Alec Bohm Named Phillies' Nominee for the 2021 Roberto Clemente Award
Major League Baseball today announced that Alec Bohm was named the Phillies 2021 nominee for the Roberto Clemente Award, baseball's most prestigious individual honor for Major Leaguers. Fans can vote for Bohm to receive MLB's Roberto Clemente Award until October 3 at mlb.com/clemente21.
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.
"We are honored to nominate Alec Bohm for the 2021 Roberto Clemente Award, as well as recognize him as this year's Phillies Major League Community Service Award winner," said Phillies Charities, Inc. President John Weber. "Alec's quiet generosity and philanthropic efforts through his work with The Alec Bohm Foundation is not only making a difference in Philadelphia and his hometown of Omaha, Neb., but also transforming lives halfway around the world."
"There are many players around the league who throughout the years have done a lot of great things in the community," said Bohm. "To even have the opportunity to be mentioned with them for the Roberto Clemente Award is something that's really special."
Bohm, who was raised in a close-knit family that placed an emphasis on lending a helping hand whenever possible, created The Alec Bohm Foundation in 2019, one year prior to his debut in the big leagues. During COVID-19 shutdowns, The Alec Bohm Foundation helped to renovate his local church in Omaha.
Through his volunteer efforts with his church, Bohm was made aware of the dire needs in various communities in Africa. He soon began supplying blankets and other necessities to orphaned children in Kampala, Uganda, as well as helping with repairs to a church in Nairobi, Kenya. After learning of a children's center in Bwindi, Uganda, that did not have a supply of clean water, he lent his efforts to dig a well. By spring 2021, the water was flowing, thanks to a new well system that provided water to 170 people, plus many nearby villagers.
Locally, Bohm makes himself available for volunteer opportunities and donates his time to Phillies Charities, Inc. He also provides memorabilia for the club and for The Alec Bohm Foundation to continue raising funds for ongoing projects, with its most recent auction benefitting first responders in Wilmington, Del. Donor support of The Alec Bohm Foundation has also established an annual grant to Wounded Warrior Project, another cause close to Alec's heart.
Bohm to be Recognized Virtually on Roberto Clemente Day, September 15
On Wednesday, September 15, the 20th annual Roberto Clemente Day, Bohm will be recognized as the Phillies' nominee for the 2021 MLB Roberto Clemente Award and the Phillies Major League Community Service Award. Bohm, who is currently with the club's Triple-A affiliate, the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, will be honored virtually on PhanaVision before that night's game against the Chicago Cubs.
Roberto Clemente Day was established by Major League Baseball to honor Clemente's legacy as a humanitarian and to formally acknowledge 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.
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 mlb.com/clemente21. The site will feature bios of each of the nominees and will allow fans to vote until the end of the season on Sunday, October 3rd. 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.
The distinguished list of past Roberto Clemente Award winners includes 19 members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame:
1971 Willie Mays+**
1972 Brooks Robinson+**
1973 Al Kaline+
1974 Willie Stargell+
1975 Lou Brock+
1976 Pete Rose
1977 Rod Carew+
1978 Greg Luzinski
1979 Andre Thornton
1980 Phil Niekro+
1981 Steve Garvey
1982 Ken Singleton
1983 Cecil Cooper
1984 Ron Guidry
1985 Don Baylor
1986 Garry Maddox
1987 Rick Sutcliffe
1988 Dale Murphy
1989 Gary Carter+
1990 Dave Stewart
1991 Harold Reynolds
1992 Cal Ripken, Jr.+
1993 Barry Larkin+
1994 Dave Winfield+
1995 Ozzie Smith+
1996 Kirby Puckett+
1997 Eric Davis
1998 Sammy Sosa
1999 Tony Gwynn+
2000 Al Leiter
2001 Curt Schilling
2002 Jim Thome+
2003 Jamie Moyer
2004 Edgar Martinez+
2005 John Smoltz+
2006 Carlos Delgado
2007 Craig Biggio+
2008 Albert Pujols
2009 Derek Jeter+
2010 Tim Wakefield
2011 David Ortiz
2012 Clayton Kershaw
2013 Carlos Beltrán
2014 Paul Konerko*
2014 Jimmy Rollins*
2015 Andrew McCutchen
2016 Curtis Granderson
2017 Anthony Rizzo
2018 Yadier Molina
2019 Carlos Carrasco
2020 Adam Wainwright
+ Member of The National Baseball Hall of Fame; *Co-winner; **Originally known as the Commissioner's Award (prior to 1973)