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Roger Mooney

Roger Mooney covers the Tampa Bay Rays for The Tampa Tribune, TBO.com and News Channel 8. He has covered the Rays since their first season in 1998, including 11 years for the Bradenton Herald. Roger has also covered Florida, South Florida and Florida State football, the Bucs and the Lightning.

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Shields nominated for Roberto Clemente Award

Posted Sep 13, 2011 by Roger Mooney

Updated Sep 13, 2011 at 03:07 PM

Major League Baseball and Chevrolet announced that James Shields was named the Tampa Bay Rays 2011 nominee for the prestigious Roberto Clemente Award presented by Chevrolet.

Shields is one of the 30 Club finalists for the annual award, which recognizes a Major League Baseball player who best represents the game of baseball through positive contributions on and off the field, including sportsmanship and community involvement.

Wednesday will mark the tenth annual Roberto Clemente Day, which was established by Major League Baseball to honor Clemente’s legacy and to officially recognize local Club nominees of the Roberto Clemente Award presented by Chevrolet.

The Roberto Clemente Award presented by Chevrolet pays tribute to Clemente’s achievements and character by recognizing current players who truly understand the value of helping others. It is named for the 12-time MLB All-Star and Hall of Famer who died in a plane crash on New Year’s Eve 1972 while attempting to deliver supplies to earthquake victims in Nicaragua. 

Shields has been actively involved with supporting efforts to assist foster children through Eckerd and the Heart Gallery of Pinellas and Pasco over the past five seasons.  Last season James and his wife, Ryane, created the Big Game James Club. The club creates normalcy and a sense of stability and belonging for foster children served by Eckerd.  BGJC members get to watch a series of Rays games from the designated Big Game James Club suite.  Throughout the season, they celebrate birthdays, get surprise visits from Rays mascot Raymond and are treated to special on-the-field team days where they meet and interact with James and other Rays players. 

The suite also serves as an event space for Eckerd and the Heart Gallery to host “Match Events.”  Potential parents are invited to Rays games to meet and interact with children available for adoption in a non-threatening, fun environment.  Since its inception in 2010 the program has been credited for creating at least two “forever families.”

Chevrolet will donate $7,500 to a charity of Shields’ choice during a pregame ceremony Sept. 24.  He has chosen to split the donation between Eckerd and the Heart Gallery of Pinellas and Pasco

This marks the second straight year James Shields has been nominated for the Roberto Clemente Award.

The distinguished list of national Roberto Clemente Award recipients includes 13 members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame:
 
Beginning on Roberto Clemente Day, fans are encouraged to participate in the process of selecting the national award recipient by visiting http://www.chevybaseball.com/clemente, a site powered by MLB.com and created specifically for the Roberto Clemente Award presented by Chevrolet platform, to vote for one of the 30 Club nominees. Voting ends on Oct. 9, and participating fans will be automatically registered for a chance to win a trip to the 2011 World Series, where the national winner of the Roberto Clemente Award presented by Chevrolet will be announced.

The winner of the fan poll will receive one vote among those cast by the selection panel, which includes Commissioner Selig; Vera Clemente, MLB Goodwill Ambassador and wife of the late Hall of Famer; Baseball Hall of Famer, TBS analyst and former Roberto Clemente Award winner Cal Ripken Jr.; MLB Network analyst, TBS broadcaster and former Roberto Clemente Award winner John Smoltz; MLB Network analysts and former Roberto Clemente Award winners Al Leiter and Harold Reynolds; and MLB.com senior correspondent Hal Bodley.

All Clubs playing at home on September 14 will acknowledge their local nominees as part of Roberto Clemente Day ceremonies, while visiting Clubs will honor their nominees before another September home game.

As part of the league-wide celebration, the Roberto Clemente Day logo will appear on the bases and the official dugout lineup cards.