Beltran named finalist for Man of Year Award

ST. LOUIS -- Carlos Beltran has been selected by his teammates as the Cardinals' nominee for the Marvin Miller Man of the Year Award. The annual honor recognizes the player whose on-field performance and contributions to his community inspire others to higher levels of achievement.

Fan voting, which runs through Sunday, will help select six finalists from the 30 nominees on MLBplayers.com. The overall winner will then be chosen from those finalists during a player vote on Sept. 17. Previous winners include former Cardinals Albert Pujols and Mark McGwire.

Beltran, an eight-time All-Star and member of the 300/300 club, has committed himself to several charitable efforts in Puerto Rico and St. Louis. He started the Carlos Beltran Foundation eight years ago and helped fund the Carlos Beltran Baseball Academy, which opened in 2011. He attended the first graduation ceremony at the academy in June.

At a local level, Beltran joined with the Hispanic Arts Council of St. Louis to create the Carlos Beltran Scholarship Award. He donated $20,000 to eight students through this program. Through his Beltran's Buddies initiative, Beltran hosted two dozen underprivileged children at Busch Stadium this season.