Los Angeles Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw is among six finalists for the Marvin Miller Man of the Year Award.
The award is named for the founding executive director of the MLB Players Association and is bestowed upon the player who inspires "others to higher levels of achievement by their on-field performances and contributions to their communities."
Kershaw is joined as a finalist by Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo, Nationals first baseman Adam LaRoche, Angels outfielder Josh Hamilton, Tigers pitcher Max Scherzer and Yankees outfielder Carlos Beltran
One player from each of baseball's six divisions was selected as a finalist.
Kershaw and his wife, Ellen, first inspired by their relationship with a malnourished, HIV-infected girl in Lusaka, Zambia, began Kershaw's Challenge in 2011. The challenge is to use whatever you have been blessed with -- talent, passion or purpose -- to give back to others. This year, Kershaw's Challenge helped support transitional housing for homeless families in Los Angeles (The Dream Center) and a sports ministry in West Dallas (Mercy Street), as well as its ongoing work in Zambia.
Rizzo, a survivor of Hodgkin's Lymphoma for which he underwent six months of chemotherapy as a Class A player in 2008, founded the Anthony Rizzo Family Foundation to support cancer research and families fighting the disease. Rizzo visits Lurie Children's Hospital every month, spending time with kids on the pediatric oncology floor. The foundation has raised more than $500,000 with his "Walk Offs for Cancer" and "Cook Offs for Cancer" events.
LaRoche focuses much of his off-field attention on the Wounded Warrior Project at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, where he regularly visits vets during their rehab and recovery. LaRoche also brings the Wounded Warriors to the ballpark, including taking batting practice on a recent homestand. He was also invited by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Martin Dempsey, to join the USO Holiday Tour and visited troops in Greece, Afghanistan, Italy and Germany last December.
Hamilton, a five-time All-Star and the 2010 Most Valuable Player, raises money and partners with other charitable organizations through his FourTwelve Foundation, which he formed along with his wife, Katie, for the purpose of personally investing in the lives of individuals and supporting their physical, spiritual and emotional needs. Specifically, the foundation reaches out to people who are oppressed, abandoned, rejected or impoverished and serves single and at-risk women.
Scherzer was the player host for the charity fantasy football program Big League Impact in the Detroit market. He recruited teammates Miguel Cabrera, Ian Kinsler, Joba Chamberlain, Rick Porcello, Torii Hunter, Alex Avila, Don Kelly, Joe Nathan and Bryan Holaday to start leagues. Proceeds go to Big League Impact, as well as the Detroit Tigers Foundation, Detroit's Police Athletic League and the Detroit Zoo.
Beltran, also a finalist last year with the Cardinals, had his dream of building a baseball academy in his native Puerto Rico come true in 2011 with the opening of the Carlos Beltran Baseball Academy in Florida, Puerto Rico. The academy is a fully bilingual high school that strives for athletic and academic excellence. It graduated its first class in 2014. Carlos and his wife Jessica also hold various fund-raisers for the foundation throughout the year, including a "Night in Old San Juan" event this month in New York.
Mariano Rivera of the Yankees was the recipient of the 2013 Man of the Year Award. Past winners of the award also include Chipper Jones, Curtis Granderson, Torii Hunter, Albert Pujols, Jim Thome, John Smoltz and Paul Molitor.
[SportsNetwork.com]
