Covering the bases

Pujols earns Clemente Award

Albert Pujols has an MVP award and a World Series ring.

What the St. Louis slugger really wants is to be remembered for his charity work.

He was on Saturday when he was presented with the 2008 Roberto Clemente Award, given annually to a major league player who combines community service with excellence on the field.

"It doesn't matter what you do on the field, it's what you do off the field and the lives you touch," Pujols said.

Nominated for the fifth time in six years, Pujols received the award in a ceremony at Citizens Bank Park before Game 3 of the World Series between the Tampa Bay Rays and Philadelphia Phillies. He was selected from 30 nominees, one from each major league team, by a committee that included commissioner Bud Selig and Vera Clemente, Roberto's widow.

Selig called the award baseball's "symbol of our social awareness."

Pujols was honored for his work with the Pujols Family Foundation, which helps the lives of children and young adults with Down syndrome. The foundation has helped more than 500 families affected by Down syndrome in the St. Louis area, with various programs and fundraising events.

He also supports other organizations and causes, including the Boys & Girls Club of America and the Ronald McDonald House.

Pujols has a daughter who was born with Down syndrome, one reason he strives to be a role model for kids.

"At the end of the day, I want to make sure I serve others," he said.

He joins a list of Roberto Clemente Award winners that has 13 Hall of Famers, including Tony Gwynn, Cal Ripken Jr. and Ozzie Smith. Retired Houston Astros second baseman Craig Biggio won the award last year.

Phillies Game 3 starter Jamie Moyer won the award in 2003.

Clemente was a Hall of Fame right fielder with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He died in a plane crash on New Year's Eve 1972 while trying to deliver relief supplies to earthquake victims in Nicaragua. He finished his career with exactly 3,000 hits.

Rays waiting for big bats to erupt

Ryan Howard had a special delivery waiting for him at his locker. Boxes full of fresh bats were ripped open, the knobs poking out and ready for the Phillies slugger to grab.

Maybe some new wood will help Howard end his postseason power outage.

The season's major league home run (48) and RBIs (146) leader is in a long-ball funk. Howard has no home runs in 40 postseason at-bats, a 13-game homerless streak dating back to the regular season, and only three postseason RBIs.

With runners in scoring position during the World Series, he was 0-for-4 with four strikeouts heading into Game 3 on Saturday night.

"I'm not worried about home runs," Howard said. "It's not really a big deal. It's just going out there and getting good pitches to hit. When you put a good swing on it, then it goes."

Howard wasn't the only Phillies player in a funk.

Pat Burrell (0-for-6 with three strikeouts) and Jimmy Rollins (0-for-10 with three strikeouts) were lost at the plate in the Trop.

"Nobody's panicking," Howard said. "When you look at it, there's a lot of missed opportunities."

Hard to believe this is the same Howard who batted .352 with 11 homers and a club-record 32 RBIs in September, and helped Philadelphia win its second straight NL East title.

Howard said he feels good at the plate, he just wasn't picking up the ball in Game 1.

"I just want to try and get some swings and come out ready for [Saturday]," he said.