ST. LOUIS, Mo., September 8, 2023 – For the eighth time in his career, Paul Goldschmidt has been named his team’s nominee for the prestigious Roberto Clemente Award presented by Capital One.  The award 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.

“I hear the name Roberto Clemente and think of all he did not only on the field, but off the field,” said Goldschmidt. “His humanitarian efforts across the globe are inspirational and I am honored to represent the St. Louis Cardinals again as this year’s Roberto Clemente Award nominee.”

Reigning National League MVP Paul Goldschmidt continues to prove he is an athlete of extraordinary character on and off the field. Rather than start his own charity, Paul has chosen to assist a wide array of charitable causes behind the scenes.

Since signing with the Cardinals in 2018, Paul has joined teammate and 2020 Roberto Clemente Award winner, Adam Wainwright, in charitable efforts through Wainwright’s foundation, Big League Impact (BLI).  Beginning in 2021, Paul has participated in the #ALLWIN campaign, pledging dollars for causes close to his heart and asking fans to join him.  In 2021, Paul raised $46,420 to help build a community center in the Dominican Republic with Food for the Hungry. In 2022, Paul raised $50,000 for Habitat for Humanity St. Louis, an organization that provides an opportunity for families living in substandard rental housing to help build and then purchase a home they can afford to maintain.

This season, he is playing for The Little Bit Foundation, a local nonprofit that aims to empower students to achieve their academic goals and dreams for the future by breaking down barriers to learning for students living in poverty.

Paul participated in BLI’s 2023 Swinging for Impact event, which raised $120,000+ to continue BLI’s mission to help meet basic human needs like food, clean water, medical care, shelter, and education in an effort to save lives, restore dignity, and instill hope.  

A runner-up for the Lou Gehrig Award, Paul helped surprise an ALS patient with a customized wheel chair during the Cardinals’ Lou Gehrig Day tribute. The recipient and his wife shared how the chair will better their lives and were touched by Paul’s involvement and compassion. He signed the Lou Gehrig bat that was used in MLB’s auction and provided signed Lou Gehrig baseballs to the ALS Association in St. Louis and the Muscular Dystrophy Association to support their fundraising efforts.

Paul believes that it is important to stress to children, and in particular coaches and parents, that there is more to sports than winning. On August 5, he hosted a free baseball clinic for 150+ children from the Cardinals Care Redbird Rookies youth baseball program and other Little League players aged 7-13 at the Ballwin Athletic Association for this purpose.

On August 31, Paul hosted his second Uncork for a Cause, a gala to benefit Water Mission, a nonprofit, Christian engineering organization that designs, builds and implements safe water, sanitation and hygiene solutions for people in developing countries and disaster areas.

Paul and his wife, Amy enjoy spending time with pediatric patients in St. Louis. They annually participate in hospital visits and Make-A-Wish events including the Wives for Wishes event that raises funds to grant wishes to area children. He autographed baseballs for the Cardinals Family Grab Bag Event which this year raised nearly $50,000 for area nonprofits: Angels’ Arms, Covenant House, KEEN St. Louis, and Lydia’s House.

Paul strongly supports the Cardinals team charity, Cardinals Care. Annual financial contributions and signing of memorabilia used for Silent Auctions help support the flagship Redbird Rookies program, a free baseball/softball program for children aged 5-13, as well as the charity’s Grant and Youth Ballfield programs. Paul annually attends the Cardinals Care Winter Warm-Up signing autographs for fans who donated to Cardinals Care.

Since 2019, Paul’s Ticket Program, Goldy’s Golden Ticket, has brought deserving youth organizations to a game. He provides t-shirts, photo cards, tickets and food vouchers and meets with groups to answer questions, sign autographs and take photos. Over the years, Paul has met with hundreds of children including this season children from Scott Air Force Base Library, The James Project, and STL Youth Sports Outreach.

“Paul Goldschmidt is truly an athlete of extraordinary character both on and off the field,” said Michael Hall, Vice President, Community Relations & Executive Director, Cardinals Care. “We admire his far-reaching and numerous efforts to help people in need, and are proud to have him as a member of the Cardinals.”

Friday, September 15th marks the 22nd 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.

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 1st. 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.

Previous Cardinals to win the Roberto Clemente Award include Adam Wainwright (2020), Yadier Molina (2018), Carlos Beltran (2013), Albert Pujols (2008), Ozzie Smith (1995) and Lou Brock (1975), the most of any MLB Club.  More information and award nominees for all 30 MLB teams can be found at mlb.com/clemente21.