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Major League Baseball announced on Monday that veteran right-hander Adam Wainwright had won this year's Roberto Clemente Award. The honor is given out annually to a player who demonstrates the "values Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente displayed in his commitment to community and understanding the value of helping others," according to the league.

Wainwright, a free agent who has spent his entire 15-year big-league career to date with the Cardinals, is the sixth member of the St. Louis organization to win the award, the most of any team. Past Cardinals winners include Lou Brock, Ozzie Smith, Albert Pujols, Carlos Beltran, and Yadier Molina. The award was originally created in 1971, and was later named after Clemente in 1973. Clemente died in a plane crash on New Year's Eve 1972 during a humanitarian effort to deliver supplies to earthquake victims in Nicaragua.

MLB's official release notes that Wainwright founded Big League Impact in 2013 as a means of giving back to the world. Here are some of his accomplishments through BLI since:

  • Constructed Haiti's Ferrier Village Secondary School, which opened for the 2019-2020 school year. Also partnered with Water Mission to build a clean water system for the community.

  • In Honduras, BLI funded the construction of a clean water system servicing more than 15,000 people.

  • In Ethiopia, his mission trip there led to the purchase of an 11-acre plot that is now the site of a clinic and a dairy and crop farm. Adam also partnered with Crisis Aid International to feed children in Africa who would have died of starvation, and also provided aid to help give victims of sex trafficking a new opportunity at life.

  • BLI's relationship with Crisis Aid provides weekly meals for 3,000 families in the greatest need, including a local campaign that helps feed 200 families per year in South St. Louis.

  • In 2019, Big League Impact partnered with the Garth Brooks Teammates for Kids Foundation to launch the MLB- and Club-backed "Home Plate Project" to address family and childhood food insecurity.  To date, the effort has provided nearly 8 million meals across the United States and Canada, including 4 million meals during the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • More than 150 Major League players have worked with Big League Impact to bring their charitable aspirations to life, with appx. $5.8 million donated to 94 charities.

Wainwright had previously been nominated for the Clemente Award in 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2019.