San Francisco Giants Star Named Finalist for Prestigious MLB Award

San Francisco Giants outfielder Mike Yastrzemski is one of 30 players up for the Roberto Clemente Award.

Sep 3, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks catcher Jose Herrera (11) watches as San Francisco Giants right fielder Mike Yastrzemski (5) runs home to score during the ninth inning at Oracle Park. / John Hefti-Imagn Images

San Francisco Giants outfielder Mike Yastrzemski knows all about legacy.

He knows about it from his grandfather, Carl, who was a contemporary of Roberto Clemente, even though the pair played in different leagues.

On Monday, 34-year-old native of Andover, Mass., was named one of 30 finalists for the Roberto Clemente Award, one of baseball’s most prestigious individual awards.

If he wins the award he would join Giants legend Willie Mays, who won the inaugural award in 1971, which was before the award was re-named for Clemente.

It would also put him one-up on grand-dad, as Carl Yastrzemski, a former Triple Crown winner and member of the Baseball Hall of Fame, never won the award.

After Mike Yastrzemski hit his 100th career home run earlier this month, he and his grandfather joined baseball history as the fourth grandfather-grandson duo to each hit at least 100 home runs in their career.

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.

His participation in the “Mustache May” trend helped spark his interest in creating awareness for mental health struggles and he helped make it a formal campaign to give back to the community and focus on mental health and awareness for resources to support teammates and fans.

Yaz’s work has extended to support for mental health services for military, veterans and their families as 100 percent of the proceeds from his Mustache May merchandise go to support the Heart and Armor Foundation, which supports research around mental wellness.

He is also involved with hosting veterans events at Oracle Park, leading events to create care packages for service men and women returning home from deployment and supporting the nonprofit Family House, where he visits children with cancer and other life-threatening illnesses regularly.

Last year’s winner was New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge. The winner is usually announced during the World Series each October.

Other recent winners of the award include Justin Turner (2022), Nelson Cruz (2021), Adam Wainwright (2020), Carlos Carrasco (2019) and Yadier Molina (2018).

Sunday is Roberto Clemente Day, which honor Clemente’s legacy as a humanitarian and to formally acknowledge each club’s nominees. 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 Clemente and the 30 Roberto Clemente Award nominees will be shown in all MLB ballparks.

Clemente, a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame, died on Dec. 31, 1972, while delivering relief supplies for earthquake victims in Nicaragua. The Puerto Rico native was a 15-time All-Star, a two-time World Series champion, a 12-time Gold Glove winner, a four-time National League batting champion and the 1966 NL MVP.