Roberto Clemente Award Finalists Named

Last week I finished reading Clemente: The Passion and Grace of Baseball's Last Hero by David Maraniss.

To say I was incredibly moved by the story and writing would be an understatement of epic proportions. I've read hundreds of baseball books in my time, and this one ranks up there with the very best of them.

The story of Clemente, as it was told in this baseball classic, has stayed with me and haunted me these past few days.

Today Major League Baseball announced the finalists for the Roberto Clemente Award.

The Roberto Clemente Award, established in 2002, is presented annually to the MLB player who combines outstanding skills on the baseball field with devoted work in the community.

Chevy will donate $30,000 and a Chevy vehicle to the national winner's charity of choice and an additional $30,000 will be donated by Chevy to Roberto Clemente Sports City, a not-for-profit organization in Carolina, Puerto Rico, designed to provide recreational sports activities for children. Additionally, Chevy will donate $7,500 to the charity of choice of each of the 30 club recipients.

David Wright, a young man renowned for his charitable work and the David Wright Foundation, is the Mets finalist for the award. It could not have gone to a finer representative of the NY Mets.

NY Sports Dog congratulates David Wright for this recognition of his tireless work on behalf of others.

2008 ROBERTO CLEMENTE AWARD FINALISTS
Team	Player
Arizona Diamondbacks	Brandon Webb
Atlanta Braves	Tim Hudson
Baltimore Orioles	Melvin Mora
Boston Red Sox	Kevin Youkilis
Chicago Cubs	Ryan Dempster
Chicago White Sox	Jermaine Dye
Cincinnati Reds	Brandon Phillips
Cleveland Indians	Grady Sizemore
Colorado Rockies	Jeff Francis
Detroit Tigers	Magglio Ordonez
Florida Marlins	Luis Gonzalez
Houston Astros	Lance Berkman
Kansas City Royals	Mark Teahen
Los Angeles Angels	Justin Speier
Los Angeles Dodgers	James Loney
Milwaukee Brewers	Jeff Suppan
Minnesota Twins	Michael Cuddyer
New York Mets	David Wright
New York Yankees	Johnny Damon
Oakland Athletics	Mark Ellis
Philadelphia Phillies	Jimmy Rollins
Pittsburgh Pirates	Jack Wilson
St. Louis Cardinals	Albert Pujols
San Diego Padres	Trevor Hoffman
San Francisco Giants	Kevin Frandsen
Seattle Mariners	Raul Ibanez
Tampa Bay Rays	Carlos Pena
Texas Rangers	Kevin Millwood
Toronto Blue Jays	Vernon Wells
Washington Nationals	Joel Hanrahan