Major League Baseball today announced that Cameron Maybin was named the Angels 2017 nominee for the prestigious Roberto Clemente Award, the most prominent individual player award bestowed by MLB.
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.
Each Club nominates one current player to be considered for the Roberto Clemente Award in tribute to Clemente's achievements and character. Wednesday, September 6^th marks the sixteenth 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.
Maybin is one of the 30 Club nominees for the annual award. During his time with the Angels, Cameron regularly supported the initiatives of the Angels Baseball Foundation, including visiting local elementary school students as part of the Adopt-A-School program. Cameron and his wife, Courtney, founded the Maybin Mission in 2016 which focuses on enriching the lives of inner city youth. Through positive play, education and cultural programming, the Maybins are dedicated to impacting the communities in which they live and serve. In April, Maybin hosted a Jackie Robinson inspired essay contest, which rewarded students who shared stories of overcoming obstacles with a special on-field experience. Additionally, Maybin supported the Sunburst Youth Academy, which helps at-risk high school students reclaim their lives while developing leadership, job skills, and academic skills, and improving self esteem, pride, and confidence.
The Angels will recognize Maybin for his nomination for the Roberto Clemente Award in a ceremony on September 14 before the Angels take on the Houston Astros. Maybin was awarded to the Astros on a waiver claim on August 31.
"In such a very short period of time, Cam made a tremendous impact within our community," said Angels Vice-President, Communications, Tim Mead. "At the outset of spring training, Cam stated he wanted to do whatever possible to assist our Community Relations department and organizational programs. He never wavered from that commitment and we remain grateful for his contributions."
The Roberto Clemente Award winner will be selected among the group of nominees via a blue ribbon panel that includes individuals connected to the game, including Baseball Commissioner Robert D. Manfred, Jr., representatives from MLB-affiliated networks (MLB Network, FOX Sports, ESPN and TBS) and MLB Advanced Media, as well as Vera Clemente, the late Roberto's wife. Beginning the day after the Regular Season ends, 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 easily vote by clicking on the respective nominee's name. The winner of the fan voting, which will run from Monday, October 2^nd through Friday, October 6^th, will count as one vote among those cast by the blue ribbon panel. Additional information about fan voting will be shared via MLB.com and MLB social media channels.
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. Major League Baseball has commemorated Roberto Clemente Day each September since 2002.
The distinguished list of past Roberto Clemente Award winners includes 16 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 Beltran 
2014 Paul Konerko * 
2014 Jimmy Rollins * 
2015 Andrew McCutchen 
2016 Curtis Granderson 

+ Member of The National Baseball Hall of Fame
* Co-winner
** Originally known as the Commissioner's Award (prior to 1973)