Former University of San Diego pitcher Brian Matusz was named the Baltimore Orioles 2015 Roberto Clemente Award Nominee.
The 28-year old relief pitcher was honored for his charitable work around the Baltimore area. Matusz is active with the Casey Cares Foundation, which helps children who are critically ill and their families. He spends time visiting pediatric patients at the Herman and Walter Samuelson Children’s Hospital at Sinai Hospital and served as the honorary race ambassador for the Casey Cares 5K Run/Walk that took place at Oriole Park this year. The benefit raised more than $106,000 for the Casey Cares Foundation.
He’s also involved in the Baltimore Animal Rescue and Care Shelter and appears in the Orioles 2016 Pet Calendar and is active in the Orioles Charitable Foundation. Each year Matusz contributes $5,000 to the OriolesREACH ticket program that gives at risk children tickets to O’s games.
Matusz was drafted fourth overall by the Orioles in the 2008 out of USD. He made is Major League debut the following year. On the mound this season he’s 1-4 with an ERA of 2.87 over 47.0 innings pitched with 54 strikeouts. Matusz missed eight games after being suspended for having a foreign substance on his arm while pitching in May.
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The Roberto Clemente Award goes to the player(s) who best represent the game of baseball through positive contributions on and off the field. Every season each club nominates a player who best represents the character of Clemente by helping others. Last year Paul Konerko of the Chicago White Sox and Jimmy Rollins, of the Philadelphia Phillies were co-winners.
Previously called the Commissioner’s Award, it was renamed the Roberto Clemente Award after 1972 to honor the 12-time All-Star and Pirates Hall of Famer who died December 31, ‘72 in a plane crash. Clemente, already known for his philanthropic work was trying to deliver supplies to earthquake victims in Nicaragua.
The other nominees are: Andrew Cashner (Padres), Paul Goldschmidt (Arizona), Jason Grilli (Atlanta), Anthony Rizzo (Cubs), J.J. Hoover (Cincinnati), Kyle Kendrick (Colorado), Adrian Gonzales (Dodgers), Dee Gordon (Miami), Jonathan Lucroy (Milwaukee), Curtis Granderson (Mets), Ryan Howard (Philadelphia), Andrew McCutchen (Pittsburgh), Adam Wainwright (St. Louis), Javier Lopez (San Francisco), Denard Span (Washington), Brock Holt (Boston), David Robertson (White Sox), Carlos Carrasco (Cleveland), Miguel Cabrera (Detroit), George Springer (Houston), Alex Gordon (Kansas City), Hector Santiago (Angels), Torii Hunter (Minnesota), Mark Teixeira (Yankees), Stephen Vogt (Oakland), Charlie Furbush (Seattle), Chris Archer (Tampa Bay), Adrian Beltre (Texas), and Jose Bautista (Toronto).
Fans can go to ChevyBaseball.com to vote for one of the nominees. The winner will be announced during the 2015 World Series.
