Rizzo honored as Cubs’ Clemente nominee

MILWAUKEE — When Anthony Rizzo visits cancer patients, he is reminded of a meeting he had with a cancer survivor, which helped inspire the Cubs’ first baseman to create his foundation and try to make it easier for families to deal with the horrible disease. Rizzo’s efforts would make Roberto Clemente proud.

When Rizzo was an 18-year-old prospect in the Red Sox organization in 2008, he was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Theo Epstein, who was Boston’s general manager at the time, helped arrange a meeting between Rizzo and pitcher Jon Lester, who also had battled lymphoma and beaten it less than two years earlier. Having someone explain what Rizzo and his family could expect helped ease some of the anxiety that they were feeling. And that meeting was one of the inspirations for the creation of the Anthony Rizzo Family Foundation.

Rizzo, 27, is the Cubs’ nominee for the Roberto Clemente Award, and a well-deserving candidate.

Beginning on Roberto Clemente Day, fans are encouraged to participate in the new process of selecting the winner of the Roberto Clemente Award by posting any nominee’s voting hashtags to MLB’s official social media accounts, @MLB on Twitter and Facebook.com/MLB. Rizzo’s hashtag is #VoteRizzo.

Major League Baseball announced the 30 club nominees on Tuesday for the annual recognition of a player who best represents the game of baseball through extraordinary character, community involvement, philanthropy and positive …

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