Major League Baseball today announced that Anthony Rendon was named the Washington Nationals 2019 nominee for the Roberto Clemente Award, the most prestigious individual award for Major League players. 

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.

Every year, each MLB Club nominates a player to be considered for the Award in tribute to Clemente’s achievements and character. Wednesday, September 18 marks the 18th annual Roberto Clemente Day, which was established by Major League Baseball to honor Clemente’s legacy and to officially acknowledge local 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.

Anthony Rendon is the Washington Nationals nominee for the annual award. Anthony’s nomination recognizes his continued participation in and support of the Washington Nationals Youth Baseball Academy and its Scholar-Athletes. Serving as the Nationals player ambassador to the Academy, Anthony makes regular visits to the Academy throughout the year and is also a member of the Academy’s Board of Directors. Since his introduction to the Academy in 2015, Anthony’s involvement has continued as a role model to the Scholar-Athletes. Through his season-long Anthony’s Academy All-Stars program, Anthony gives Scholar-Athletes the opportunity to enjoy a Nationals game with a behind-the-scenes look at team operations, a private meet-and-greet with Anthony, as well as a special batting practice viewing. In addition to contributing his time to the Academy, Anthony also made a donation of $150,000 in 2018. With the Nationals on the road during the league-wide Roberto Clemente Day on September 18, the team will celebrate the event as part of Hispanic Heritage Day on September 26 at Nationals Park. Anthony will be recognized as the Nationals nominee for the annual Roberto Clemente Award during pregame ceremonies on September 26.

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) and MLB.com, as well as Vera Clemente (the late Roberto’s wife & MLB Goodwill Ambassador). Beginning today, fans can vote for the overall winner of the Roberto Clemente Award via a dedicated website. The site will feature bios of each of the nominees and will allow fans to vote until the end of the season on Sunday, September 29th. The winner of the fan vote will count as one vote among those cast by the blue ribbon panel. Fans are encouraged to vote by visiting the following link: mlb.com/clemente21.

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.