This story was excerpted from Todd Zolecki’s Phillies Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
PHILADELPHIA -- Kyle Schwarber had a heck of a week.
Schwarber hit three home runs in Toronto on Sept. 3, including a go-ahead three-run homer in the ninth inning to beat the Blue Jays, 10-9. He hit a leadoff homer on Sept. 4 that helped the team to a 4-2 victory in Toronto, which tied Alfonso Soriano (13) for the most leadoff homers in a season in MLB history. Schwarber went on to hit another home run on Friday in a 16-2 victory over the Marlins. However, it wasn't until Tuesday -- after a 437-foot blast to center field -- when his name would top the leadoff homer leaderboard with 14.
Schwarber was named the NL Player of the Week and the Phillies’ Roberto Clemente Award nominee on Monday.
Schwarber is one of 30 nominees for the 2024 Roberto Clemente Award, because of his work with Schwarber’s Neighborhood Heroes -- which started in 2017 “to express gratitude for the unique sacrifices of first responders and their families by creating positive experiences, as well as funding wellness, education and crisis needs for first-responder families.” The program has raised more than $1 million in grants since its inception, including more than $600,000 since he joined the Phillies in 2022.
“It’s close to home,” Schwarber said.
Schwarber’s father, Greg, was a longtime police officer and police chief in their hometown of Middletown, Ohio. His mother, Donna, was a police dispatcher before she became a registered nurse. His sister, Lindsey, served in the Army National Guard before she became a police officer in Middletown.
“I have a great amount of respect for, obviously, my family,” Schwarber said this week on The Phillies Show, when asked about the inspiration to start Schwarber’s Neighborhood Heroes. “That’s why I am the person I am today, and that’s why I wanted to start a charity. One, to represent them. Two, [to share] the daily challenges that first responders go through and their families go through. And [three], shed light on a lot of positive things that they do.”
Schwarber has said that if he were not a baseball player, he would be a first responder like his parents and sister.
“Everyone gets to see us as baseball players and only gets to see us on the field,” Schwarber said. “This is Philadelphia, where my kids are growing up. They’re spending the majority of their time here in Philly. We go back home [to Ohio] in the offseason, but we’re spending six to seven months a year in Philly. And that’s home, pretty much.
“You want to impact your community, not just in terms of playing baseball, but you can give people a little bit of an inside look of you away from baseball and things that you’re passionate about and things you really care for. We want to try to create as many positive experiences as possible for individuals and families and kids, who might not be as lucky as I was when I was growing up.
“Dad, Mom got to come home every night. Sister comes home. We can try to put smiles on faces. If that’s just for a day, if that’s for a week, a month, a year or for a lifetime, that’s what we’re trying to do.”
Schwarber’s Neighborhood Heroes has awarded grants to nonprofits like the Philadelphia Police and Fire Department Foundations, Families Behind the Badge Children’s Foundation, TAPS, Team Foster and USO. In June, Schwarber hosted “Schwarber’s Block Party,” a fundraising event in Philadelphia for military members and first responders. The next night, he opened Citizens Bank Park during an off-day to host a Neighborhood Heroes Appreciation Party for hundreds of heroes and their families.