Freddie Freeman named the Braves Roberto Clemente Award nominee
Major League Baseball today announced that Freddie Freeman was named the Atlanta Braves’ 2020 nominee for the Roberto Clemente Award, baseball’s most prestigious individual honor for Major Leaguers.
The Roberto Clemente Award 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. Wednesday, September 9 marks the 19 annual Roberto Clemente Day, which was established by Major League Baseball to honor Clemente’s legacy as a humanitarian and to officially acknowledge local 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 special tribute video will be played in ballparks.
Freddie Freeman is one of the 30 Club nominees for the annual award. Since his Major League debut in 2010, Atlanta Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman has been an advocate for the Atlanta Braves Foundation and its Braves Care community outreach efforts. Throughout his career, Freeman has supported the Braves Foundation through various club community ticket donation programs, monetary contributions, and player appearances.
This season, Freeman worked to make a difference in Braves Country amid the COVID-19 pandemic. In March, as the world was experiencing the drastic changes brought on by the Coronavirus, Freeman made a $125K commitment to Atlanta-based charities to combat food insecurity and homelessness. Freeman’s $50K donation to The Giving Kitchen helped pay rent and utilities for over 30 food service workers who lost their jobs during the pandemic. In addition, Freeman’s $50K contribution to the Atlanta Community Food Bank assisted their work with five local school districts to deliver meals to families at over 20 sites each week. Freeman also donated $25K to the Salvation Army, which he has been involved with since childhood, for their COVID-19 relief efforts.
“It is such an honor to be named the Braves’ nominee for the Roberto Clemente Award,” said Braves first baseman, Freddie Freeman. “I’m humbled to be associated with such great nominees from across the league, and proud of the work my teammates and players around Major League Baseball have done to better their communities.”
The league-wide winner of the Roberto Clemente Award will be selected via a blue ribbon panel, including Baseball Commissioner Robert D. Manfred, Jr., representatives from MLB-affiliated networks (MLB Network, FOX Sports, ESPN and TBS), MLB.com, as well as Roberto’s children, Enrique, Luis and Roberto Clemente, Jr. Beginning today, fans can vote for the Roberto Clemente Award via . The site will feature bios of each of the nominees and will allow fans to vote until the end of the season on Sunday, September 27. 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 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.