Dominican native and St. Louis Cardinals first baseman, Albert Pujols, was named the 2008 Major League Baseball Roberto Clemente Award recipient over the weekend.The award is given annually "in recognition of the player who best exemplifies the game of baseball, sportsmanship, community involvement and the individual contribution to his team"
According to MLB's website, this award was "first bestowed by MLB in 1971, and it was renamed in Clemente's honor in '73 and bestowed each year since." Clemente, who was born in Puerto Rico, a was the first Latin-born player to be inducted to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Known for his skill as well as his heart, his career was cut short by his untimely death in a 1972 plane crash while attempting to transport relief supplies to an earthquake-stricken Nicaragua.
Pujols himself was emotional in his acceptance speech: "Like I was 15 years ago, a poor little boy in the Dominican Republic, my dream was just to be a professional baseball player... At the end of the day, when all is said and done playing this game ... it doesn't matter what you did in the field, it's what you do off the field and the lives that you touch off the field."
Chevy, the award sponsor, will be donating $30,000 and a 2009 Chevy Traverse to the Pujols Family Foundation, which helps families with children that have Down's Syndrome (Pujols and his wife have a 10-year old with Down's Syndrome).
Source: Major League Baseball
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