As part of the strategy aimed at revitalizing and rejuvenating the league, it has been decided to change the names of the six values awards with the aim of honoring and highlighting those players and officials who have had a dominant impact on the rich history of the Liga de Beisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente.
• Most Valuable Player will be called the José Cruz Award because of his impressive record in our league and the fact that he always played in Puerto Rico, even though he was a regular in the Major Leagues with the Houston Astros. That commitment to our league earned him recognition as «The Baseball Player of Puerto Rico.» For his career, he is second in home runs (119); fifth in runs scored (567) and stolen bases (152); sixth in RBI (465), «slugging» (.478), and total bases (1,478); ninth in triples (33); and tenth in hits (914) and doubles (141), in the latter line, tied with Guillermo Montañez and Ramón L. «Wito» Conde. Cruz was inducted into the Puerto Rican Professional Baseball Hall of Fame in 2022.
• The Luis Márquez Award will be given to the Rookie of the Year in honor of Luis Márquez, who was bestowed this distinction in 1944–45 and had a remarkable career. He has the most hits with 1,206, 235 doubles, 768 runs scored, and 1,864 total bases. He ranks second in triples (66), stolen bases (217), and RBI (500) and seventh in homers with 97 blasts. Furthermore, he was inducted into the Puerto Rican Professional Baseball Hall of Fame in 1991.
• Imported Player of the Year will be known as the Willard Brown Award, who was the greatest hitter of all time and the only one to win two batting triple crowns: 1947-48 and 1949-50; the only one to win three batting championships: 1946-47 (.390), 1947-48 (.432) and 1949-50 (.353); one of two to lead the league in home runs in three consecutive years (the other being Kennys Vargas): 1947-48 (27), 1948-49 (18) and 1949-50 (16); the only one to lead in RBI in four years: 1946-47 (50), 1947-48 (86), 1949-50 (97) and 1950-51 (76), He is the only batting champion to also lead the league in RBI in the same season in three times: 1946-47, 1947-48, and 1949-50, among other achievements. In 1991, he was inducted into the Puerto Rico Professional Baseball Hall of Fame, and in 1996, into the Caribbean Series Hall of Fame. In 2006, he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. He was selected as one of the 75 best players in the history of the Puerto Rico Professional Baseball League in 2013. He holds career records for hitting (.350) and slugging (.604), as well as annual records for home runs (27) and runs scored (97).
• Pitcher of the Year will be the Juan «Terín» Pizarro Award. The great lefty hurler is the career leader in strikeouts, ERA, and shutouts and won the Triple Crown, among many other feats. The pitcher who achieved the most leads and awards was named the Most Valuable Player in 1957–58. He is the sole pitcher to lead in wins on four occasions and in three decades, namely 1957–58 (14), 1963–64 (10), 1966–67 (12), and 1972–73 (10). He led the league in ERA in 1957–58 (1.32), strikeouts in 1957–58 (183) and 1958–59 (139), 1959–60 (141), 1960–61 (123), 1961–62 (154), and 1967–68 (108). Not only that, but he won the Triple Crown in 1957–58 and threw a no-hitter against Mayagüez on 11/30/57. He was inducted into the Puerto Rican Sports Hall of Fame in 1986, the Puerto Rican Professional Baseball Hall of Fame in 1991, the Caribbean Series Hall of Fame in 2000, and in 2013, he was recognized as one of the 75 most outstanding players in the Puerto Rico Professional Baseball League.
Throughout his professional career, he holds the records for strikeouts (1,804), shutouts (46) and ERA with at least 1,000 innings (2.51); he is second in wins (157) and innings pitched (2,403). In addition, it holds the annual record for shutouts (9).
• Reliever of the Year is now the Luis «Mambo» de León award. He excelled both as a starting pitcher and as a reliever. De Leon led the league in wins in 1987–88 (6), 1991–92 (7), and 1997–98 (6), was first in ERA in 1985–86 (1.34), and was one of four active players in four decades. In 1982, he was awarded the Pedro Zorrilla Award, and in 2013, he was selected as one of the 75 best players in the Puerto Rico Professional Baseball League. He is the pitcher with the most appearances in the Caribbean Series (12), and he was inducted into the Caribbean Series Hall of Fame in 2011.
•The Mako Oliveras Award will be presented to the best manager. As a manager, he achieved eight championships and two Caribbean Series titles.
• The inaugural presentation of the «Luis Rodrguez Olmo» Presidential Award, a novel institution award, will be bestowed upon the player who, at the discretion of the league president with the endorsement of the board of directors, has consistently and faithfully demonstrated a commitment to the LBPRC by being a worthy ambassador.
Olmo was referred to as «The Ballplayer of the Americas» due to his prominence in the United States, Cuba, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico. He was an MVP in 1942–43, leader in home runs in 1942–43 (4) and 1944–45 (3), leader in RBI in 1945–46 (32) and leader in doubles in 1942–43 (11). On February 2, 1941, he hit three triples in a game against Ponce. In his role as a player and manager, he led the Criollos de Caguas to the 1949–50 championship and was awarded Manager of the Year six times. The Puerto Rican Sports Hall of Fame inducted him in 1963, and the Puerto Rico Professional Baseball Hall of Fame in 1992. He was also inducted into the Caribbean Series Hall of Fame in 2004. In 2013, he won the Pedrin Zorrilla Award and was selected as one of the top 75 players in the Puerto Rico Professional Baseball League.
