SOUTH BRONX, NY — Latino Sports has the pleasure of being the originators of the LatinoMVP awards, the oldest and most prestigious awards given to Latino baseball players. We are also proud that today, we commemorate our thirty third anniversary of doing so with our primary sponsor, MLB. We are confident that this relationship with MLB will grow stronger and will help catapult the LatinoMVP awards to greater heights.
Our awards are loved by all the players who have received one. The awards were glorified even further when we began to award an artistic rendition piece of art, a watercolor by nationally recognized sports artist, James Fiorentino. It was a perfect combination, James wanted to paint Latino players and we were ready to upgrade the award from the plaques and trophy stage. The players loved the awards and cherished the painting. Albert Pujols has won the awards a record nine times. He has mentioned on national TV that of all his awards, silver slugger, MVP, batting title awards, the LatinoMVP awards were his favorite. We have heard that from several players.
James Fiorentino & Julio Pabón awarding Miguel Cabrera his 2009 LatinoMVP award – Image Credit: Latino Sports
Later as the number of Latino players began to swell the lineups in baseball teams our awards grew to eight, four for each league. The awards are for LatinoMVP, LatinoMVP Pitcher, LatinoMVP for Reliever/Closer, LatinoMVP Rookie.
All 2019 LatinoMVP winners. Drawings & design by John Pennisi – Image Credit: Latino Sports
With that growth we also expanded with an artistic caricature of the winners. This award was not as big as two LatinoMVP awards, but the players loved the artistic rendition drawn by John Pennisi an established illustrator. John’s LatinoMVP awards are hanging in many homes of the top Latino players in MLB.
But, then came 2019. Maz Adams, an established artist in the New York area, who heard about Latino Sports and decided to reach out. Maz, also a passionate baseball fan, took on the challenge of creating our LatinoMVP awards in a similar light as John and James have.
Maz Adams, Jonathan Loáisiga and Julio Pabón presenting the LatinoMVP award in 2022 – Image Credit: Bill Menzel/Latino Sports
The best introduction to Maz is with the following clip from Yankees Magazine on the YES Network.
Here’s a video of Maz Adams, one of our artists for the LatinoMVP awards, featured in Yankees Magazine on YES Network ⚾️
Congratulations Maz! @MazAdamsArt #RepBX #LosDelBronx #YANKSonYES pic.twitter.com/RjSkJVX191
— Latino Sports (@LatinoSports) April 26, 2023
You can check out more of Maz Adams artwork with the following links.
Maz Adams Art
MLB Maz Adams – FANATICS
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