Chris Sale of the Atlanta Braves has won this year’s Lou Gehrig Memorial Award, sponsored by the Phi Delta Theta International Fraternity, headquartered in Oxford, Ohio. Phi Delta Theta presents the award annually to a Major League Baseball player who best exemplifies the giving character of Hall of Famer Lou Gehrig, who was a member of the Fraternity’s Columbia University chapter. The award was first presented in 1955 and is permanently maintained at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York.
Sale is the sixth member of the Braves to win the Lou Gehrig Memorial Award following Warren Spahn (1961), Hank Aaron (1970), Phil Niekro (1979), Dale Murphy (1985), and John Smoltz (2005). He will receive the award prior to a game this summer.
Past recipients of the award include Stan Musial, Brooks Robinson, Ernie Banks, Harmon Killebrew, Willie Stargell, Johnny Bench, George Brett, Kent Hrbek, Cal Ripken Jr., Don Mattingly, Tony Gwynn, Jim Thome, Derek Jeter, Adrian Beltre, and many more.
Off the Field
Since being traded to the Atlanta Braves before the 2024 season, Chris Sale has made an incredible impact on the Braves Country community by providing unique and memorable experiences for local children and military families.
Each month during the season, Sale hosts a group of deserving Braves fans as his special guests in the Atlanta Braves Foundation’s Community Clubhouse, a private and exclusive pregame hospitality space inside Truist Park. During the 2024 season, Sale welcomed families from Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta’s Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, Children’s Miracle Network, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, and Camp Sunshine. The experience includes food, beverages, and Braves swag for each of the groups in the Community Clubhouse. Sale also made it a priority to visit the group pregame, spend quality time with them, take photos, sign autographs, and answer any questions they might have.
