Boston Red Sox utility man Brock Holt was announced this week as his team’s nominee for the 2015 Roberto Clemente Award.
The award, given annually since 1971 and renamed in Clemente’s honor after the Baseball Hall of Famer’s death in 1973, “pays tribute to Clemente’s achievements and character by recognizing current players who truly understand the value of helping others.”
“It’s a huge honor, especially for me coming up through the (Pittsburgh) Pirates system,” Holt said earlier this week, via the Providence Journal. “We all know what type of player he was on the field — a Hall of Fame player. But he was a Hall of Fame person off the field, as well. That was a big part of a lot of stuff we learned coming up as younger players in the minor leagues coming up through the system — the stuff he did off the field and what he meant to people away from the game.
“To be nominated for anything with his name on it is pretty special.”
In addition to earning his first All-Star selection this season, the 27-year-old Holt has been highly active in the Red Sox’s community efforts, most notably in his role as a Jimmy Fund Co-Captain alongside teammate Pablo Sandoval.
Holt also later this month will be recognized as the BoSox Club’s Man of the Year, an award given annually to a “deserving Red Sox team member recognizing not only their contribution to the success of the team on the field, but also for their cooperation and efforts in community endeavors.”
The Roberto Clemente Award has gone to a Red Sox player in two of the last five years: Tim Wakefield in 2010 and David Ortiz in 2011.
Thumbnail photo via Bob DeChiara/USA TODAY Sports Images
