Wednesday, October 28

HOUSTON -- Since signing with the Astros prior to the 2024 season, closer Josh Hader has made a commitment to be involved in the community as much as he can. He and his wife, Maria, have made Houston their full-time home and are passionate about giving back to a community that has embraced their family.

The Haders’ biggest mission has been to help underserved children and young adults through programs such as Hader’s Heart and his support for BEAR (Be A Resource) and Covenant House. For the second year in a row, Hader is the Astros’ nominee for the Roberto Clemente Award.

• VOTE NOW: 2026 Roberto Clemente Award presented by Capital One

Considered baseball's most prestigious individual honor, it annually recognizes the MLB player who best represents the game through extraordinary character, community involvement, philanthropy and positive contributions both on and off the field.

“The community here in Houston is unbelievable,” Hader said. “The fan base supports day in and day out, and just getting to know the community as a whole, we’re trying to give back to the community in our efforts and getting to know people and kids. It has an impact on me, just being able to do something so little, but that's so much greater than the game of baseball. I think it's special. It’s a special connection that us players can have with the community and when you can achieve that, I think it goes way further than the game of baseball.”

The Haders launched the Hader’s Heart program during the 2024 season, creating an opportunity for children in Child Protective Services care and at-risk young adults to experience Astros baseball. Through a monthly partnership with BEAR Houston and Covenant House, the initiative has continued to grow through 2025 and into 2026.

Hader’s Heart participants are treated to a gameday experience that includes watching the game from a suite, access to batting practice on the field and the chance to meet and interact with Hader and some of the players. Hader spends time during batting practice connecting with the children and young adults, playing catch, sharing conversations and talking baseball.

“Honestly, I think there's a greater purpose in the game of baseball for us,” Hader said. “Obviously we have a platform where we can touch many people, but I believe it's our duty to give back. And give back to kids that may not have an opportunity to do some of the things that [others] can do. If we can help one person out of this whole ordeal, that's impactful to one human.

“Now that person goes back, and they impact another person. It's just the domino effect of trying to bring dark situations to light and being able to hopefully change their situation or just change the outlook on what they have when going through day-to-day life.”

In 2025 and 2026, Josh and Maria hosted Uncork for a Cause events, an evening of food, wine, and fellowship benefiting BEAR Houston and Covenant House Texas. In April of this year, Josh partnered with a local sporting goods retailer to provide 20 children from BEAR with a memorable shopping experience, giving each child a $200 shopping spree and personally helping them select their items.

Hader’s community work has carried over from his previous stops in San Diego and Milwaukee. In San Diego, Hader hosted fundraisers for and visited the Monarch School Project, a nonprofit public-private school serving unhoused youth and their families in partnership with the San Diego County Office of Education. In Milwaukee, he hosted kids in partnership with Camp Hometown Heroes, a weeklong camp for families who have lost service members in active duty.

The winner of the Roberto Clemente Award will be honored at the 2026 World Series. The panel that will choose the winner includes representatives from the Commissioner’s Office, Capital One, MLB-affiliated networks (MLB Network, FOX Sports, ESPN and TBS), MLB.com, the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Roberto’s children -- Enrique, Luis and Roberto Clemente Jr. 

The concept of honoring Major Leaguers for their philanthropic work began in 1971 with the creation of the Commissioner’s Award. The recognition was renamed the Roberto Clemente Award in 1973 as a tribute to Clemente following his passing the previous year.

The final weekend of the Astros’ home schedule will celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with three days of celebration on Friday, Saturday and Sunday in games against the Braves. On Friday, there will be a pregame celebration and post-game fireworks set to a Latin party mix theme. Saturday will feature a street festival from 3-6 p.m. prior to the game.

The Triple-A Sugar Land Space Cowboys have six regular-season games remaining, which will all be at home against Las Vegas beginning Tuesday. After losing five of six games last week at Oklahoma City, the Space Cowboys would need to win out and get some help to make the Pacific Coast League playoffs.

Here’s a look at how the other three full-season affiliates finished the regular season:

Double-A Corpus Christi: The Hooks finished their 21st season Sunday with a loss at Midland to finish 62-76 and wound up in fifth place in the Texas League South division.

High-A Asheville: The Tourists finished the season Sunday with a loss to Greensboro in Asheville, where the club drew a franchise-record season attendance of 192,472. They went 17-48 in the first half and 26-39 in the second half (43-87 overall) in the South Atlantic League South.

Single-A Fayetteville: After going 69-53, including 37-20 in the second half, to win the second-half title for the North Division of the Carolina League, the Woodpeckers swept Fredericksburg in the first round of the playoffs to advance to the best-of-three Championship Series.

Fayetteville used a 10-run second inning Sunday to beat Charleston, 14-4, in the first game of the Championship Series. The Woodpeckers can win the Carolina League title with a victory Tuesday at home.

To subscribe to Astros Beat, visit this page and mark "Astros Beat" from our newsletter list. Make sure you're following the Astros or that they're checked as your favorite team.

View Online

© 2026 MLB Advanced Media, L.P. MLB trademarks and copyrights are used with permission of Major League Baseball. Visit MLB.com. Any other marks used herein are trademarks of their respective owners.

Please review our Privacy Policy.

You (gahleexholly.hdhask@blogger.com) received this message because you registered to receive commercial email messages or purchased a ticket from MLB. 

Please add info@marketing.mlbemail.com to your address book to ensure our messages reach your inbox. If you no longer wish to receive commercial email messages from MLB.com, please unsubscribe or log in and manage your email subscriptions.

Postal Address: MLB.com, c/o MLB Advanced Media, L.P., 1271 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.