Roberts nets D-backs' Heart and Hustle Award

By Anthony Fenech / MLB.com | 08/05/11

PHOENIX -- Ryan Roberts is never the biggest, tallest or strongest player on the field.

But the D-backs infielder always plays the hardest to make up for it.

"You always want to hustle and give 100 percent every day," Roberts said. "Because that's the proper way to play baseball."

And on Friday, Roberts was rewarded for his hard play as the D-backs winner of the Heart and Hustle Award, presented by the Major League Baseball Players Alumni Association to active players who demonstrate a passion for the game and best embody the values, spirit and tradition of the game.

"It's a great deal," he said. "You work so hard every day to accomplish what you do in baseball and a lot of it goes unseen and I guess this is a reflection of that hard work."

Roberts was awarded with a wooden plaque during a pregame presentation prior to Friday night's game against the Dodgers.

While playing four positions in 98 games this season, the six-year Major League veteran is hitting .259 with a career-high 15 home runs, 45 RBIs and 14 stolen bases.

"With the younger generation coming up, if I can give just at least that to them, to play hard and to run the ball out and to do anything petty like that," Roberts said, "it would be a huge accomplishment."

The MLBPAA formed committees comprised of alumni players with established relationships to each team to vote for the winners. Near the end of the season, all alumni and active players will vote to select one winner out of the 30 team winners, to be announced in November.