Venezuelan baseball player Salvador Pérez received the Roberto Clemente Award

Published at: 28/10/2024 05:13 PM

Venezuelan baseball player Salvador Pérez, receiver of the Kansas City Royals, received this Monday, October 28, the Roberto Clemente Award, awarded every year by the commissioner of the American Major Leagues (MLB), reported the Prensa Latina website.

Pérez thus became the second player from Venezuela to receive such a distinction, after the one won by Carlos Carrasco in 2019.

The award is reserved for the player who best represents the sport through his extraordinary character, community participation, philanthropy and positive contributions, both on and off the field.

This award was instituted in 1973 in honor of the Puerto Rican player, Hall of Fame member and 15-time All-Star member, who died in a plane crash in 1972 while trying to deliver supplies to the victims of the earthquake in Nicaragua.

He points out that Pérez and his family distribute food and medicines to more than two thousand homes in his native Valencia and over the last decade their impact has extended to more than 10 thousand families.

The captain of his team has also paid for dozens of surgeries for children with cleft lips and donates more than a thousand toys annually to children's hospitals.

In addition, he regularly travels to Colombia to attend the Carlos Fortuna Foundation, which helps parents and caregivers of young men who are preparing to become professional baseball players in Latin American countries.

Another of his contributions is the partnership with organizations in the United States that fight against amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, in particular Sarah's Soldiers, raises money and raises awareness to find a cure.