This story was excerpted from Brian McTaggart’s Astros Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
Josh Hader’s desire to help children in need began when he was a child himself. His grandparents hosted foster kids in their home in Delaware, and Hader would hang out with the children when he visited them on the weekends from his home in Maryland. Hader was struck by how many children needed help in the community and has carried that in his mind since.
One of Hader’s missions as a Major Leaguer has been to help underserved children and young adults through his charity work. Since signing with the Astros in January 2024, Hader has launched into community work alongside his wife, Maria, and is making his mark in the greater Houston community through initiatives such as the Hader’s Heart program and his support for BEAR (Be A Resource) and Covenant House.
Hader is the Astros’ 2025 nominee for the Roberto Clemente Award. Considered baseball's most prestigious individual honor for Major Leaguers, it annually recognizes the MLB player who best represents the game through extraordinary character, community involvement, philanthropy and positive contributions both on and off the field.
“First of all, it’s an honor to even get nominated and be a part of something that someone has done special things for baseball and for the community,” Hader said. “For us here in Houston, my wife and I have been able to help out foster care kids and kids that are coming out of foster care as young adults and who maybe don’t have a place to stay. The organizations that help them are BEAR and Covenant House, and we feel really passionate about those two organizations.”
Fans can vote for the Roberto Clemente Award presented by Capital One via MLBTogether.com/clemente21 (in both English and Spanish) through Sunday. The winner of the fan vote will count as one vote among those cast by the blue-ribbon panel.
The concept of honoring Major Leaguers for their philanthropic work began in 1971 with the creation of the Commissioner’s Award. The recognition was renamed the Roberto Clemente Award in 1973 as a tribute to Clemente following his passing the previous year.
During the 2024 season, Josh and Maria began the Hader’s Heart program, a monthly initiative where participants enjoy an Astros game from a suite and get to be on the field for batting practice and meet Hader and his teammates. Hader’s Heart rotates between hosting one of the two organizations each month -- BEAR works with at-risk and CPS-involved children and their caretakers in the greater Houston area, and Covenant House works with young adults who have aged out of the foster care system and are overlooked and at risk of homelessness.
“That’s the biggest thing, they’re overlooked,” Hader said. “Being a young adult, especially that foster care only goes to 18, so once they’re out of that, they don’t really have an outlet and if they don’t get the opportunities to get the tools to go out on their own, they’re kind of stuck. Covenant House was just a huge opportunity for us to shine a light on what they’re doing for these kids, or the young adults and just giving them the opportunity to better their lives in any way.”
Hader helped the community during his previous stops in San Diego and Milwaukee. In San Diego, Hader hosted fundraisers for and visited the Monarch School Project, a nonprofit public-private school serving unhoused youth and their families in partnership with the San Diego County Office of Education. In Milwaukee, he hosted kids in partnership with Camp Hometown Heroes, a weeklong camp for families who have lost service members in active duty.
“Once I got into pro baseball, that was my thing,” he said. “Once I had the opportunity to do that, I wanted to help out any way I could.”
The league-wide winner of the Roberto Clemente Award will be honored at the 2025 World Series. This panel that will choose the winner includes representatives from the Commissioner’s Office, Capital One, MLB-affiliated networks (MLB Network, FOX Sports, ESPN and TBS), MLB.com, the National Baseball Hall of Fame, as well as Roberto’s children: Enrique, Luis and Roberto Clemente Jr.
Craig Biggio was the league-wide winner of the Clemente Award in 2007.