The nominees for the 2025 Roberto Clemente Award have been announced and two MLBbro’s have been selected for this prestigious award. JP Crawford and Lawrence Butler are among the nominees that each team selected for the award.
Since 1971, this award has annually recognized the player who “best represents the game through extraordinary character, community involvement, philanthropy and positive contributions on and off the field.”
Since 2009, five Black players have won the award, with Aaron Judge being the last winner in 2023. To even be considered as a nominee for this award is an honor in itself.
Each team in the league comes together to select one player and not just anyone can be a nominee for the award. Crawford and Butler are two players who are pillars of the community and want to continue to make an impact not only on the field, but off.
This is the second consecutive year that the Seattle Mariners have nominated Crawford for the award.
“I was very humbled,” Crawford said last year when he was nominated for the award. “It’s a great award. I think it’s the best award in baseball.”
Ever since Crawford came into the league, he’s made it a priority to give back and make time to be active in the community.
“I just always told myself when I was little, ‘When you make it, if you make it, give back to people,’ like where I came from, who really, really didn’t have anything,” he said. “And just to give them hope. I think that’s the biggest thing — just giving kids hope that they could make it here in my shoes.”
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Crawford is a player kids from inner city communities look up to. When those kids see players like Crawford and Butler performing at a high-level on the biggest stage, it gives them a sense of hope and motivation. Butler has certainly made an impact for the Athletics this season. The 25-year-old has impressed many with his offensive and defensive performance on the field.
While he’s had success on the field, he has made an even bigger impact off the field.
Butler formed the L4W Foundation, whose mission is to “ignite hope and opportunity in inner-city, underrepresented youth by creating pathways to success through financial education, elite baseball training and impactful mentorship.”
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Butler has used his platform to impact kids and communities and has served as a mentor to Black players who aspire to play at the next level.
The Athletics have a special player in Butler, who represents the team very well on and off the field. He has the potential to become the face of the organization and have a long successful career.
2025 could be the year where the league could have another Black player win the Roberto Clemente Award. Crawford and Butler are two players who are well deserving of the award and will continue to make an impact in the community.
