For Pirates’ Trevor Williams Roberto Clemente Award Nomination Carries Extra Weight

PITTSBURGH — Trevor Williams grew up idolizing Tony Gwynn, Trevor Hoffman and Ken Caminiti.

That is only natural. Williams is a native of the San Diego area and, thus, rooted for his hometown Padres.

However, the Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander was also very aware of Roberto Clemente, particularly the legacy the Hall of Famer left as a humanitarian before his untimely death in 1972.

“When you’re young and grow up in the game, you follow your hometown team and learn about the greats from your team,” Williams said. “The other two players you learn about are Jackie Robinson and Roberto Clemente. They transcend sports. Everyone who follows baseball knows their stories.”

Williams has learned even more about Clemente since being traded to the Pirates from the Miami Marlins following the 2015 season.

So, it comes as no surprise that Williams appreciates being the Pirates’ nominee for this year’s Roberto Clemente Award. He was honored during a pre-game ceremony Wednesday night that included Clemente’s widow, Vera, and one of The Great One’s daughters in law as part of the Roberto Clemente Day celebration throughout Major League Baseball.

“It’s a tremendous honor,” Williams said. “If I grow up to be one-tenth of the man that he was then I think I’d have a pretty good life. I could rest very easy knowing that we helped a lot of people and just being 10 percent of the man he was.

“You can’t put a number on what he did for the game of baseball and what he did for his community, not only in Puerto Rico but all of Latin America and also Pittsburgh. You can’t put a monetary value on that. You can’t quantify it numerically.

“Just to be able to be this team’s representative means a lot. I feel being in the same sentence as Roberto Clemente is like I’m not even worthy. It’s hard to believe I’m connected in a very small way to such a great man.”

Williams is involved in numerous charitable causes in the Pittsburgh area, most notable The Miracle League, which provides opportunities for children with disabilities to play baseball. However, where Williams has made his mark is with the “Project 34” non-profit, which he co-founded with close friend and former Arizona State teammate Cory Hahn.

The mission of Project 34 – named after Hahn’s college uniform number – is to raise money to assist with the purchasing of medical equipment and assistive devices and providing grants to individuals who cannot afford physical therapy.

Hahn sustained a spinal cord injury while diving for a fly ball in center field when he played at Arizona State and is paralyzed from the waist down. Williams wears No. 34 both to honor Hahn and draw awareness to the more than 275,000 people in the United States who have spinal cord injuries.

Williams and his wife, Jackie, often host families who have been impacted by spinal cord injuries for games at PNC Park.

“We’ve reached the point now where we’re providing grants and it’s just a great feeling to know that you’re helping make people’s lives better in at least some small way,” Williams said. “I can’t wait until the day comes where we are providing a lot of grants. It’s exciting and kind of hard to understand what kind of impact this could potentially have over time. It’s been a very rewarding experience.

“I feel when you’re in the position we are as professional athletes, that it’s important to give back to people and the community. I really believe that.”

Just like Clemente did.

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