GETTIN’ MIGGY WITH IT

(with apologies to Will Smith)

By:  Holly Horning

Today, Wednesday, is Roberto Clemente Day and MLB is inching closer to raising this baseball humanitarian’s profile even higher.

Players will be wearing “21” and MLB is hinting that Clemente’s number will be retired, like Jackie Robinson’s, throughout baseball in the near future.

Coinciding with this event is the annual reveal of each team’s nominees for the Clemente Award.

Every organization names one member of their roster who “best represents the game of baseball through extraordinary character, community involvement, philanthropy and positive contributions, both on and off the field.” It is about which players best demonstrated the values, community commitment and understanding the value of helping others as stated by MLB.

The Committee, led by Rob Manfred, MLB networks and Roberto’s 3 children select the winner.

The recognition used to be known as the Commissioner’s Award but it was changed in 1973 to honor Clemente.

That year’s award winner?

Al Kaline.

And he was the very last Tiger to win it. Forty-seven years ago.

The award is given 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.

All of the winners over the years have been among baseball’s most revered players both on and off the field like Kaline. Guys with impeccable reputations like John Smoltz, Derek Jeter, Albert Pujols, Curtis Granderson, Clayton Kershaw, Tony Gwynn, Cal Ripken and others.

After all, there is an emphasis in the rules for voting about “extraordinary character” and “philanthropy and positive contributions, both on and off the field.”

Which brings us to the Tigers nominees.

For the past 11 years, the Tigers have nominated Miguel Cabrera 6 times.

Miggy may be a great player, but really, would you equate him with Roberto Clemente or any of the players listed above in terms of being a role model outside of baseball?

Curtis Granderson was nominated in 2009 but didn’t win. He did win it later for the Mets.

It was also the year that police were called to Miggy’s home by his wife alleging domestic abuse. The news stayed fresh into 2010 when the Tigers nominated Carlos Guillen who raised over $600,000 in support of helping underprivileged children.

In 2011, the nominee was Justin Verlander who continues to be well-known for his many philanthropic endeavors. It was also the year in which Miggy was arrested for drunk driving, resisting arrest and threatening restaurant patrons.

Not the year for nominating him…….

But in 2012 and 2013, the Tigers submitted Cabrera as their candidate.

After the 2014 season, in which JV was once again nominated, Miggy got on a roll and garnered the nomination for the years 2015 through 2017. The last year despite the news that he had a mistress who fathered 2 of his children.

Which is why Michael Fulmer was nominated in 2018 for 4 projects in which he was involved. It doesn’t help when Cabrera spent that year in court arguing about paying child support.

But Miggy bounced back in 2019 and got the team’s nomination despite the lingering court case about child support, being sued by his former business partners and reports detailing his past due bills to the Tigers for promoting his candy.

It was also the same year that Jordan Zimmermann donated over $500,000 to just one charity. And he didn’t get the nod.

In fact, the Detroit papers never even reported that tidbit.

It’s interesting that most players’ bios specify how much they’ve given or donated. But Miggy’s donations (and don’t get me wrong as we are all grateful for anything a player does) are more of the fuzzy kind. There are no specs with his submitted bio for the nomination.

We are told that he “quietly contributes” – a buzz phrase oft-repeated within the Detroit papers – mostly through the Miguel Cabrera Foundation that is focused on getting kids in the game. Some stats quote his biggest event having raised over $1.8 million – but over the course of 11 years.

That boils down to $164,000 per year for a guy making $30 mill+.  In contrast, Albert Pujols gives to a number of charities every year, surpassing 7-figures in his annual donations.

This year, Cabrera’s bio includes a donation of $250,000 given to help solve child hunger in Detroit due to Covid complications and virtual schooling. (Additionally, Miggy’s bio for the 2020 nomination also states that he lent his face and likeness to a census program this year to help promote voter turnout within the Latino and Hispanic communities within the Detroit and greater Michigan areas.)

But that donation was made in tandem with the Detroit Tigers Foundation.

This is what the Detroit Tigers Foundation is about, according to their website:

“The Detroit Tigers Foundation is the official charity of the Detroit Tigers baseball club and is an affiliate of Ilitch Charities, a 501(c)(3) public charity. The mission of the Foundation is to enhance lives through the game of baseball, with a focus on youth, education and recreation. From ticket donations and field renovation projects, to youth baseball programs and college scholarships, the goal of the Foundation is to aid in the development and funding of innovative programs that reach Tigers fans with positive messages and promote the good citizenship embodied in the storied history of the Detroit Tigers.”

I’ll let you take out of that description what you will.

But from what records show, it appears there has been a relationship between the two for at least a couple years – maybe longer.

I think we can now connect some dots that may help explain the rationale for selecting him so often.

But this blog is not meant to demean Miggy. Whatever he gives or does should be appreciated. This is about making sense out of the decision-making process.

Especially when you have someone like Matthew Boyd who has done so much more with far less.

The Tigers have never nominated Boyd for the award despite the vast national attention on his efforts to end child sex trafficking.

In 2018, Matthew was making the MLB minimum of $500K+. He donated one-fifth of his entire salary to set up Kingdom Home in Uganda. The organization provides clean water, clothing, equipment and homes for children in danger. Increasingly, he has been bringing other organizations on board to help increase the number of children they are able to save with the supplies and support they need in order to escape the childhood dangers in that country.

He also travels to Uganda with his wife every year where they spend weeks helping out.

He walks the walk, not just talks the talk.

More importantly, a number of his Tiger teammates have signed on to help support Kingdom Home financially. The number of children they are now helping has increased by more than 6-fold.

But Boyd isn’t done. With the pandemic this year, he has further reached into his pockets to help provide food for school children in Detroit who are suffering from being unable to attend school, where they get most of their daily food. Other players, including manager Ron Gardenhire, have signed onto this initiative as well.

It speaks volumes when your teammates support your charities with their own wallets.

It also speaks volumes when MLB continuously highlights Boyd’s work on both tv and radio.

So why is it that he’s failed to earn the Tigers’ nomination for 3 years now?

Wouldn’t you think that Boyd would have a solid shot of winning the award if he were nominated?

C’mon, Tigers…….. Isn’t 47 years a long-enough drought?

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