Major League Baseball today announced that Justin Turner was named the Dodgers’ 2021 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. Turner is the Dodgers’ nominee for the award for the fourth time in the last five years (2017-18, ’20-21).

During his time in Los Angeles, Turner has become ingrained in the community, giving his time, energy and financial support to a variety of charitable efforts including the Justin Turner Foundation (JTF), which he founded in 2016 with his wife Kourtney. The Foundation’s official mission is to support homeless veterans, children (and their families) battling life-altering illnesses and diseases and various youth baseball organizations. Beyond his Foundation, Turner is a fixture at Dodgers and Dodgers Foundation community events, local hospitals and the Dream Center, which renamed its food bank The Justin & Kourtney Turner Food Bank in his honor. A full synopsis of Justin’s commitment to the Los Angeles community can be found at MLB.com/Clemente21.

“I’m honored to be the Dodgers’ nominee for this award and be mentioned alongside Roberto Clemente, who showed us all the impact that athletes can make and what it means to give back to the community,” said Turner. “My wife Kourtney and I are humbled by this recognition, and pledge to continue lifting up people in need, especially our homeless veterans, and supporting our hospitals, schools and youth sports.”

“Los Angeles is fortunate to have Justin, both for his impact as an All-Star in the Dodger lineup and for his continued effort to improve the lives of Angelenos,” said Naomi Rodriguez, Dodger Vice President of External Affairs and Community Relations. “Justin, Kourtney and the Justin Turner Foundation are invaluable partners for the Dodger organization and our mission to serve our community, and we’re proud to nominate him for this prestigious award.”

Dodger pitcher Max Scherzer, who was acquired by Los Angeles on July 30 after seven seasons with Washington, was selected as the Nationals’ nominee for the Clemente Award.

Wednesday, September 15th marks the 20th annual Roberto Clemente Day, which 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.