Major League Baseball announced that Shane McClanahan was named the Tampa Bay Rays 2023 nominee for the Roberto Clemente Award presented by Capital One, baseball’s most prestigious individual honor for Major Leaguers.

The Roberto Clemente Award presented by Capital One is the annual recognition of a Major League player who best represents the game of Baseball through extraordinary character, community involvement, philanthropy and positive contributions, both on and off the field.

As part of the annual program, each MLB Club nominates one player to be considered for the league-wide Award in tribute to Clemente’s achievements and character. 

Shane was first introduced to Buddy Baseball through his relationship with Dennis Mueller and his son Zach – aka “Big Dog.” They were his biggest supporters at the University of South Florida, and became close friends. Dennis is a board member of Buddy Baseball, and after hearing more, Shane decided to get involved. Since then, he has volunteered time and financial support to the organization. 

Buddy Baseball is a non-competitive recreational baseball league serving the Tampa Bay community for boys and girls ages 8 to 22 with unique abilities. Each player is paired with a “buddy” to assist as needed on the field and in the dugout. The league fosters friendships and breaks down barriers, giving each child the opportunity to play an organized sport. Not only do the athletes get the thrill of participating in a baseball game, but they also have the chance to experience teamwork, collaboration and camaraderie. 

Shane continues to visit Buddy Baseball’s fields and pitch to the kids during games. He has also worked with Rays Corporate Partner Kahwa Coffee to direct a portion of proceeds to benefit the Buddy Baseball organization. In 2022, he donated $2,500, matched by the MLBPA, toward their fundraising for an accessible picnic shelter between their fields. 

With Shane’s enthusiastic participation, Tropicana Field has played host to the Rays Baseball Magic Clinic, with Major League players and coaches leading youth players in drills and mini games between the teams of Buddy Baseball. Inspired by Shane’s involvement, every Monday home game for the Rays is now “Magic Monday,” a day when athletes from Buddy Baseball are invited to take the field with the Major Leaguers for the performance of the National Anthem. Each child leaves with a baseball and an unforgettable memory to carry with them. 

Friday, September 15 marks the 22^nd annual Roberto Clemente Day presented by Capital One, which was established by Major League Baseball to honor Clemente’s legacy as a humanitarian and to formally acknowledge Club nominees of the Roberto Clemente Award. As part of the league-wide celebration, the Roberto Clemente Day logo will appear on the bases and official dugout lineup cards and a customized tribute video to Roberto will be shown in all MLB ballparks on Roberto Clemente Day as well as on MLB Network, MLB.com, Club sites and MLB Social Media Platforms.

• English-version: https://www.mlb.com/video/roberto-clemente-award
• Spanish-version:https://www.mlb.com/es/video/premio-roberto-clemente

The league-wide winner of the Roberto Clemente Award presented by Capital One will be honored at the 2023 World Series following selection by a blue-ribbon panel. This panel includes representatives from the Commissioner’s Office, Capital One, MLB-affiliated networks (MLB Network, FOX Sports, ESPN and TBS), MLB.com, the National Baseball Hall of Fame, as well as Roberto’s children, Enrique, Luis and Roberto Clemente, Jr. Beginning today, fans can vote for the Roberto Clemente Award presented by Capital One via MLBTogether.com/clemente21 (in both English and Spanish). The site, which will feature bios of each of the nominees, will allow fans to vote until the end of the season on Sunday, October 1. The winner of the fan vote will count as one vote among those cast by the blue-ribbon panel. 

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 tribute to Clemente following his passing.