The 30 Club nominees for the 2018 Roberto Clemente Award, the most prominent individual award for Major League players, were announced by Major League Baseball. The Roberto Clemente Award is the annual recognition of a player who best represents the game of Baseball through extraordinary character, community involvement, philanthropy and positive contributions, both on and off the field.

The list of Club nominees features players, with a collective 62 MLB All-Star appearances, whose various community activities have focused on important issues ranging from awareness & fundraising  for the fight against childhood cancer and other illnesses, education for young people, Hurricane Maria relief, outreach to underserved children & communities in the United States and abroad, and more.

The 30 Club nominees of the 2018 Roberto Clemente Award are listed below:

Arizona Diamondbacks – Paul Goldschmidt*

Atlanta Braves – Kurt Suzuki

Baltimore Orioles – Chris Davis

Boston Red Sox – Brock Holt

Chicago Cubs – Jon Lester*

Chicago White Sox – José Abreu*

Cincinnati Reds – Tucker Barnhart

Cleveland Indians – Carlos Carrasco

Colorado Rockies – Ian Desmond

Detroit Tigers – Michael Fulmer

Houston Astros – Charlie Morton*

Kansas City Royals – Danny Duffy

Los Angeles Angels – Andrew Heaney

Los Angeles Dodgers – Justin Turner

Miami Marlins – Martín Prado

Milwaukee Brewers – Corey Knebel

Minnesota Twins – Joe Mauer

New York Mets – Steven Matz

New York Yankees – CC Sabathia

Oakland Athletics – Chad Pinder

Philadelphia Phillies – Rhys Hoskins

Pittsburgh Pirates – Jameson Taillon

St. Louis Cardinals – Yadier Molina*

San Diego Padres – Clayton Richard

San Francisco Giants – Buster Posey*

Seattle Mariners – Nelson Cruz*

Tampa Bay Rays – Mallex Smith

Texas Rangers – Cole Hamels †

Toronto Blue Jays – Kevin Pillar

Washington Nationals – Ryan Zimmerman

*MLB All-Star

† Note: Cole Hamels remains the Rangers’ nominee despite being acquired by the Cubs via trade.

More information can be found at MLB.com/clemente21.

Each Club nominates one current player to be considered for the Roberto Clemente Award in tribute to Clemente’s achievements and character. Wednesday, September 5^th marked the seventeenth annual Roberto Clemente Day, which was established by Major League Baseball to honor Clemente’s legacy and to officially acknowledge local Club nominees of the Roberto Clemente Award. Major League Baseball has commemorated Roberto Clemente Day in early September since 2002.

Clubs playing at home on Wednesday, September 5^th recognized their local nominees as part of Roberto Clemente Day ceremonies. Visiting Clubs honored their nominees on a subsequent home stand.  As part of the league-wide celebration, the Roberto Clemente Day logo appeared on the bases and official dugout lineup cards and a special tribute video was played in ballparks.

The league-wide winner of the Roberto Clemente Award, who will be announced during the 2018 World Series, will be selected among the group of nominees via a blue ribbon panel that includes individuals connected to the game.  The blue ribbon panel includes Baseball Commissioner Robert D. Manfred, Jr., representatives from MLB-affiliated networks (MLB Network, FOX Sports, ESPN and TBS) and MLB.com, as well as Vera Clemente (the late Roberto’s wife & MLB Goodwill Ambassador). Beginning on Roberto Clemente Day, fans can vote for the overall winner of the Roberto Clemente Award via a dedicated website. The site will feature bios of each of the nominees and will allow fans to vote from Roberto Clemente Day on Wednesday, September 5^th, until Tuesday, September 18^th. The winner of the fan vote will count as one vote among those cast by the blue ribbon panel.  Fans are encouraged to vote by visiting the following link: mlb.com/clemente21.

“I am very proud of the great philanthropic efforts of our players,” said Commissioner Manfred. “Through wide-ranging work and actions, these 30 nominees honor Roberto Clemente’s legacy of being exemplary community ambassadors. Roberto’s unwavering humanitarian spirit continues to inspire our players and fans and serves as a positive example for future generations.”

The concept of honoring Major League 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 honor of the Hall of Famer and 15-time All-Star who died in a plane crash on New Year’s Eve 1972 while attempting to deliver supplies to earthquake victims in Nicaragua.

The distinguished list of past Roberto Clemente Award winners includes 17 members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame:

+ Member of The National Baseball Hall of Fame; * Co-winner; ** Originally known as the Commissioner’s Award (prior to 1973)