Jacob Stallings named Pirates’ 2021 Clemente Award nominee

Let’s have some good news for a change.

With tomorrow being Roberto Clemente Day around the league, MLB announced that catcher Jacob Stallings is the Pirates’ nominee for the 2021 Roberto Clemente Award.

When he’s not invoking this GIF:

Stallings does a lot of good work in the Pittsburgh and Bradenton areas, particularly when it comes to kids. With the pandemic canceling so many in-person activities, he took it upon himself this spring to virtually host the PLAYBALL event for the Boys and Girls Club of Manatee County. Here in the Burgh, he’s involved with a lot of Pirates Charities stuff, most notably with the Miracle League of the South Hills, which makes baseball accessible to mentally and physically challenged people from all over the metro area. Earlier this month, he and owner Bob Nutting (SHUT IT HATERS) hosted Miracle League pitcher/infielder Caleb “The Crusher” Gallagher for a special bullpen session and meet-and-greet with the rest of the team.

The Cheetah also participated in the players’ “My Favorite Things” basket raffle earlier this year, sponsored by Allegheny Health Network, with the proceeds from his basket paying for mammograms for three area women.

Formerly known as the Commissioner’s Award, the Roberto Clemente Award is given to the MLB player who best exemplifies the game through philanthropy and community involvement. Starting today, you can go to mlb.com/clemente21 to vote for Jacob. Previous Bucs winners of the award have been Andrew McCutchen and Willie Stargell.

Really, are you going to let the award named for one of the greatest Pirates of all time go to a guy from another team? Vote early and often for the Cheetah until October third!