Mookie Betts was named the overall winner of the 2025 Roberto Clemente Award, marking the first time he has received the prestigious honor. Betts previously was the Los Angeles Dodgers’ nominee in 2021 and 2024.
He is the fourth Dodgers player to win the Roberto Clemente Award and the first since Justin Turner in 2022. Steve Garvey (1981) and Clayton Kershaw (2012) are the only other members of the Dodgers organization to ever win the award.
Betts received his hardware on Monday during a press conference at Dodger Stadium prior to Game 3 of the World Series.
“So thank you, guys, for the votes. Whoever voted, thank you. I don’t know how it kind of works,” he began in an opening statement. “But first, I want to thank God just for giving me the platform to give back to all kids — it doesn’t matter, grownups, whoever.
“I want to thank my parents — my mom’s here, dad’s at home — but my parents for raising a good kid. You guys did a good job, gave me a lot of morals and values, and that’s why I’m able to sit here today with this award.
“I want to thank Unique, who is the CEO of 5050 Foundation. I remember last year when we were nominated and we lost, and I remember after that, telling her like, ‘No, I want to win this award. I want to win. Like, I’m not used to losing, so I wanted to win this.’ So thank you, ‘Nique.
“And then, obviously, my beautiful wife. She’s been with me every step of the way, and when we’re going to give food to the homeless in the middle of the night or to schools or whoever, she’s always by my side. So thank you.
“And last, I feel like I’m a part of the Puerto Rican family now. Kiké (Hernández) came and said something, (Alex) Cora texted me and said I’m Rican now. But being able to put on No. 21 and knowing all that he did and what his family still does is just a blessing, so I thank you guys.”
The 5050 foundation was founded in 2021 by Mookie and Brianna Betts with the goal of providing youth with the support needed for success both on and off the field. Some of the foundation’s focuses are physical activity, nutrition, mental health, and financial literacy.
Earlier this year, Betts donated $30,000 worth of shoes and other apparel in support of Southern California wildfire relief efforts through his foundation.
The 2025 regular season was far from the most successful offensive season of Betts’ career, but winning the Roberto Clemente Award further made him appreciative of bouncing back and still having positivity during the year.
“Yeah, I would say so,” he said when asked if this was the most rewarding season of his career. “Just being recognized for something like this is really cool. As a family, we don’t really do a whole lot of things to be recognized for it.
“We just kind of do it out of the goodness of our hearts. But to be recognized is really nice, and especially after this year, going through all that I went through, the changes of moving and I’m not playing very well, just to know that my on-the-field things are irrelevant to this.
“You can still be successful and maybe not in a way that you didn’t know. It’s just really cool. It’s really cool just to be able to hold up this award and to know that this had nothing to do with baseball.”
Mookie Betts takes pride with impacting the community
With the newly minted Roberto Clemente Award in his possession, Betts joined a long list of inspirational athletes who have utilized their platform for the betterment of their community.
Being an inspiration for others means a lot to the Dodgers’ shortstop.
“Life is about more than kind of what you do, I think, as far as work,” Betts said. “It’s about how you affect people. People always remember how you make them feel. So I know we live by that.
“So when we come across people, we always make ’em smile, do what you can to help them, and the Lord blesses you. So that’s kind of what we care about. We just want to be a good example for all the kids growing up and to know that they can do it, no matter what.”
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