Kuroda to Donate $100,000 to Dream Foundation

The 2008 National League West Division Champion Los Angeles Dodgers announced that right-hander Hiroki Kuroda will donate $100,000 to the Dodgers Dream Foundation, including a portion that will benefit the team’s official charity, ThinkCure!

    “Since coming to Los Angeles, I have been very impressed with the great work of the Dodgers Dream Foundation in helping kids in so many ways,” said Kuroda. “I saw the incredible efforts of ThinkCure! during our visit to City of Hope and I, myself, have lost my parents to cancer and hope that this will help eliminate this terrible disease.”  

Kuroda joined the Dodgers in 2008 following a successful 11-year career in the Japanese Central League. While with the Hiroshima Toyo Carp, he would leave 15 tickets per game for children who had lost their parents.  

He became the seventh Japanese player in Dodger history when he won his Major League debut on April 4. The right-hander went on to post a 9-10 record and was one of just 19 pitchers in the National League to register an ERA below 3.75.   

In the postseason, Kuroda made two starts and earned victories in each of them, pitching 6.1 scoreless innings in the deciding Game 3 of the National League Division Series against Chicago before allowing two earned runs in 6.0 innings of the Dodgers’ lone victory against the eventual World Champion Phillies in the National League Championship Series.   

Kuroda’s arrival was met with great anticipation, as his introductory news conference was attended by more than 50 media outlets from around the world.   

Shortly after coming to Los Angeles, he took part in the Dodgers’ Community Caravan in February, where he visited patients at City of Hope, which along with Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, has joined with the Dodgers in the creation of ThinkCure! In addition, Kuroda visited Washington Accelerated Elementary in Pasadena and served Dodger fans lunch alongside his teammates, as he was a “waiter” at the Panda Inn.