ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.—Major League Baseball has announced that Brandon Lowe was named the Tampa Bay Rays 2022 nominee for the Roberto Clemente Award presented by Capital One, the most prestigious individual award for major league players. The Roberto Clemente Award presented by Capital One is the annual recognition of a major league player who best represents the game of baseball through extraordinary character, community involvement, philanthropy and positive contributions, both on and off the field.

Every year, each team nominates a player to be considered for the award in tribute to Clemente’s achievements and character. Thursday, September 15 marks the 21st annual Roberto Clemente Day presented by Capital One, which was established by Major League Baseball to honor Clemente’s legacy and to officially acknowledge local club nominees. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the passing of Clemente, who tragically died on New Year’s Eve 1972 while embarking on a humanitarian mission to assist earthquake victims in Nicaragua. Several Rays players and coaches, including Brandon, will honor Clemente by wearing “21” on their uniforms during the league-wide celebration next Thursday, in addition to all major league players and coaches having a special “21” patch on their uniform sleeves.

Lowe is one of the 30 club nominees for the annual award. Throughout his major league career, Brandon has established himself as a leader on the field and throughout the community. In 2019, Brandon created his “Home Runs for Hope” campaign in support of the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay. After tragically losing a family member to suicide, Brandon wanted to use his platform to destigmatize and bring awareness to mental health. Since 2019, for every home run that he has hit, Brandon and the Rays Baseball Foundation each donate $100 to the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay. To date, the Home Runs for Hope campaign has raised over $15,000 for the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay.

Brandon and his wife, Madison, a former collegiate softball player, are passionate about inspiring youth to play baseball and softball. Since the creation of the Lowe’s Legends program in 2019, Brandon and Madison have provided special experiences and financial support to Tampa Bay area youth baseball and softball teams each season. The special experiences provide children with opportunities that they otherwise would not have, including participating in a Lowe’s Legends camp at Tropicana Field, attending Rays games and meeting Brandon. His program provides support for registration fees and equipment, allowing children whose families were hit hard during the COVID-19 pandemic the opportunity to play ball.

Brandon and Madison have selected the Baby Quest Foundation as their charity of choice to receive the $7,500 Roberto Clemente Award donation. The Rays will celebrate Roberto Clemente Day presented by Capital One and recognize Brandon and his philanthropic efforts in a pregame ceremony prior to the game on Friday, September 16.

The league-wide winner of the Roberto Clemente Award presented by Capital One will be selected via a blue ribbon panel, including Commissioner Rob Manfred, representatives from Capital One, MLB-affiliated networks (MLB Network, FOX Sports, ESPN and TBS), MLB.com, as well as Roberto’s children, Enrique, Luis and Roberto Clemente, Jr. Beginning today, fans can vote at MLB.com/Clemente21 (English) and LasMayores.com/Clemente21 (Spanish). The site will feature bios of each of the nominees and will allow fans to vote until the end of the season on Wednesday, October 5. The winner of the fan vote will count as one vote among those cast by the blue ribbon panel.

The concept of honoring 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 tribute to Clemente following his passing.