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MLB WORLD SERIES: CARDINALS v TIGERS

October 24, 2006

Carlos Delgado

ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI: Game Three

DAN SHULMAN: I'm Dan Shulman from ESPN and I'd like to welcome you to today's awards ceremony.
As you know the Roberto Clemente Award is one of the most prestigious awards that Major League Baseball hands out every year. And I think today is a particularly special occasion because we have a player from Puerto Rico, from Roberto Clemente's homeland who is the recipient of the award.
The people involved today, up on the stage we have Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig; and the award winner, Carlos Delgado; and the wife of the late Roberto Clemente, Vera Clemente; and seated right in front of them we have the sons of Roberto Clemente, Luis and Roberto, Junior; we have Bob DuPuy, the president and chief operating officer of Major League Baseball, and we have Betzaida Garcia, Carlos Delgado's wife.
We'd like to hear what everybody has to say about the awarding of the Roberto Clemente Award tonight. We'll start off with Commissioner Selig.
COMMISSIONER BUD SELIG: Thank you, Dan.
Good evening. The Roberto Clemente Award is given annually in the honor of the late Roberto Clemente to the baseball player who combines outstanding skills on the baseball field with dedicated work in the community.
Roberto Clemente's passion for the game of baseball and commitment to making a difference in the lives of those in need transcend time and continue to have an impact to this day.
This year's winner is Carlos Delgado. Carlos, I want to congratulate you, first of all, for your outstanding and record-setting baseball career. In 2006 the Mets first basemen joined only nine other active Major League players by hitting his 400th career home run, and he became only the fourth player in Major League history to hit 30 home runs in ten consecutive seasons. Two time All-Star, is the all-time leader in Toronto Blue Jay's history in runs scored, doubles, home runs, extra base hits, RBIs, walks, and slugging percentage. I don't think there's anything else left. If there is, you'll have to tell me later.
CARLOS DELGADO: ERA (Laughter.)
COMMISSIONER BUD SELIG: He was the winner of the American League Hank Aaron Award as a Blue Jay in 2000 when he hit .344 with 41 home runs and 137 runs batted in. However, even more impressive than his on-field performance is the support he has provided to the Puerto Rican and New York communities.
Since becoming a professional baseball player in 1989, Carlos's main goal has been to improve the lives of children in his native Puerto Rico. Five years ago he started a foundation called Extra Bases, to which he's personally donated a half a million dollars. Extra Bases is a nonprofit Puerto Rican based charity, that was founded to assist under-privileged and deserving youngsters in the community and abroad.
For the second straight year in 2006 he is sponsoring two four-year college scholarships and trips to New York City for the top students in Puerto Rico. Recently over 35 students enjoyed a five-day tour of the Big Apple, with lunch at Shea Stadium, that included Carlos.
I'd like to thank the Clementes, Luis, Roberto, Junior and Vera, for their participation in today's press conference, and their continued support of the great legacy of Roberto Clemente, Carlos Delgado. (Applause.)
DAN SHULMAN: We'd also like to recognize tonight the Clemente family for coming to St. Louis, for coming to this gathering tonight, and all the great work you do with the Roberto Clemente Sports City in Puerto Rico and the many ways you keep your father's and husband's name and legacy alive. On behalf of all of baseball, thank you very much. Without further adieu, let's hear from Vera Clemente.
VERA CLEMENTE: My congratulations to Carlos Delgado for his election and recipient of the 2006 Roberto Clemente Award. His performance on the field, his dedication and commitment to the community embody the spirit of this award. Congratulations and God bless you, Carlos.
DAN SHULMAN: I've been fortunate, I guess. Carlos' first year in the majors, he broke in with Toronto, and I broke in as an announcer with Toronto, it was the same year.
Just on a personal note, everybody in this room has had the opportunity to meet many, many ball players over the years, and it was obvious from day one, there was something special with Carlos above and beyond his ability to hit the ball a long, long way. I think everybody in Toronto saw that early. It may have been a little bit hidden, because he was tucked up in Canada and people in the States didn't know that much about it. But it was obvious he had special leadership qualities, and I've seen him countless times with kids and charities around the ballpark in Toronto, and it's continued with his time with Florida and now on the New York Mets. I can't think of anybody more deserving of this award than Carlos. And we both had a little more hair back when we met back in '94.
CARLOS DELGADO: I can still grow mine (laughter.)
DAN SHULMAN: And he always gets the last word in.
So let's give him the last word here today, the 2006 Roberto Clemente Award winner, Carlos Delgado.
CARLOS DELGADO: Thanks for the kind words. Thanks for the kind words, Vera.
This is a great honor for me. This is something really special, just because I'm Puerto Rican, 34 years after Roberto has passed his legacy is still very much alive. And I don't know what else you can say about somebody that's been gone for 34 years, but his name is in a lot of baseball facilities, sports facilities, schools, streets in Puerto Rico. He's an icon. I'm a fan before anything -- when they talk about Clemente, I'm a fan. I say when I grow up I want to be like that. And that's why this award is so special.
I love what I do. I'm in a very fortunate position. No. 1, we got help, and No. 2, we're in a position where we can help others. And the things that I do for others, you know, when we help out kids is just because I feel it from the bottom of my heart. I'm not expecting any recognition, but this is really special because I know there's a big group of people, big group of players in the Big Leagues that do a great job. And being chosen to receive this award, it is quite an honor. So I want to say thank you to the Clemente family, to the Commissioner and to Major League Baseball for this opportunity and I'm just going to try to continue to do what we've been doing.
Like I say, I'm blessed with health and energy and passion for the game of baseball and also to help children. I believe children are our future and if we can put them in a position that they can be a little bit more successful and if we can touch their life and make their lives a little better, I think we have done our job. So once again, this is a very special day for me and my family and the whole Extra Bases family. Everybody at home is pretty fired up, very happy. We had a hard time not telling everybody when we found out last week and we really, really had a hard time not telling everybody. But I guess tomorrow people will find out, but in our family we are very, very happy, thank you (applause.)
DAN SHULMAN: What's the easiest way to find out about Extra Bases?
CARLOS DELGADO: WWW.ExtraBases.org, and in there you're going to find a lot of the centers that we work with, coming events. If you want to make a donation, you can go ahead and make it there. It will go to a good cause, then you can find out the mailing address, if you need to find out any sort of information. And I encourage you to go and visit.
DAN SHULMAN: We have a few minutes for questions for Carlos. And if you're going to ask in Spanish, I've been asked to ask you if you can ask in English and then Spanish, and Carlos if you can answer in both languages.
Any questions for Carlos?

Q. Congratulations, Carlos. With the young people you work with in Puerto Rico, how aware are they of Roberto Clemente as a player, and also his legacy as kind of an ambassador for goodwill in the game?
CARLOS DELGADO: Like I mentioned earlier, Clemente is very much alive in Puerto Rico. I guess since you are born, you know who Roberto Clemente is. You probably heard about him in one way or another. So kids, they understand what he did. They might not get the whole idea, just because they're younger, and probably a lot of the kids that we deal with, they don't have the access that we have to all the media outlets, Internet, TV and all that, but when you say Clemente, or you say No. 21, people, they kind of put two and two together and they know that this is a great player, and he was a better human being.
DAN SHULMAN: I think everybody is probably aware, but Carlos does wear No. 21 with New York Mets, and wore it many years in Toronto, as well.

Q. I was just going to ask about 21, there's great synergy in that. When did you start to wear it and did you fight to wear it growing up?
CARLOS DELGADO: Everybody does. When I went to little leagues, I wore No. 21. I wore 21 in the Minor Leagues. If you look back at Ruben Sierra, he wore 21 when he was coming up.
When I was in Toronto, I was 21 until a guy by the name of Roger Clemens, you probably heard of him before, after he came there, he asked me if he could have that number. I switched, and when I went to New York I had the opportunity to go back to 21. So I took it again, and it wasn't by accident.

Q. Quick question, your foundation is doing a lot for minorities there in Puerto Rico. Do you have any thoughts or assessment of how Major League Baseball is doing with its own efforts? It's got other programs to extend interest in baseball to minorities, as well. Is it doing enough?
CARLOS DELGADO: I know that Major League Baseball has got in place a lot of programs and through the Players' Fund Trust we've been involved with a number of different opportunities, starting with Boys and Girls Club, buses for school, a lot of different programs in place. Unfortunately, sometimes the good doesn't get the recognition. But I know they're out there doing the work and I know the players get involved in helping. And unfortunately there's so much need out there that sometimes all the foundations in the world can't cover. But we always say that little by little if you can touch the life of somebody, you're doing your job, and hopefully somebody else can continue to do that. And sometime along the way we'll catch up.
DAN SHULMAN: Folks, thank you. There's another press conference coming up. As some of you know there's going to be a photo opportunity at the front here. Thank you for coming tonight.

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