Roberto Clemente Award presented by Chevrolet.
The 30 Club nominees of the 2015 Roberto Clemente Award presented by Chevrolet feature thirteen 2015 MLB All-Stars (*=MLB All-Star):
Arizona Diamondbacks – Paul Goldschmidt*
Atlanta Braves – Jason Grilli
Baltimore Orioles – Brian Matusz
Boston Red Sox – Brock Holt*
Chicago Cubs – Anthony Rizzo*
Chicago White Sox – David Robertson
Cincinnati Reds – J.J. Hoover
Cleveland Indians – Carlos Carrasco
Colorado Rockies – Kyle Kendrick
Detroit Tigers – Miguel Cabrera*
Houston Astros – George Springer
Kansas City Royals – Alex Gordon*
Los Angeles Angels – Hector Santiago*
Los Angeles Dodgers – Adrian Gonzalez*
Miami Marlins – Dee Gordon*
Milwaukee Brewers – Jonathan Lucroy
Minnesota Twins – Torii Hunter
New York Mets – Curtis Granderson
New York Yankees – Mark Teixeira*
Oakland Athletics – Stephen Vogt*
Philadelphia Phillies – Ryan Howard
Pittsburgh Pirates – Andrew McCutchen*
St. Louis Cardinals – Adam Wainwright
San Diego Padres – Andrew Cashner
San Francisco Giants – Javier Lopez
Seattle Mariners – Charlie Furbush
Tampa Bay Rays – Chris Archer*
Texas Rangers – Adrian Beltre
Toronto Blue Jays – Jose Bautista*
Washington Nationals – Denard Span
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. MLB and the Pittsburgh Pirates will be activating a new element to the celebration of Clemente’s legacy this year with “SEAT 21.” On Roberto Clemente Day, a seat at PNC Park will be dedicated to a local community agent of change who will be recognized alongside the Pirates’ Roberto Clemente Award nominee (Andrew McCutchen).
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.
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.
The distinguished list of past Roberto Clemente Award winners includes 16 members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame:
| 1971 | Willie Mays+** | 1983 | Cecil Cooper | 1995 | Ozzie Smith+ | 2007 | Craig Biggio+ |
| 1972 | Brooks Robinson+** | 1984 | Ron Guidry | 1996 | Kirby Puckett+ | 2008 | Albert Pujols |
| 1973 | Al Kaline+ | 1985 | Don Baylor | 1997 | Eric Davis | 2009 | Derek Jeter |
| 1974 | Willie Stargell+ | 1986 | Garry Maddox | 1998 | Sammy Sosa | 2010 | Tim Wakefield |
| 1975 | Lou Brock+ | 1987 | Rick Sutcliffe | 1999 | Tony Gwynn+ | 2011 | David Ortiz |
| 1976 | Pete Rose | 1988 | Dale Murphy | 2000 | Al Leiter | 2012 | Clayton Kershaw |
| 1977 | Rod Carew+ | 1989 | Gary Carter+ | 2001 | Curt Schilling | 2013 | Carlos Beltran |
| 1978 | Greg Luzinski | 1990 | Dave Stewart | 2002 | Jim Thome | 2014 | Paul Konerko * |
| 1979 | Andre Thornton | 1991 | Harold Reynolds | 2003 | Jamie Moyer | 2014 | Jimmy Rollins * |
| 1980 | Phil Niekro+ | 1992 | Cal Ripken, Jr.+ | 2004 | Edgar Martinez | ||
| 1981 | Steve Garvey | 1993 | Barry Larkin+ | 2005 | John Smoltz+ | ||
| 1982 | Ken Singleton | 1994 | Dave Winfield+ | 2006 | Carlos Delgado |
+ Member of The National Baseball Hall of Fame
* Co-winner
** Originally known as the Commissioner’s Award (prior to 1973)