Dee Strange-Gordon is a baseball player. But he's much more than that. He's also a dad, husband, son and excellent role model for anyone looking to help others, which is why the Mariners' second baseman was nominated for the Roberto Clemente Award for the fourth time last Thursday.

It speaks volumes that the 32-year-old recently chose to change the name on his jersey from Gordon to Strange-Gordon, honoring his mother, Devona Strange, who was killed when he was 7 years old.

When he puts on his jersey, "Strange-Gordon" doesn't fit across the thin shoulders of the 5-foot-11, 166-pound veteran, instead wrapping up and down the sides of his back. But it perfectly fits his personality, as he spends considerable time helping kids who've lost their own parents or family members to domestic violence with his Flash of Hope Foundation.

• VOTE now for the 2020 Roberto Clemente Award

As Major League Baseball celebrates Roberto Clemente Day on Wednesday, Strange-Gordon is proud to again be a nominee for the Clemente Award and all it represents.

"It means a lot," Strange-Gordon said Tuesday on a video call from San Francisco, where the Mariners opened a two-game series against the Giants. "It means me and my family have been doing the right things to try to help people and use our platform the best we can to try to get some change in the world."

• 2020 Roberto Clemente Award nominees

For Strange-Gordon, whose wife gave birth to their first child in February, helping kids and single parents has always been his top priority.

"Most definitely, because I was that same kid without a mom," he said. "My dad was going off being a young big leaguer at the time. My mom had passed away. So I understand what he was going through, and that makes me even more want to help the kids who may not have any parent there for them. 'You're not in this alone.'"

Mariners manager Scott Servais said Strange-Gordon has a big influence in Seattle's clubhouse.

"Dee has a huge heart, no question about that," Servais said. "He's always thinking about others, outside the game, within the game, things he can do to give back and create awareness. He's a great example for young players on how you can use your voice to make a difference in a number of different areas, whether inside or outside of baseball."

Strange-Gordon started his Flash of Hope program in 2015 when he was with the Marlins. And after being traded to the Mariners, he brought the effort to Seattle, joining forces with the Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence, New Beginnings and LifeWire to host families throughout the season at T-Mobile Park before the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2019, he expanded his efforts to support DAWN (Domestic Abuse Women's Network), a nonprofit organization in King County, and he's also active with the Mariners Care Refuse to Abuse campaign.

When the pandemic hit, Strange-Gordon teamed with a restaurant in his hometown of Orlando, Fla., to provide meals for families in need and also helped customize face masks with his signature "Flash" lightning bolt, with proceeds benefiting the DAWN program.

He's also worked with Food for the Hungry and Striking Out Poverty, global programs to help underserved communities around the world and he visited Rwanda, Africa, in 2018 to personally pursue those efforts.

Most recently, Strange-Gordon has become one of the leaders of The Players Alliance, a group of current and former Black players in MLB who are committed to increasing opportunities for the African-American community both in and out of baseball.

Strange-Gordon has also supported numerous other local charities, including Boys & Girls Clubs, Seattle Children's Hospital, Special Olympics USA, Make-A-Wish Foundation and Reviving Baseball in Inner-cities (RBI), and he was honored in May as the 2020 winner of the prestigious Fred Hutch Award.

He said choosing charities to help is a fairly simple process.

"I just try to go with stuff that speaks to my heart that I can really try to get change for or help with," he said. "Really trying to do something for real, instead of just talk. A lot of people just talk. I want to get in there and do what I can do to help for real."