Former Cowboy Heaney Selected As Clemente Award Candidate

Former Oklahoma State pitcher Andrew Heaney has been selected as the Los Angeles Angels representative for the Roberto Clemente Award. The award honors a player’s commitment to sportsmanship and community service.

Fans are encouraged to vote using #VoteHeaney on social media and a winner will be picked during the World Series. Heaney was nominated for the award due his efforts in Honduras helping orphans and donating tickets to military members.

I spoke w/@Heandog8 & he's fired up for this! Awesome dude & very deserving so #VoteHeaney: https://t.co/aHQnaiKfrR pic.twitter.com/s03wnNCWUW

— Wade McWhorter (@WadeMc_Dadx3) September 7, 2016

Heaney pitched for the Cowboys from 2010-12 and had a 20-10 record. Unfortunately, Heaney’s OSU tenure was a year before Rob Walton started shaping Cowboy arms into aces.

However, after posting 4.00+ ERAs in his first two seasons Heaney put his name on the map as junior, going 8-2 with a 1.60 ERA, winning Big 12 Pitcher of the Year and being taken 9^th overall by the Miami Marlins.

A series of trades sent Heaney to the Angels before the 2015 season where he has been since. Heaney’s 2016 season enedd soon after it started as he only made one start before being diagnosed with a torn Ulnar Collateral Ligament (UCL) and has undergone Tommy John surgery.

Day 63: Got fitted with some torture devices today. On a positive note…draft day in Seattle! Let's go! ?

A post shared by Andrew Heaney (@heandog8) on Sep 1, 2016 at 7:01pm PDT

Heaney will be forced to miss the remainder of this season as well as 2017 while he recovers. While he currently isn’t making an impact on the field its nice to see Heaney’s off the field work isn’t going unnoticed.

“I appreciate all of the congratulations on the nomination for an award that means more than any other award to me,” Heaney said. “But I would encourage you to take the time that you would spend voting for me and look up a worthy organization to donate your time to, a cause that means something to you or touches your heart. Maybe spend that time to call or text your friends and family and tell them how much they mean to you. Spend that time trying to make the world a better place. I believe that’s what this award is all about.”