- The captain of the Kansas City Royals is the second Venezuelan to achieve the Roberto Clemente | Photo: Peter Aiken
On Monday, October 28, Venezuelan baseball player Salvador Pérez won the Roberto Clemente Award from Major League Baseball (MLB), an award that seeks to recognize the philanthropic work of Major League players.
Pérez is the second Venezuelan to win this award and the first Kansas City Royals player to obtain it. In 2019, the MLB recognized Carlos Carrasco, then a player for the Cleveland Indians (now Cleveland Guardians), with the Roberto Clemente Award.
“It means a lot to me. I have read a lot about Roberto Clemente. I know he was an incredible player, but he was even better off the field. That’s what made it super special. And that makes this award super special,” Pérez commented for the MLB website.
Roberto Clemente was a Puerto Rican player who spent his big league career with the Pittsburgh Pirates. During his professional days he promoted the defense of the image of Latin American players and sports education, work for which the MLB decided to give the Puerto Rican name to the former Commissioner’s Award.
The social work of Salvador Pérez
The captain of the Kansas City Royals has participated in social work with his family in Venezuela, Colombia and the United States.
In Venezuela, he and his family have distributed food and kitchen supplies to at least 2,000 homes in Valencia (Carabobo). In his native country he has also donated to children’s hospitals and financed pediatric cleft lip surgeries.
Pérez and his family also founded a youth league in Venezuela in which approximately 200 players have been trained. The Venezuelan seeks to guarantee that this league has land in good condition, coaches, equipment and financial support. The player also dedicates part of his time to giving talks to the league’s players about success in sports and the risks of drugs.
“Especially in our country, when you try to get kids to think about sports, they’re not going to have time to think about anything else. You go to school in the morning, in the afternoon you go play baseball, you come home, you have to do your homework and then go to sleep. I don’t think they have time to think about bad things,” Pérez explained to the website of the MLB.
In the United States, Pérez donated one million dollars to the Kansas City Urban Youth Academy. He also organized a baseball clinic for more than 100 children from urban areas of Kansas City, where each child was given a backpack with school supplies.
Pérez enjoys attending minor baseball leagues and games to talk to young players and provide his support.
“Even if you only do something one day a month, that’s it. One day a month to make someone happy. Do something. Use your social networks and make someone happy. Maybe stop and take a photo with someone. I think that’s going to change the world. That’s how I see it. That’s why I take photos with everyone,” he said.
Salvador Pérez will be honored for his recognition on Monday, October 28, in the third game of the World Series between the New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Dodgers, which will be played from Yankee Stadium.
