Charlie Culberson of the Braves is the team’s nominee for this season’s Roberto Clemente Award.
Major League Baseball announced the nominees for each MLB team Thursday. The Braves and the other 29 MLB teams will acknowledge their nominees Sept. 18, when Clemente is honored on Roberto Clemente Day, which will be marked around baseball.
“It’s pretty special,” Culberson told the AJC’s Gabriel Burns on Thursday afternoon before the Braves’ game against the Phillies. “When they told me, not too long ago, I was pretty excited. I never do things to get recognized. I don’t do that. There’s a lot of good people here, and I have a lot of good people around me helping others. I enjoy being there for everybody else. To be nominated for this award is pretty special.
“I think being in this position, there are a lot of things we can do. I think giving your time is most important. Giving your time, it doesn’t matter who it is – it can be your teammate, a friend, people you don’t know. I think it goes a long ways and that’s something I strive to do every single day.
“Again, I don’t look for awards or anything like that, but it’s something I really enjoy doing. If I have an opportunity to help someone else out, I’ll do it. And in turn, sometimes, a lot of the time, it helps me out too. It’s something I enjoy doing every single day.”
The results of fan voting will contribute to the process of determining who wins the award. Fans can vote through Sept. 29 at mlb.com/clemente21. MLB will announce the award winner during a World Series game to be determined.
According to MLB, “The Roberto Clemente Award is the annual recognition of a major league player who best represents the game of Baseball through extraordinary character, community involvement, philanthropy and positive contributions, both on and off the field.”
Three Braves players have won the award: Phil Niekro (1980), Dale Murphy (1988) and John Smoltz (2005). The award originated in 1971, and the first winner was Willie Mays.
