Justin Turner wins prestigious Roberto Clemente Award

Justin Turner, who has spent his total stint with the Los Angeles Dodgers fervidly giving again to the neighborhood the place he grew up, has been named recipient of the celebrated Roberto Clemente Award, which yearly honors gamers for his or her philanthropic efforts.

Turner, the Dodgers’ Clemente Award nominee in 5 of the previous six seasons, is in Philadelphia to be commemorated alongside the Clemente household and Main League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred forward of Sport 3 of the World Collection on Monday. Turner is the third member of the Dodgers to win the award, after Steve Garvey in 1981 and Clayton Kershaw in 2012.

The award is in some ways a fruits of Turner’s time in Los Angeles. When he arrived with the Dodgers as a free agent in February of 2014, he was a 29-year-old journeyman infielder struggling to carve out an outlined position within the main leagues. He re-hauled his swing, established himself as an on a regular basis third baseman, made two All-Star groups, received a World Collection championship and began the Justin Turner Basis.

Turner is 37 now and instantly unsure about whether or not his time with the Dodgers has come to an finish. The staff holds a $16 million membership choice for 2023 and has but to announce whether or not it is going to train it.

“All the things in my life actually feels prefer it has taken off because the day I put the Dodger uniform on,” Turner mentioned on a convention name. “Clearly, it’s totally particular to me, rising up in Southern California, attending to put on that jersey and attending to be part of a corporation that has a lot historical past and has so many individuals who’ve impacted the sport in so many alternative methods. I am simply attempting to do my little half.”

Turner’s basis, began alongside his spouse, Kourtney, started in 2016 with a need to assist homeless veterans, kids and households battling life-altering illnesses and sicknesses. Lately, Turner has grow to be intimately concerned with The Dream Middle, an LA-based useful resource heart centered on supporting the homeless by way of community-outreach applications. He and his spouse have additionally supplied greater than 70,000 toys and 14,000 bicycles to kids in L.A. and have donated greater than $100,000 for Youngsters’s Hospital Los Angeles, the place Turner now sits on the board of administrators, in line with a launch from MLB.

The Los Angeles Metropolis Council beforehand acknowledged Turner’s philanthropic efforts by declaring Jan. 22, 2019, “Justin Turner Day.”

Turner, made out there over the weekend, mentioned he was nonetheless in “wait-and-see mode” as as to whether he’d return to the Dodgers subsequent season however added that his charitable efforts would proceed lengthy after his time with the staff has concluded.

“I feel that is one thing that can all the time be a part of Kourtney and I’s DNA,” Turner mentioned. “Clearly, we do not know what it is going to appear like when finally I’m accomplished enjoying, and when the occasions come collectively and what’s gonna occur on that entrance. However I feel it is one thing that we’ll all the time proceed and all the time be giving again to assist individuals in want.”