Chicago Cubs‘ first baseman Anthony Rizzo is the recipient of the Roberto Clemente Award for 2017 season. The award is named after Hall of Fame outfielder Roberto Clemente and given annually to a baseball player who “best exemplifies the game of baseball, sportsmanship, community involvement and the individual’s contribution to his team“. Rizzo will be presented with the award before Game 3 of the World Series.
Through his The Anthony Rizzo Family Foundation, Rizzo raised more than $4 million in order to help the cancer research and the families fighting the disease. Player himself is a cancer survivor, being diagnosed Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2008. After undergoing chemotherapy, fully recovered from the disease.
“To win this is amazing,” – Rizzo said. “That’s the impact we want to make. A lot of organizations do amazing work, and we want to impact families directly, and this foundation, that’s what the staple is. It’s insane over the last few years how many people have come up to me and said how we’ve helped someone’s friend of a friend of a friend, and it gets back to me. To touch lives like that, it’s something you can’t explain.“
Anthony Rizzo was taken by the Boston Red Sox in the 2007 MLB draft and quickly established himself as the top minor league prospect in the organization. He was sent to the San Diego Padres in 2010 as a part of the trade that brought All-Star first baseman Adrian Gonzalez to the Red Sox. After struggling to find playing time with Padres, Rizzo was traded to the Chicago Cubs. With the Cubs, Rizzo became an All-Star player, earning three selections from 2014 to 2016. In 2016 he also helped the Cubs to win their first World Series title since 1908. Rizzo received multiple honors and awards throughout his career including the Platinum Glove Award and Heart and Hustle Award.
