Cruz wins Ali Award for humanitarian efforts

Annual ESPYS Award Given on Sunday Night

MINNEAPOLIS (MLB.com) There are countless people in the small community of Las Matas de Santa Cruz, deep in the northwestern corner of the Dominican Republic, who owe their health and livelihood in part to Nelson Cruz, one of the town’s most prominent sons.

For all those years of tireless work and service to better the lives of those in his community, Cruz was honored with the 2020 Muhammad Ali Sports Humanitarian Award on Sunday night as part of ESPN’s broadcast of the ESPY Awards. The award comes with a $100,000 grant to Cruz’s Boomstick23 Foundation to further support those efforts in the coming years.

“Over our sixty years in Minnesota, the Twins have been incredibly blessed to have had so many great players who happen to be even better people — Nelson Cruz is a shining example,” Twins president Dave St. Peter said in a statement. “Through his work in the Dominican Republic, Twins Territory and beyond, Nellie continues to touch countless lives. He lives our organizational pillars of passion, hustle, heart and fun each and every day, and we are incredibly proud to have Nelson Cruz as part of our Minnesota Twins family.”

Cruz rose to the top of a decorated group of finalists that included Maya Moore of the WNBA’s Minnesota Lynx, former Minnesota Timberwolves and current Cleveland Cavaliers star Kevin Love of the NBA, brothers Jason and Devin McCourty of the NFL and Titus O’Neil of the WWE. All of the other finalists will receive $25,000 grants to direct toward their associated charities.

When Cruz was growing up, his hometown didn’t have a fire department, electricity or running water. As the slugger explained in a video, one of his friends lost a house to a fire several years ago because the community didn’t have a fire engine, and when Cruz went to Spring Training the following year, he asked how he could acquire and donate one.

That fire truck made it to Las Matas de Santa Cruz — as did an ambulance, motorcycles and a truck for the town’s police officers and a new medical clinic and police station to house those services. That goes alongside all the wheelchairs, crutches, walkers and canes that he has provided for elderly and disabled residents, as well as the annual visits from dentists and optometrists that he organizes at his local clinic.

More recently, his Boomstick23 Foundation, established in 2016, has focused on elevating opportunities in sports and education for the youth of Las Matas de Santa Cruz, with the goal of providing professional training and education for young athletes in the community. He and the foundation are working to establish a new education and technical center in the town to support the young population.

“It’s definitely something that means a lot to me, my family and my foundation,” Cruz said last month. “I think over the years, we’re working just to make a positive impact. We’ve been going over that and helping, in that case, my community, with whatever the needs might be. Through the years, I’ve been working and never thought to be recognized. But definitely, it’s something that makes you work harder and do more.”

As part of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Cruz said last month that he and a large group of Dominican baseball players have been working to collect money for food and equipment for hospitals, and he has also been helping to provide food for his community.

Cruz previously earned the 2019 Carl R. Pohlad Award for Community Service as part of the Twins’ annual Diamond Awards organizational celebrations. He was also the Mariners’ nominee for the 2018 Roberto Clemente Award, which recognizes the player in baseball who best represents the game of baseball through his character and contributions on and off the field.