MLB WORLD SERIES: DIAMONDBACKS VS RANGERS

October 30, 2023

Aaron Judge

Luis Clemente

Roberto Clemente Jr.

Robert Manfred Jr.

Greg Amsinger

Andy Navarette

Chase Field

Roberto Clemente Award Presentation

GREG AMSINGER: Good evening, everyone, my name is Greg Amsinger from MLB Network. It is my honor to welcome you all to the official trophy presentation of Major League Baseball's most prestigious individual player honor, the Roberto Clemente Award, presented by Capital One.

The Roberto Clemente Award pays tribute to the late Hall of Famer's legacy, achievements and character by recognizing a Major League player who best represents the game through these attributes -- extraordinary character, community involvement, philanthropy and positive contributions on and off the field.

MLB has been recognizing Major League players for their philanthropic work since 1971. This special recognition was named the Roberto Clemente Award in 1973 to immortalize the 15-time All-Star after he was tragically lost in a plane crash on New Year's Eve, 1972, on his way to deliver supplies to earthquake victims in Nicaragua.

Roberto's humanitarian spirit continues through the tremendous generosity and community work demonstrated by Major Leagues all around our country and the world. Tonight is a celebration of his philanthropic legacy that grows stronger each year.

The original name for this honor was the Commissioner's Award, so it is fitting that I now welcome our commissioner, Rob Manfred, to present the trophy to this year's recipient.

(Applause)

COMMISSIONER MANFRED: There's a lot of great things about the World Series. I think one of my favorite things is the opportunity to present in person each year the Roberto Clemente Award.

We talk about the Clemente Award being our highest honor. It is our highest honor because it represents the combination of on-field excellence and service in our communities. And I can tell you, I said this to Aaron standing outside, the applications for this award are really a credit to Major League players as a whole. They're just outstanding, and every year it's difficult to make a choice.

I want to thank our great partners at Capital One for sponsoring, not only the Roberto Clemente Award but the activities surrounding the award that take place on Roberto Clemente Day. Andy Navarette is here to represent Capital One, and we appreciate your partnership, Andy.

Some great, great players, great players have gotten the Roberto Clemente award -- Derek Jeter, Albert Pujols, David Ortiz, John Smoltz -- I was hoping Harold would be here today because I was going to say some not-so-great players --

(Laughter)

GREG AMSINGER: He was an All-Star. He was an All-Star.

COMMISSIONER MANFRED: We're going to continue the pattern of great players today by recognizing the selection of Aaron Judge as this year's Roberto Clemente Award winner.

We're all familiar with Aaron's accomplishments on the field. He's the reigning American League MVP. He holds the home run record in the American League, and he's the captain of the New York Yankees. But equally important are his accomplishments off the field. He started the ALL RISE Foundation in 2018. They provided leadership and character training to over 2,000 kids.

They've made great choices in supporting other community groups through funding so they can continue to do their good work. This one I love. He personally conducts, involved himself, in baseball and softball development programs both in New York and California. It's a great thing for the future of our game.

Another one of my favorites, active with Make-A-Wish. Been great with the Make-A-Wish kids. And this one may be the best of all. He has programs that are involved to try to make the social media environment in which our young people live more positive.

That is an unbelievable list of accomplishments. And, Aaron, you are like so many of your fellow players, a real credit to our game.

GREG AMSINGER: That's excellent. Thank you, Commissioner Manfred, for those remarks.

Roberto Clemente's indelible legacy lives on thanks in part to our next speakers. It is my pleasure to introduce two of Roberto's three sons, Luis Clemente and Roberto Clemente Jr.

LUIS CLEMENTE: It's a great pleasure to be here, always, MLB. We're so proud of how you've carried our father's legacy through the Roberto Clemente Award and the Roberto Clemente Day. And Capital One, thank you so much for supporting this incredible program.

I must say there are many players that we always speak to when they win the award. And their parents and their spouses tell us they were not able to sleep the previous evening, how much this represents for each one of you who win it.

Those who have not been able to win it, we hear from them. I must tell you, I know I'm going to be hearing from a few.

But certainly we're so proud, Aaron, that you are the recipient of the Roberto Clemente Award this year. Parents, we commend you for doing such a great job. This is a phase that many youngsters look upon too, and what you're doing, inspiring them to become incredible human beings and citizens, it's really truly amazing. That's what our father made sure to do with his legacy. And you're a great representative of it. So congratulations.

ROBERTO CLEMENTE JR.: Mr. Commissioner, I want to start by saying thank you for what you've done for the game of baseball. I think this year has been a great example of your leadership. We're very excited that the game has become very cool for the young people. So we're very excited.

Aaron, I've told you this before. We're so proud and welcome to the Clemente family of award winners. We believe that you're a true example of a great human being. It's actually what it's all about, and you are leading the charge of all these great players today, leaving a great legacy.

You're building your own, and we're very, very proud that you are the winner this year. So congratulations. And, by the way, I have Clemente III here. He's a huge Judge fan. He's like I'm not going anywhere.

GREG AMSINGER: I don't blame him. I don't blame him.

LUIS CLEMENTE: We presented Aaron with his award, winner of the Oris watch, the Clemente watch, it's 2023, all the past recipients have received their watch with the special edition number matching the year they won the award. So he received his already.

GREG AMSINGER: That's wonderful. Want to remind you that in 2022, Capital One became the presenting sponsor of not only the Roberto Clemente Award, but also Roberto Clemente Day. To speak on their behalf, please welcome vice president and head of external affairs for Capital One, Andy Navarette.

ANDY NAVARETTE: Thank you, and it's great to see your son here. I was probably your age the last time I saw your father play. A meaningful moment.

On behalf of Capital One, I'd like to thank the commissioner. I'd like to thank the Clemente family. And I'd like to congratulate Aaron on this incredible honor.

As a proud Cuban-American, last year I got to tell the story of my father's personal connection and the time he spent in Nicaragua as well. Your father was my father's favorite player, but his favorite team was the Yankees.

When I told him, 88 years old and going strong, that I would be a part of this ceremony, he was both deeply envious but also just so excited. You're one of his modern-day idols and for good reason. Not only a perennial All-Star in your own right, not only somebody, I think, whose performance on the field has really carried forward the legacy of Roberto Clemente, but also somebody who's off-the-field work is deeply admirable.

At Capital One we like to say the proof is in the data. And when you think of your programs, the ALL RISE Foundation -- by the way, fantastic name, credit to that, it's very clever. The former lawyer in me thinks that's just amazing.

But one of the things you've touched now, 2,000 lives, at such a critical time in people's personal development. Your focus on building aspiring leaders among our youth, on supporting organizations like Bridge to College, these are the interventions that not only change the lives of the individuals but the families of the individuals as well. That's the flywheel that you're putting into effect with all the wonderful work that you're doing.

So congratulations again and can't wait to see where your career and your commitment take you next.

(Applause)

GREG AMSINGER: Thank you, Andy, for that.

Aaron, you're the fourth Yankee to win this prestigious honor along side Ron Guidry, Don Baylor and your captain predecessor, the great Derek Jeter. I'm sure you have a lot to say. The floor is all yours.

AARON JUDGE: Thank you. Thank you everyone for coming today. I want to say thank to you the Roberto Clemente family. Getting a chance to meet you guys and getting a chance to spend time with you guys in Pittsburgh this year was special and dear to me.

Just being a nominee is an incredible honor that a lot of players look forward to. And now getting a chance and to be a Roberto Clemente Award winner, it's tough to describe.

The legacy your father left -- we can sit here and talk about the stats, what he did on the field. He was a generational talent on the field, but he was a generational ambassador for this game off the field. How he touched the lives of the youth, inspired the youth, inspired this next generation of ball players that we see today.

We see so many young players that represent the game the right way. They play the game the right way. They give back to the kids.

When we spoke earlier and we were talking about the Little League World Series and seeing all these kids going out there, replicating what a lot of our players are doing now, that's what it's about. He grew the game and that's something I want to continue to do is continue to grow the game.

And I want to say a thank you to my family -- my beautiful wife, Samantha; my parents, Wayne and Patty -- for all their help; my agents, who are here and their families, thank you for being here.

It goes back to 2018, starting the ALL RISE Foundation. I was sitting in a car talking with my family. That's one thing that, just got drafted, and they said what is something you want to do with your career.

I said, well, I see C.C. Sabathia and Derek Jeter, they all have foundations. Dave Winfield before them had a great foundation. And the way they impacted the youth and helped so many kids either going to college, doing well in school, things outside of sports, it was special.

We started brainstorming ideas, kind of -- Catch a Fly Foundation, this and that. We stumbled upon the ALL RISE Foundation, which I think was pretty suiting. And so the work that we have accomplished with the help of my family, especially my mom, and just the lives we touch. It's just the beginning.

This is just another step along the way. And, like I said, it's just the beginning. Looking forward to helping more kids along the way, helping Roberto III continue on his journey as well.

I want to thank you and your family. This is amazing. Thank you, Commissioner, for being here. And this, this part of the Roberto Clemente family, which is such an amazing group. Listing the previous winners, it's tough to put into words what that means. Truly blessed.

GREG AMSINGER: Congratulations, round of applause for Aaron Judge.

Now I'll open the floor for any questions. We ask that all the questioning remain specifically on his recognition of his philanthropic work, please. Let's keep it to that.

Q. From all the proposals you and the foundation get, how do you go about picking which ones to get involved with? And why are the ones you have picked meaningful to you?

AARON JUDGE: It really goes back to our mission statement, which is inspiring the youth to be the next leaders of this generation and great citizens.

It always goes back to we get so many applicants and so many different organizations to be a part of in California and New York. When we kind of sit down and go through the process -- my mom's going through it. Our board members are going through it -- every time we pick somebody, it's, like, hey, does this line up with what our vision and what our goal is, when we started this foundation.

And always it's a little back and forth because there's so many great organizations out there and different programs we can help. But when we finally come down to it, it's just about is this group going to inspire the next generation. Are they going to help with leadership skills, school skills, citizenship? It's a fun process. That's what you look forward to.

It's fun having. Even when you guys were going through the nominees, it's tough picking the right one. But I think we always come out to the right answer. And that's what it's all about. We really enjoy that process.

Q. What was your reaction when you heard you won? And what you were doing at the time when you got the call?

AARON JUDGE: I was actually at home in California visiting my parents. My wife and I were there. We were actually, we were both working out. And I just got a phone call from our PR, Jason Zillo, and he said, you've got a minute? This is very important.

I'm like, is there a trade going on or something? Something happening? (Laughter.) What's going on, something important?

He said, can you sit down. I said, yeah, yeah, what do you got? And he said, you won the Roberto Clemente Award. And I was speechless. He was listing off everything to me, and I couldn't speak for a while.

I told my wife, like, what do we do now? She said, you have to call your parents, gotta call your mom. We FaceTimed my mom and gave her the good news, because just the amount of hard work and dedication she puts into my foundation -- and she had to pull the car over because when she heard the news she didn't want to get in a crash. She had to pull off to the side of the road when we told her the good news.

It was just a special moment that I definitely won't forget.

Q. Rob, when you get the list of the nominees, do you look and scroll through it and say, secretly, in your mind, I would love to see this guy win? Or do you look at it say any of these guys will be great for me?

COMMISSIONER MANFRED: The truth is when you look at the list, you can't go wrong. Particularly when you read what the players have done, it is an amazing list.

And I said it in my remarks -- I really do mean it -- it's a credit to Major League players as a whole that each and every year you come up with one nominee from each club that truly would be a great pick to win this award.

Q. Aaron, how much have you been able to learn about the life and career of Roberto? And as a fellow right fielder, you've watched the highlights we've all seen. What do you think when you see those?

AARON JUDGE: The 3,000 hits is impressive. The batting average, the home run numbers, but honestly, I'm jealous of the Gold Gloves. (Laughter.)

You see all the highlights, the ball getting hit down in the right-field corner and him throwing it all the way home on the line. I feel like he was a standard for what it meant to be an All-Star outfielder.

He took pride in not only what he did offensively, but he took more pride in what he did defensively. He was a complete player. To me, even talking with Paul O'Neill, with the Yankees, he wore 21 because of Roberto. Played right field just like him.

He was the standard. He set the standard for what it was to be a complete player. And that's something I try to model my game after is trying to be a complete player offensively and defensively.

So hopefully I don't know if I'll catch a record for the amount of Gold Gloves he has, but hopefully he'll be on my mind if that day ever comes.

GREG AMSINGER: We have a new media member that wants to ask you a question. He's back in the corner. Does he look familiar?

Q. (From Mookie Betts) dogs, they make it safely?

AARON JUDGE: Oh, yeah, they're here.

Q. Gus, right?

AARON JUDGE: Gus and Penny, you got it right.

Q. How does it feel to be the tallest Roberto Clemente Award winner? (Laughter.)

AARON JUDGE: Me and Dave Winfield, we're eye to eye. I think I tied the record. But this is just, like I said, a special moment.

And just like you do with your platform, when we get to this, get to this level in our career and in our lives -- I said it earlier on MLB Network: Too whom much is given, much required.

We've been given so much, surrounded by so much great people, surrounded by great family and friends, getting the chance to play the game that we love, this is what it's about, giving back and helping the next generation to follow in our footsteps.

Q. You're doing it right, bro. Congratulations on this award. You're very well deserving of this and more success in your life. And just want to say, what's up, brother.

AARON JUDGE: I appreciate it. (Applause.)

GREG AMSINGER: That's outstanding. Time for one more question.

Q. Obviously the ALL RISE Foundation does a lot of work with the California Central Valley. Your alma mater, Fresno State, will be retiring your number soon. How did your time, being part of the Fresno State and Central Valley community as a whole, help shape you into the person who you are today?

AARON JUDGE: Those are some very pivotal years of my life. You're coming out of high school. You really don't know what you want to do with your life. I knew I loved playing baseball and I want to play baseball.

I got an opportunity to continue my education and my career at Fresno State. And the memories I shared there and the memories I made there with a wonderful coaching staff, Coach Batesole, Overland, who's now the head coach there -- even all the teammates I had there that pushed me and motivated me along the way.

Out of high school I got drafted. But I just knew physically I wasn't ready and even mentally, I'm not mature enough to take that next step. And those three years I spent at Fresno State to mature as a player on the field but also mature as an individual and a young man off the field, that just really shaped and kind of prepared me for this next jump into pro baseball, pro baseball for the New York Yankees.

And I still go back. There's so many lessons I learned there, either from Coach Batesole or from my teammates or from the community that support it so well -- the Red Wave, they show up in numbers. I still go back to this day on life lessons I learned there, and still contribute to daily life here. It's impressive. I look back on those days, they're some great memories.

GREG AMSINGER: That concludes tonight's press conference.