Tampa, FL: I am here in Tampa, Florida for an event tonight where we will be presenting Wander Franco his 2021 American League LatinoMVP Rookie of the Year Award and Randy Arozarena the same award for his 2020 season prior to the game on an on-field ceremony. Though Randy did not have enough at bats to qualify under the BBWAA rules for “Rookie”, he did under the Latino Sports Writers & Broadcasters Association (LSWBA) who also included his post season at bats and performance.
This is the first time in the 32 years of these prestigious awards that a team has players that have won back-to-back awards for the same position. Unfortunately, we could not award Arozarena his award until now due to the COVID virus and all the interruptions that it caused.
We are proud to present our awards to Latino players who perhaps might have never been nationally recognized. The accolades we have received from the winners and the smiles we have seen in their faces when they get to receive their awards is priceless and worth the trials and tribulations that we have had to go through in the past 32 years to get to where we are today.
Our awards are given the season after to give them the highlighted attention that they deserve and not be overshadowed with all the other end of season awards given. This year we decided to highlight them even more by given them during Hispanic Heritage Month which is celebrated from September 15th – October 15th. We believe that this is a more proper way to celebrate the culture of each player and help the teams and MLB promote themselves more to the Latino community.
The following are the dates for the remaining presentations.
September 16th: Tampa Bay Rays awarding both, Randy Arozarena 2020 A.L. LatinoMVP & Wander Franco 2021 Rookies of the year.
September 18th: San Francisco Giants awarding Carlos Rodón his 2021 A.L. LatinoMVP Pitcher of the Year award.
September 20th: Los Angeles Dodgers awarding Julio Urías his 2021 N.L. LatinoMVP Pitcher of the Year award.
September 28th: San Diego Padres awarding Juan Soto his 2021 N.L. LatinoMVP award.
