Naylor credits mother after Clemente Award nomination

This story was excerpted from Tim Stebbins’ Guardians Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

CLEVELAND -- As a youngster growing up in Mississauga, Ontario, Guardians catcher Bo Naylor attended a baseball camp hosted by longtime Blue Jays outfielder Jesse Barfield. That fond childhood memory also created an early reference point for him to how Major Leaguers can actively impact their community.

Naylor has embraced using his platform to effect positive change on and off the field, and his passion for doing so earned him the Guardians’ 2025 nomination for the prestigious Roberto Clemente Award.

◦ VOTE NOW: 2025 Roberto Clemente Award presented by Capital One

“It's super humbling,” Naylor said this week. “To be represented in that way is super special to me, super special to my family. It's definitely not something that I take lightly. It came as a surprise when the team first told me. I'm just super grateful.”

The Roberto Clemente Award is awarded annually to the player who “best represents the game of baseball through extraordinary character, community involvement, philanthropy and positive contributions, both on and off the field.” Fans may vote for this year’s winner among the 30 finalists through next Sunday.

Naylor's passion for giving back includes serving as the face of Guardians' youth camps this season, in which he helps grow the games of baseball and softball across northeast Ohio. He is a prominent member of the team’s chess club, in which players meet with local high school students to enjoy competition and camaraderie through chess matches.

Earlier this season, the bond Naylor and his teammates created with the students showed up on the field. After Naylor hit a three-run blast in the seventh inning on April 30 vs. the Twins, he tapped his wrist while rounding third base -- a suggested celebration that was born out of chess club.

“It’s like, ‘It's my time,’” Naylor said last month. “That's what the whole chess club had agreed on, just to have a celebration for all of us in special moments like that, to be able to kind of send a shout-out to the chess club, all of its members. [It shows] that we're thinking of them, and they're a part of this journey with us.”

As the proud owner of Zeus, an English cream retriever, Naylor’s desire to give back extends to animals and the environment. He relishes volunteering at the Cleveland Animal Protective League, where he spends time with dogs and makes blankets, snacks and toys. He also supports the conservation efforts of the Cleveland Zoological Society, where he spends time with the animals.

“It’s just spending my time the right way and being able to help,” Naylor said of his time at the Cleveland APL. “Overall, it was such an awesome experience. But also, it goes back to being able to advocate for those who can't advocate for themselves in a certain type of way.”

Naylor’s philanthropic spirit ties back to his upbringing, and the lessons imparted upon him by his parents, including his mother, Jenice. Her goal, Naylor said, was to instill good morals into him and his brothers, Josh and Myles, and to now use their platform as professional baseball players to give back.

“She always wanted us to have a great impact and understand the value that comes with giving back to others,” Bo Naylor said. “Making sure that we're building up our communities and using this blessing, being able to be a professional baseball player, in the right way.”

Naylor has certainly done so, and he could become Cleveland’s fourth recipient of the Roberto Clemente Award since its inception in 1971, following Andre Thornton (’79), Jim Thome (2002) and Carlos Carrasco (’19).

He’s following the example that Clemente set.

“To be nominated in any way, shape or form to represent that type of legacy, no matter how small,” Naylor said, “I'm super grateful to be in this position.”