Major League Baseball named New York Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor the 2026 Roberto Clemente award recipient on Monday. The honor is presented to the player that displays extraordinary character, community involvement and philanthropy efforts off the field. It is named after Clemente, the Hall of Fame outfielder who passed away in a 1972 plane crash while attempting to deliver aid to Nicaragua.
“We had the opportunity to share time with him, his mother and our mother and I remember our mom told me that this young man is going to be someone very important in representing our country and she was right,” Luis Clemente, the son of Roberto Clemente, said of Lindor.
The award is meaningful to Lindor, who, like Clemente, is from Puerto Rico. He was nominated for the honor every year since 2023. He is the first Mets player to win the award since Curtis Granderson in 2016. He’s the fifth player to win it in Mets franchise history. The other recipients are Gary Carter (1989), Al Leiter, (2000) and Carlos Delgado (2006).
“This is a huge honor and privilege to receive this award and I want to thank MLB and the rest of the staff for putting something for the players,” Lindor said. “We don’t really try to be recognized by the work we do in the communities but there is something that we get out of it.”
Francisco Lindor Benefits Others
In his tenure with the Cleveland Guardians and the Mets, Francisco Lindor has taken strides to benefit local communities. He has a partnership with New Balance to annually provide hundreds of students with backpacks and other school supplies. He has also donated more than $1 million to Montverde Academy in Florida. The veteran shortstop started a leadership initiative for the Sports Medicine program at Bayside High School in Queens.
“For me, I love education,” Lindor continued while crediting his wife for helping him with creating these programs. “I’m all about education and helping whether it is a school or individual.”
Getting Involved
Francisco Lindor has made countless contributions through other charitable work. He sent financial support to Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria in 2017. He has also partnered with Dairy Queen and Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals to support Miracle Trent Day with raising funding for children’s hospitals. Lindor also partnered with SEEN Foundation, a nonprofit that helps families affected by disability and medical hardships. Capital One will make a $100,000 donation to the SEEN Foundation.
“I think it starts with staying true to yourself and doing what you like and relate to,“ Lindor concluded.“There’s community leaders and every community has a leader that you can go to and in my case I have been part of two organizations that have been fantastic and helped me a lot.”
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