Mets' Francisco Lindor wins Roberto Clemente Award for humanitarian work

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Francisco Lindor felt so honored to be given the Roberto Clemente Award, he showed up at World Series Game 3 in a Ferragamo tuxedo to accept it.

“We’ve been doing work without trying to be recognized, and here we are,” the New York Mets shortstop said Monday night.

A five-time All-Star, Lindor became the fifth recipient of Puerto Rican descent to receive the award after Edgar Martinez (2004), Carlos Delgado (2006), Carlos Beltrán (2013) and Yadier Molina (2018).

“I looked at them, and I was trying to follow in their footsteps,” Lindor said seated next to his wife, Katia. “Now just being here, it’s a complete honor to have a full-circle moment like this.”

Lindor and his wife have worked with Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals; the SEEN Foundation, a disability advocacy group; Special Olympics Florida; and Boys & Girls Clubs of America.

He donated to relief efforts in Puerto Rico after hurricanes Maria and Fiona, restored athletic facilities in his hometown of Caguas and donated more than $1 million to build Lindor Hall at the Montverde Academy, a school he graduated from in Monteverde, Florida.

Lindor launched a Lindor’s Leaders development initiative for students in the sports medicine program at Bayside High School in New York and funded backpacks and school supplies in Queens, the New York City borough where the Mets’ Citi Field is located.

“I love education, and she loves the health side of things,” Lindor said of his wife. “She’s the rock. She gets a lot of stuff. It’s a little harder to get stuff to me. But she’s fantastic and she gets everything that needs to come my way. Yeah, we don’t really like say this is the one thing we’re going to stick to. Wherever we see a need, we’re going to go and help.”

Lindor made clear he and his wife team on the philanthropic efforts.

“That doesn’t mean it won’t evolve and look like something else in five, 10 years,” Katia said. “But for right now, the things that we feel passionate about have to do with the people we meet along the way and how they impact our lives. It’s kind of a two-way street.”

Clemente was a 15-time All-Star from Puerto Rico who was killed in a plane crash on New Year’s Eve 1972 while attempting to deliver supplies to earthquake victims in Nicaragua. The award is given annually to a major league player who represents the sport through character, community involvement, philanthropy and positive contributions on and off the field.

Lindor’s emulation of Clemente doesn’t extend to the batter’s box.

“My dad tried to tell me to hit in a similar stance like Roberto Clemente,” Lindor said. “I’m like: 'Pops, you ain’t got it like that. Don’t worry about it. I can’t lunge at the ball like he did.’”

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