The Wait Continues: Mariners Veteran Fall Short of…
On Monday, it was announced that Kansas City Royals star Salvador Perez won the Roberto Clemente Award across Major League Baseball.
The award comes with much prestige and is the baseball equivalent of the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award in the NFL.
The Royals announced the news on social media:
Representing the game of Baseball through extraordinary character, community involvement, philanthropy, and positive contributions, both on and off the field.
Salvador Perez has been named the 2024 Roberto Clemente Award Winner!
While Perez is certainly a worthwhile winner, his victory means that Seattle Mariners shortstop JP Crawford did not win the award. Crawford had earned the Mariners nomination back in September. Each team got one nominee.
At the time of his nomination, the Mariners put out a release with all the things that Crawford is involved in. This is a portion of that release:
During his time in Seattle, Crawford has been a pillar in the community, working directly to build programs that champion youth baseball & softball access, while also supporting numerous Mariners initiatives through generous donations and volunteer appearances.
Since 2017, J.P. has served on the board of the Baseball Generations Foundation (BBG)
Even being nominated for the award is a great accomplishment for Crawford, who has represented the Mariners well since debuting with them in 2019.
A former Gold Glove winner (2020), Crawford will need an on-field renaissance in 2025 if the M’s are to make the playoffs again. He was on the injured list twice in 2024 and hit just .202.
