Ian Kennedy named Royals’ Roberto Clemente Award nominee
Each year, a player from each of the 30 Major League Baseball teams is nominated for the prestigious Roberto Clemente Award, the annual recognition of a major leaguer who best represents the game of baseball through extraordinary character, community involvement, philanthropy and positive contributions, both on and off the field.
All 30 nominees were revealed Thursday, and this year’s Kansas City Royals finalist is reliever Ian Kennedy.
When the COVID-19 pandemic struck earlier this year, Kennedy immediately jumped to action and supported the Royals Charities Royals Respond Fund. Later, as the 2020 season started, he created the “K’s for a Cause” initiative, in which he donated $5,000 for each of his strikeouts to Head for the Cure, which supports individuals who have or have had brain cancer as well as their loved ones, and Consider the Lily, which focuses on putting an end to human trafficking.
For the last three seasons, Kennedy has also hosted a fully catered dugout suite on Saturday nights in which he hosts local charities, primarily those connected with first responders and the military. He also has supported many other Royals Charity associated events and groups including the on-field gala Diamond of Dreams, the Broadcast Auction, Braden’s Hope Calendar and hospital visits. He has bagged produce items at the Bishop Sullivan Center, served Thanksgiving meals at City Union Mission and Guadalupe Centers and helped low-income families select their holiday gifts at the Johnson County Christmas Bureau Holiday Shop and the Della Lamb Operation Santa Claus.
The league-wide winner of the Roberto Clemente Award will be selected via a blue ribbon panel, including MLB commissioner Robert D. Manfred, Jr., representatives from MLB-affiliated networks (MLB Network, FOX Sports, ESPN and TBS), MLB.com, as well as Roberto’s children, Enrique, Luis and Roberto Clemente, Jr. Beginning Thursday, fans can vote for the Roberto Clemente Award at mlb.com/clemente21. The site will feature bios of each of the nominees and will allow fans to vote until the end of the season on Sunday, September 27th. The winner of the fan vote will count as one vote among those cast by the blue ribbon panel.
