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ST. PETERSBURG -- Jason Adam is no longer with the Rays, but he is their 2024 nominee for the Roberto Clemente Award, considered by MLB to be baseball¡¯s most prestigious individual honor for big league players.

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The Clemente Award, named after the Pirates Hall of Fame player and humanitarian, goes annually to a player who best represents the game through extraordinary character, community involvement, philanthropy and positive contributions, on and off the field. Each club selects one nominee to be considered for the league-wide award.

The Rays have several worthy candidates still on their roster. Brandon Lowe and his wife, Madison, for instance, have done admirable work raising infertility awareness the past few years. And Pete Fairbanks and his wife, Lydia, bravely shared the heartbreaking story of the loss of their daughter and how it led them to create the Strikeouts for Ellis campaign in support of the Turner Syndrome Foundation.

But the Rays felt the honor still deserved to go to Adam, despite him being traded to the Padres in late July, praising him as ¡°an integral member of the St. Petersburg community, going above and beyond every chance he could to help each guest of the Rays create lifelong memories and feel like a member of the team.¡±

It¡¯s unusual, but far from unprecedented, for a player who was dealt to another team to still receive his original club¡¯s nomination. Nelson Cruz, for example, was the Twins¡¯ Clemente Award nominee (and league-wide winner) in 2021 despite a midseason trade to the Rays that year.

The honor was not lost on Adam.

¡°To be nominated for that is, I¡¯d say, without a doubt, the biggest honor of my career,¡± Adam said during the Padres¡¯ recent trip to Tropicana Field. ¡°It¡¯s something you feel like a little bit of imposter syndrome, like I don¡¯t really deserve that.

¡°But just thankful that the Rays saw something in me, that they felt like I was making an impact on the community, because that¡¯s ultimately what we¡¯re here to do. We love playing this game, but it goes a lot further than that.¡±

Adam supported several programs during his time with the Rays, volunteering to serve meals and visit programs through the Big League Impact foundation and participating in the club¡¯s Reading with the Rays program. He said he and his family also support International Justice Mission, which will receive his $7,500 MLB Charities donation for being the club¡¯s nominee, and Compassion International.

A highly popular teammate and remarkably effective reliever during his 2 1/2 seasons with Tampa Bay, Adam received the nomination due in part to his active participation in the Rays¡¯ pregame visits at Tropicana Field with players and coaches from Buddy Baseball, A League of their Own and St. Petersburg Challenger League for the ¡°Magic Monday¡± program.

The club has a similar program called ¡°Tuesday¡¯s Champion,¡± where they host a child battling a life-threatening illness from the Make-A-Wish Foundation or Children¡¯s Dream Fund. Adam was often one of the first to arrive and last to leave the children and their families.

¡°Those are the best. Yeah. I mean, just getting to see those kids, it makes your day. Every one of them with just unique challenges, whether it's sickness, disabilities, whatever, they have such awesome mindsets about life, and you can learn so much from them,¡± Adam said. ¡°So that's a highlight for me ¡­ because they always make my day. I love that the Rays do that, and I love that they provided that opportunity for us to meet those people and try to love on them.¡±