masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgMajor League Baseball announced today that center fielder Adam Jones is the Orioles’ nominee for the 2011 Roberto Clemente Award.

Jones is one of 30 finalists for the award, which recognizes a player who “best represents the game of baseball through positive contributions on and off the field, including sportsmanship and community involvement,” according to the press release.

Here’s more from the release. I’m in cut-and-paste mode:

Jones has been very active in the Baltimore community…Major League Baseball announced today that center fielder Adam Jones is the Orioles’ nominee for the 2011 Roberto Clemente Award.

Jones is one of 30 finalists for the award, which recognizes a player who “best represents the game of baseball through positive contributions on and off the field, including sportsmanship and community involvement,” according to the press release.

Here’s more from the release. I’m in cut-and-paste mode:

Jones has been very active in the Baltimore community since he joined the Orioles in 2008, focusing on making a positive impact on underprivileged youth in Baltimore City. Jones has made numerous appearances at Boys and Girls Clubs, the Y of Central Maryland and Baltimore City Title I schools, where his visits include promoting an active lifestyle and engaging in question and answer sessions with the children. He has also taken a strong interest in working with players in Baltimore’s Reviving Baseball in the Inner Cities (RBI) program, hosting a clinic at which players from RBI and other Baltimore City baseball leagues received baseball instruction from Jones and other former and current Orioles players and coaches. Jones also frequently visits RBI games on Orioles off-days.

Jones’s other community activities include a partnership with BARCS (Baltimore Animal and Rescue Care Shelter), in which he posed for the OriolesREACH pet calendar and teamed up with BARCS for an ad campaign designed to bring awareness to animal cruelty in the inner city. Jones also participated in the MLBPA Buses for Baseball Program, where children from the “Cool Kids Campaign” (an organization whose mission is to provide a higher quality of life for children with cancer) were treated to a full gameday experience.

In addition to his appearances, Jones also contributes $5,000 a year to the OriolesREACH Gameday Experience, a program that gives underprivileged children the opportunity to come to Oriole Park for a game, hat, t-shirt and concessions.

The Orioles will present Jones with the award in an on-field ceremony prior to tomorrow night’s game against the Rays.