Salvador Perez was announced as the winner of the 2024 Roberto Clemente Award, becoming the first member of the Kansas City Royals to ever receive the honor. Mookie Betts was the nominee for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Roberto Clemente Award is annually presented to the player who best embodies the characteristics of Clemente, a man with extraordinary character who was extremely generous with his time and resources.
Each team designates one player to be considered for the league-wide vote of the award. Perez was presented with the award at Yankee Stadium prior to Game 3 of the World Series.
“I want to thank God first, my mom, my wife, my friends, all the people who help me to make all these things happen. Driving after the game in Kansas City back to my house, my mom talked to me how we can do to make people, to make families happy,” Perez said during his acceptance speech.
“She knows where we’re coming from. She knows how hard she worked to get everything I need to play this beautiful game. I get back home and talk to my mom, ‘Yeah, let’s start. Let’s open up a foundation. Let’s do some good things.’ We know where we’re coming from, but I don’t want to sit here and talk about all the bad things. I just like to see what I can do to help, the key to make people happy. Super excited.
“I read a lot about Roberto Clemente and how he was an amazing player. Something that touched me is the way he helped people outside the field. So I want to thank you guys too for continuing to do that for every kid, every foundation. Just excited, excited to be here, excited for this award.
“I have to tell you, after winning a World Series, this is the second-best award I ever got. I got some Gold Gloves, Silver Slugger, World Series MVP, but this means a lot to me. Guys that know me know that I don’t like to post on a lot of things that I like to do on social media. So for you guys to recognize that and be able to see what I do, it means a lot to me, guys. I appreciate that.”
Perez’s impact can be felt in his home country of Venezuela and here in the United States, with a focus on healthy and active communities which is a key initiative of Royals Community Impact.
He returns home every winter, to distribute bags of food and kitchen supplies to more than 2,000 homes in the neediest parts of his hometown of Valencia. He gives a personal touch, knocking on doors and often goes to the pharmacy for those who need medicine.
Throughout the last decade, Perez has impacted directly more than 10,000 families who have received much-needed relief.
In Kansas City, Perez made a $1 million foundational donation to the Kansas City Urban Youth Academy (UYA), one of MLB’s 11 youth academies.
The academy provides Kansas City’s urban youth the resources to play baseball and softball, in addition to academic and social opportunities, empowering them to grow into their best possible selves. Perez’s donation matches the largest in the UYA’s history, helping it welcome more than 60,000 youth since its inception in 2018.
Dodgers who won Roberto Clemente Award
Since the award was created in 1971, Steve Garvey (1981), Clayton Kershaw (2012) and Justin Turner (2022) are the only Dodgers to win the Roberto Clemente Award.
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