Toronto Blue Jays utility man Ernie Clement wins prestigious award following five-hit performance

The Heart and Hustle award is presented to the the player who "exemplifies a true passion for the game and who best embody the values, spirit, and tradition of the game."

It's also the only award voted on by former players, as each team's winner is chosen by a committee of alumni.

The overall winner will be chosen from the pool of team winners by a combination of alumni and fan votes.

Past years Heart and Hustle award winners have been Daulton Varsho and Kevin Pillar.

This years winner, Ernie Clement is definitely well deserved, as he displays all of these attributes.

He received a plastic golf club from his grandparents on his first birthday, and his swing worked from the start.

At 2, Clement swung an adult-sized wooden bat against pitches from his mother and somehow made contact.

At 4, he rolled up socks and tossed them up in the air for himself to whack, over and over again.

So to those who watched Clement grow up, what happened Monday night was no surprise.

And even in Toronto, where Blue Jays fans have watched Clement grow into a tremendous big league ballplayer, it felt like something well within the realm of possibility.

But the reality of this stat line is still remarkable: 5-for-6, with three singles, a double and a triple. The first five-hit game of Clement's career.

It's only the fifth such statistical game ever by an American League shortstop, joining Jeremy Pena (2023), Rick Burleson (1980), Mario Guerrero (1977) and Bert Campaneris (1968), per Stats Centre.

Clement is a hitter, for his whole life, and never has that shone more brightly than it did in his brilliant five-hit performance.