Official Press Release: Rickie Weeks Nominated for 2012 Roberto Clemente Award

Major League Baseball and Chevrolet, the official vehicle of Major League Baseball, today announced that Rickie Weeks was named the Brewers’ 2012 nominee for the prestigious Roberto Clemente Award presented by Chevrolet. Today marks the eleventh 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. Weeks 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.
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. The Award is named for the 15-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.

Each season, Weeks makes financial contributions to Brewers Community Foundation, the official charity of the Milwaukee Brewers Baseball Club, to support activities and programs targeted to youth recreation, scholarships and education throughout Wisconsin. This summer, he hosted the Team Smile dental clinic that took place at Miller Park, which provided free dental care for 200 children from the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee. He also made monetary contributions to the YMCA in support of their swimming program, which teaches central city kids how to swim.

Weeks has partnered with Brewers Community Foundation to serve as a sponsor for the 2012-2013 “Teach for America, Sponsor-A-Teacher” initiative in Milwaukee. In addition, he sponsored the production of the play – Jackie Robinson Story, which will debut in 2013 by Children’s First Stage Theatre Company.

Since 2008, Weeks has financially supported the Rickie’s Rookies Ticket Program, which provides hundreds of game tickets and t-shirts to youth groups and organizations throughout Milwaukee and Wisconsin.  Weeks has also supported the American Diabetes Association, the Beckum-Stapleton Little League and the 2011 Fatherhood Initiative Trip where he hosted fathers and their children on a one-day trip to St. Louis for a ballgame, among other charitable events.

On Saturday, September 29, Rickie will be recognized as the Brewers’ 2012 Roberto Clemente Award nominee in a pregame ceremony at Miller Park.

The distinguished list of past national Roberto Clemente Award recipients includes 14 members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame:

+ Member of the Baseball Hall of Fame

Beginning today, fans are encouraged to participate in the process of selecting the national award recipient by visiting MLB.com/ClementeAward to vote for one of the 30 Club nominees. Participating fans will be automatically registered for a chance to win a trip to the 2012 World Series, where the national winner of the Roberto Clemente Award presented by Chevrolet will be announced. Voting ends at 11:59 p.m. ET on Sunday, October 14^th, and the winner of the fan poll will receive one vote among those cast by a selection panel.

All Clubs playing at home today will recognize their local nominees as part of Roberto Clemente Day ceremonies, while each visiting Club 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.