One of the top honors in baseball - THE top honor in my opinion - went to Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers yesterday.  The lefty star won the Roberto Clemente award after being selected as the Dodgers' representative last month.

The award honor the late Roberto Clemente's commitment to helping the community.  Clemente passed away when traveling the plane he was traveling on crashed.  He and the plane full of relief supplies were on their way to his native Nicaragua after the country was ravaged by an earthquake.  His commitment to doing the right thing, to helping the community will be forever remember in the Roberto Clemente award, given out each year to the player who best shows sporstmanship and a commitment to the community.

According to Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times, Kershaw has worked with numerous charities in both Los Angeles and Dallas, his hometown.  He and his wife have also helped build an orphanage in Zambia.  His efforts did not go unnoticed.

Kershaw won the National League Cy Young Award last season, but if asked, he would probably say this award is much more meaningful.  This past season, kershaw was hampered by an impingement in his hip.  Yet, he still managed to go 15-9 with a 2.53 ERA.  He is certainly not out of the running for a second consecutive Cy Young.  
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