St. Louis Cardinals: Yadier Molina wins the Roberto Clemente Award

Award season has begun, and a very special St. Louis Cardinals star takes home the first award of the season.

On Wednesday morning, it was announced that St. Louis Cardinals future Hall of Fame catcher Yadier Molina was the recipient of the Roberto Clemente Award.

The Roberto Clemente Award is an award given annually to one player who displays character, sportsmanship, and involvement with the community. The award is named after Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente, who is one of the greatest players to ever touch a baseball.

Clemente was a 15-time All-Star and the 1966 MVP. In 1972, he tragically died in a car crash while delivering supplies to Nicaragua in earthquake relief efforts. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1973 as a Special Inductee.

Last October, Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico and left over $90 billion in damage. Many citizens lost everything, including their homes. Molina sacrificed a huge chunk of his offseason to help out his native country.

He delivered food and water to needy Puerto Ricans while they were recovering from the devastating storm. Molina also formed a foundation named “Fundacion 4”, which he used to play a huge role in Puerto Rico relief efforts as well.

Yadier Molina becomes the fifth St. Louis Cardinals player to win the award, joining Lou Brock, Ozzie Smith, Albert Pujols and Carlos Beltran as the only Cardinals to win the award.

Molina will not be in Boston to receive the award on Wednesday night before Game 2 of the World Series, as he is currently managing the Puerto Rican team in the U-23 World Cup.

Molina will also have an opportunity to take home some more hardware as the MLB will announce the Gold Glove finalists tomorrow afternoon. Molina, one of the best defensive catchers of our generation, will likely be named a finalist and could potentially win his ninth Gold Glove of his career.

Congratulations to Yadier Molina for winning this prestigious award. Thank you for reading!