Anthony Rizzo wins 2017 Roberto Clemente Award
By Charlie Vascellaro
Major League Baseball gave its 2017 Roberto Clemente Award tonight to Chicago Cubs’ first baseman Anthony Rizzo, putting a temporary halt to José Altuve’s postseason parade.
In some quarters, Altuve was the favorite to receive MLB’s “most prestigious award,” as commissioner Rob Manfred called it, because he had a Clemente-like season on the field.
But instead the award — handed out before Game 3 of the World Series by Vera Clemente, the ballplayer’s widow — went to another worthy recipient. Rizzo works year-around with pediatric cancer patients and fundraises for cancer research and family support.
Rizzo himself is a cancer survivor who in 2008 as a Boston Red Sox minor leaguer was diagnosed with limited stage classical Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
“To touch lives like that, it’s something you can’t really explain,” said an emotional Rizzo, who does much of his work through the Anthony Rizzo Family Foundation.
The Roberto Clemente Award — which recognizes the player who best represents the game of baseball through extraordinary character, community involvement, philanthropy and positive contributions, both on and off the field — elevates Rizzo to a select list that includes Altuve’s teammate, Carlos Beltrán, the 2013 recipient.
Altuve can’t complain about missing out. He remains in the running for American League MVP and Player of the Year, the top honor in the Players Choice Awards.
Altuve’s trophy case
Besides, his trophy case is already bursting at the seams after this week, when he received two other honors — the Hank Aaron Award, given to the best offensive player in each league, and the Luis Aparicio Award, bestowed each season on the best Venezuelan major leaguer.
“I want to congratulate you for all the things that you have done,” Aaron told Altuve on Wednesday during the presentation of his award. “You have been wonderful. There are not many people that I would pay to go see, but I’ll tell you, I would pay to see you.”
Altuve is a five-time All-Star who reached 200 hits for the fourth straight season and won his third batting title this year. He’s finally reaping the fruits of a stellar career and you can say that it’s already been a once-in-a-lifetime postseason for the Houston Astros’ 5-foot-6 second baseman.
Besides hitting three home runs in Game 1 of the ALDS against the Boston Red Sox, he was one of the heroes of the Astros’ comeback on Wednesday in Game 2 of the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Altuve could still end up being one of the most decorated players ever in a season. In September, he received the Lou Gehrig Memorial Award, given annually to the major leaguer who bests exhibits the giving character and integrity of “The Iron Horse,” both on and off the field.
Profound social consciousness
Mexican baseball broadcasters call Altuve Súper Ratón, or Mighty Mouse. But he’s obviously much more than a cartoon character. He’s a modern-day player from a country where the game is still a way out of poverty who has developed a profound social consciousness. In short, he talks the talk and walks the walk, becoming one of the game’s most popular players.
In May, Altuve and teammate Lance McCullers collaborated on a fundraiser for Team Up for Kids and K9s, tied to both of their individual foundations. The José Altuve Foundation raises funds for The Sunshine Kids, a nonprofit dedicated to juvenile cancer patients.
Altuve also donated $25,000 worth of New Balance footwear and gear to relief efforts after Hurricane Harvey devastated Houston, and an additional $30,000 towards the repair and reconstruction of homes damaged by flooding.
“It means a lot, especially because of the kind of players that have won the award years ago,” Altuve told MLB.com after receiving the Lou Gehrig Award. “I feel really proud. I think that every award is good, because that means you’re doing something for such a great team like we have right now.”
Like Clemente, Beltrán and many other Latino ballplayers, Atluve gives back to the game. Last December he toured with Peloteros por Puerto Rico, or Players for Puerto Rico, organized by MLB and the MLB Players Association to offer youth clinics around the island, including at Clemente’s home town of Carolina.
Altuve has a soft spot for Puerto Rico. He’s contributed to the partnership between The Astros Foundation and Astros owner Jim Crane with FedEx to assist Puerto Rican relief efforts after Hurricane María.
Seven select Latinos
The Roberto Clemente Award was originally known as the Commissioner’s Award and was first given to Willie Mays in 1971. It was renamed in 1973 after Clemente’s death during a relief flight to Nicaragua and has slowly evolved into an honor coveted by all major leaguers, regardless of their nationalities.
The Panamanian Rod Carew in 1977 was the first Latino to earn the award, followed by the Dominican Sammy Sosa in 1998, the Puerto Ricans Edgar Martínez in 2004 and Carlos Delgado in 2006, and the Dominicans Albert Pujols in 2008 and David Ortiz in 2011.
Beltrán, who runs a foundation that carries his name and who last month gave more than $1 million to Puerto Rican relief efforts, is the seventh and last Latino to win the award. He said that it ranked No. 1 among all the honors that he has received during his 20-year career.
“Playing the game of baseball is something we have to do,” Beltrán said, “but giving back, not everyone chooses to do. And that’s something that I take a lot of pride in.”
Four other Latinos were nominated for the Roberto Clemente Award by their teams in 2017 — Cleveland Indians pitcher Carlos Carrasco and the Detroit Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera, both from Venezuela, along with the Chicago White Sox’s Cuban outfielder José Abreu and the Seattle Mariners’ Dominican second baseman Robinson Canó.
Carrasco, whose 18 wins this season tied for the major league high, supports early childhood education in Cleveland and in Venezuela through the foundation that carries his name. He and his wife Karelis also work with United Way and MedWish International, a nonprofit that repurposes medical supplies and equipment discarded by the healthcare industry to provide humanitarian aid in developing countries.
Cabrera, two-time MVP and four-time batting champ, is considered one of baseball’s most generous donors. He gave $100,000 through his foundation for medical aid to earthquake victims in Haiti. He’s also provided seed money for the Tigers’ PLAY Baseball Detroit initiative that has built or refurbished baseball fields and donated equipment for the benefit of more than 126,000 children since its inception in 2008.
Cabrera sponsors the Detroit RBI — Reviving Baseball in the Inner Cities — program and other baseball projects. In 2016, Cabrera and his wife Roseangel started the Miguel Cabrera Family Scholarship Fund for first-generation college students in Michigan and Florida, providing an endowment of $250,000 while partnering with the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan.
Abreu, who hit .304 with 33 home runs with 102 RBI, is popular in Chicago’s South Side because of his Abreu’s Amigos initiative. By partnering with the Easter Seals Academy, he provides regular opportunities for students with special needs to develop social skills in a recreational setting through field trips to the ballpark. The reason Abreu chose this philanthropy is because he grew up in Cienfuegos, Cuba, with neighbors with special needs.
“We are here not just to play baseball. We are here also to impact and help other people,” Abreu told MLB.com. “I want to thank the White Sox organization, because through them I’m able to reach out to all those kids and give them a little bit of joy to fill that void in their life. I take a lot of pride for that.”
Canó, who received his first name in honor of Jackie Robinson, conducts himself very much like the man who broke the color line. He helps underprivileged children in both the United States and the Dominican Republic.
Cano’s started the RC22 Foundation in 2011 when he still played for the New York Yankees to promote youth development and community healthcare in the Dominican Republic, including a Montessori preschool in his hometown of San Pedro de Macorís.
When Canó switched to the Mariners as a free agent in 2014, he expanded his foundation’s reach to support charities in the Seattle metro area, including the Seattle Children’s Hospital, Odessa Brown Clinic, City Year Seattle and the Boys and Girls Clubs of King County.
Featured Image: Ron Veseley / MLB Photos / Getty Images Sport
Inset Image: Henry Pacheco / La Vida Baseball