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Clayton Kershaw and his wife Ellen helped raise over $85,000 for coronavirus relief efforts in Los Angeles and Dallas, thanks to a fundraising program the last two weeks that gave donors a chance at a Zoom call with Kershaw.
Kershaw’s Challenge raised the money through online donations, with Clayton and Ellen matching the total donations, for a total of $85,533. The money will be split between Dream Center in Los Angeles and Behind Every Door in Dallas.
“It is just unbelievable to see over $85,000 to Behind Every Door and the Dream Center to feed families in need in this time,” Kershaw said via Instagram on Wednesday. “This was a really fun campaign for us.”
Donors earned one entry into a raffle for every $50 given, with the prize a one-on-one Zoom call with Clayton Kershaw. Seven winners were chosen Wednesday. Donors who gave $5,000 or more automatically get a 10-minute call with Kershaw.
“Both of those organizations are doing great things already, so we’re just excited to be a small part of it,” Kershaw said in an interview with LA Magazine this week.
Speaking of Kershaw, Jay Jaffe re-watched Kershaw’s major league debut from May 25, 2008 this week, and wrote about the experience at FanGraphs. Come for the fond remembrance, stay for the video of Vin Scully’s call labeling Kershaw’s curve “Public Enemy No. 1.”
Links
- Dodgers play-by-play broadcaster Joe Davis revealed his favorite call to Ken Gurnick at MLB.com.
- Sam Miller at ESPN turned sleuth in figuring out the curious case of Don Mattingly’s birth certificate and 1987 Topps.
- Manny Ramirez, who turns 48 on May 30, is eying a return to baseball, in Taiwan. Jaffe at FanGraphs has more.
- Derek Jeter, Larry Walker, Ted Simmons, and the estate of Marvin Miller will have to wait until next year for their induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. The HOF announced Wednesday the cancellation of this year’s ceremony due to the coronavirus pandemic. All inductees and honorees will join any 2021 inductees in next year’s ceremony, held on July 25, 2021.