ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - This Saturday, September 15, the Rays will celebrate Roberto Clemente Day at Tropicana Field in recognition of Major League Baseball's Hispanic Heritage Month, when the team faces the Oakland Athletics at 6:10 p.m. The official, league-wide Roberto Clemente Day took place during the team's road trip on September 5 in Toronto. The annual Roberto Clemente Day was established by Major League Baseball in 2002 to honor the life and legacy of the Hall of Famer and to officially acknowledge club nominees of the Roberto Clemente Award.
Rays outfielder Mallex Smith will be honored in a pregame ceremony as the Rays nominee for the 2018 Roberto Clemente Award. The Roberto Clemente Award is the annual recognition of a player from each MLB club who best represents the game of baseball through extraordinary character, community involvement, philanthropy and positive contributions, both on and off the field. As a result of his nomination, Mallex selected Guiding Eyes for the Blind, which provides guide dogs to people with vision loss, as the charity of his choice to receive a $7,500 donation.
The Rays will also honor several Hispanic community leaders, including those who helped with the Rays efforts to aid Ponce, Puerto Rico following last year's hurricanes. The Tampa Hispanic Heritage, Inc., Hispanic Woman and Man of the Year and Feeding Tampa Bay organizations will each be recognized and Sol Caribe, a local Latino band will perform the national anthem. In collaboration with the National Puerto Rican Leadership Council Education Fund, the team will host 200 individuals and families displaced to central Florida following Hurricanes Maria and Irma.
To continue Clemente's legacy of care and compassion, the Rays will be hosting the Feeding Tampa Bay Food Drive at Gate 1 and 4. All fans who donate unopened cans and non-perishable food items will receive a complimentary ticket voucher for a 2019 home game. One voucher per person will be issued (some restrictions apply).
Other elements to the celebration, include flags representing the home countries of the Rays Hispanic and Latino players hanging inside Tropicana Field and Rays players, coaches and staff wearing specially-designed T-shirts depicting Clemente's No. 21 and his Puerto Rican heritage during batting practice.
As a special offer for this game, fans can purchase Press Level tickets for $21 online at raysbaseball.com/Clemente.