Dodger All-Stars Matt Kemp and Clayton Kershaw will be honored tonight at the Negro League Mueseum in Kansas City.
Kemp, the runner up in N.L. MVP balloting will receive the Oscar Charleston Award recognizing him as the museum’s choice as the league’s MVP.
Kerhsaw, the eighth Dodger hurler to receive the Cy Young Award, will be honored with the museum’s Bullet Joe Rogan “Pitcher of the Year” award.
In MVP voting by the Baseball Writers, Kemp garnered 332 votes, second to Milwaukee’s Ryan Braun’s 388 votes. Soon after the voting, it was announced that Braun tested positive for high levels of synthetic testosterone.
Kemp paced the league in home runs, runs batted in, total bases, and runs scored; he also finished third in the league in batting average and was tied for second in stolen bases
The Dodger outfielder spent the off season collecting awards, having already amassed the Hank Aaron Award, given to the best offensive performer in each leave, as well as the Gold Glove and Silver Slugger Awards. He was also selected as Baseball America’s Major League Player of the Year, and as the National League’s Most Outstanding Player in Players’ Choice Award voting.
The namesake to the museum’s Oscar Charleston Award played and managed in the Negro Leagues from 1915-1945, compiling a .348 lifetime average. The fleet-footed Charleston often finished among the league leaders in home runs and stolen bases. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1976. The Negro League Museum has been giving out the award since 2001.
Kershaw becomes the fifth winner of the Bullet Joe Rogan Award. In Cy Young Award balloting this year, the Dodger lefty outpaced last year’s Rogan Award recipient, Roy Halladay becoming the first Dodger starter to win the award since Orel Hershiser in 1988.
The 23-year-old led the league in wins, strikeouts, and ERA, becoming only the 16th N.L. hurler to pace the league in all three categories. Kershaw was rewarded with the Players’ Choice Award as the league’s top pitcher, the Warren Spahn Award as baseball’s best lefty, and his first Gold Glove Award.
Rogan can be found at or near the top of the all-time Negro League pitching statistics. Also an outstanding outfielder, Rogan played for the Kansan City Monarchs from 1920-1938. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1998.
The Dodger teammates will be honored as part of a ceremony starting tonight at 8:00 at the Gem Theater at the Museum.
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