Sacramento Finds Its Clemente Spirit in Butler

     Lawrence Butler’s nomination for the 2025 Roberto Clemente Award did not sneak in through a side door. It walked straight down the center aisle of Sutter Health Park, past the Little Leaguers he met at a Nike RBI camp this summer, past the pediatric patients he visited at UC Davis Children’s Hospital, and right into a city that’s still figuring out what kind of big-league neighbor the A’s want to be. Sacramento has an answer this week, and it looks a lot like a rangy center fielder who treats community work as part of his daily reps.

The Clemente Award is Major League Baseball’s highest honor for community impact, a league-wide recognition that traces back to 1971 and was renamed in 1973 to carry Roberto Clemente’s legacy forward. Each club nominates one player who shows uncommon character, service, and follow-through. The Athletics chose Butler, a second-year outfielder whose community résumé already reads like a veteran’s. MLB’s announcement credits him not only for rolling up his sleeves in Sacramento but for building something durable back home in Southwest Atlanta.

That “something” is the L4W Foundation. Butler didn’t slap his name on a vanity charity and call it a day. The foundation’s purpose is specific and practical: create pathways for underrepresented and inner-city youth through financial education, elite baseball training, and mentorship. You can see the blueprint in his own story, from Westlake High to the Marquis Grissom Academy to a sixth-round call from the A’s in 2018. He knows what access looks like because he had to fight for it, and now he’s trying to make that road a little less steep for the next kid who loves the game but needs a door held open.

If the foundation is the long game, the Sacramento touchpoints are daily batting practice. In July, Butler showed up at Cosumnes River College for the club’s Nike RBI Baseball Camp and spent time with West Sacramento Little Leaguers. That same spirit traveled to the Panda Cares Center of Hope inside UC Davis Children’s Hospital, where Butler and a couple of teammates carved out a morning for kids who needed something joyful and normal. These aren’t photo-op cameos. They’re repeated choices that match the language of the award he’s chasing.

What makes Butler compelling is how the off-field work syncs with a season that demanded grown-up adaptability. He moved to center field out of team necessity and still found ways to help, even as the league adjusted back to him. Athletics Nation’s rundown captured that nuance, noting the unexpected position shift, the streaks, and the milestones that kept him relevant inside the clubhouse while his calendar filled up outside the ballpark. Players talk all the time about “controlling what you can control.” Butler’s version includes defense, baserunning, and a calendar full of community appointments.

The public markers around a Clemente nomination are easy to spot. MLB lists Butler among the thirty nominees and directs fans to vote. The team’s feeds amplify it, and the player makes the media rounds to explain how it all started and where he wants it to go. Butler did exactly that on MLB Network’s “Intentional Talk,” sounding less like a man who just discovered philanthropy and more like someone who finally got a bigger microphone. The message was simple enough: keep showing up, keep doing the work, and let the rest unfold.

Awards don’t fix a franchise’s reputation with a snap of the fingers, and Sacramento fans are smart enough to separate marketing from meaning. But if you’re looking for a thread worth pulling, Butler gives you one. The Nike RBI day shows he understands the pipeline. The hospital visit shows he understands presence. The foundation shows he understands structure and scale. This is the everyday, unglamorous part of being a pro, and it matters a lot in a market still deciding whether the A’s feel like theirs.

Clemente’s name gets used a lot this time of year, sometimes as a slogan, sometimes as a challenge. Butler’s nomination reads like the latter. It challenges teammates to join him the next time he walks into a hospital or a schoolyard. It challenges the organization to invest in the same neighborhoods where he’s already spending his time. And it challenges the rest of us to judge players by the totality of their work, not just the box score. Sacramento may be a temporary big-league stop or a long-term home, but Butler is leaving footprints that don’t blow away when the season ends. That’s the point of the honor and the reason this one feels earned.

In a year when the conversation around the A’s has too often been about transience and attendance, Butler is offering something steadier. He’s building habits and institutions that will outlast his current locker assignment. Whether he wins the Clemente Award is up to a mix of voters and fate. The more important part is already settled. Sacramento needed a north star for what this team can be off the field. It found one patrolling center, then slipping out a side gate to go keep a promise across town.

So A's fans, hop on this link and show our centerfielder some love!
https://www.mlb.com/community/roberto-clemente-award