View the Dedeaux Award Video (requires quicktime plugin)
 Sparky Anderson as batboy of 1948 National Champion
USC Trojans Baseball Team
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Proceeds from 2011 Dedeaux Award went to Major League Baseball’s Urban Youth
Academy in Compton, California. On February 28th, 2006, MLB opened its first Urban Youth Academy in the U.S. The facility is located at the campus of Compton Community College on 10 acres of land in Compton, CA, south of Los Angeles. It includes two regulation size baseball diamonds, a youth field and one for girls softball as well as 12,000 square foot clubhouse with locker and weight rooms, and other training facilities. It is expected to be a prototype for other U.S. facilities, through the Urban Youth Initiative, which will serve not only as a catalyst for reviving baseball but a place for inner-city youth to enjoy each summer and after school.
The mission of the Urban Youth Academy is this; “Through the Splendor of the National Pastime, Major League Baseball Urban Youth Academy aims to set the standard for instruction, teaching and education in Urban America and to enhance the quality of life in surrounding communities. It serves as a brick-and-mortar testament to MLB’s commitment to urban youth”. The Dedeaux Foundation is proud to support MLB’s Urban Youth Academy.
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The Dedeaux Foundation created the annual Dedeaux Award to honor individuals for both their outstanding accomplishments in baseball in addition to service to the community.
The inaugural 2010 honoree, Tommy Lasorda, is well-known as one of baseball’s most popular ambassadors and fittingly, one of Rod’s dearest friends. Legendary for his accomplishments including coaching the Dodgers to two World Championships and a Gold Medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and honored by his induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Not as well known are Tommy’s tireless efforts reaching out in the community speaking at countless charitable functions each year as well as visiting with military personnel around the world.
Proceeds from the inaugural event benefited the baseball and softball for Kids in Sports LA (KIS). The mission of Kids in Sports is to create community based sports programs for youth in underserved areas of Los Angeles County. KIS currently operates 13 area clubs and serves more than 8,000 youth annually.
The 2011 honoree Sparky Anderson exemplifies the spirit of the award and the value of mentorship per the below published story by Sparky Anderson.
In 1942, I was
9 years old and my family had just moved from South Dakota to California. We moved into a house that was tucked just beyond the right-field fence of the University of Southern California baseball field. One day I came from school and found a baseball in the bushes that had covered the fence of the baseball field. I picked it up and walked over to the field and asked one of the players, “Who is the boss around here?”
They pointed to the team’s manager, and that was when I met Rod Dedeaux for the first time. I asked him, “Are you the boss?” He smiled and nodded yes.
I returned the baseball to him and he said, “You are an honest young man. Would you like to be my batboy?”
I did not know anything about baseball at this time in my life, and I definitely did not know the what a batboy was, but I still said yes.
Dedeaux told me I could do it under two conditions. The rules were: I needed to get my parent’s permission, and I had to show my report every time I had one.
He took me as if I were his son, and he did so much for me during that time. He helped me develop a love of baseball and love of life. I watched him intently and how he appreciated all the gifts God gave him. He showed me the importance of being fortunate and never thinking you are better than anyone.
Dedeaux used to tell me, “When you are fortunate, it is a tremendous gift. It is impossible to be
better than someone else, but you can be more fortunate.”
He taught me how to cradle this attitude in everything you do and I did every day of my life. To this day, meeting him was the greatest thing that ever happened to me in my life. It was even greater than winning the World Series as the manager of the Cincinnati Red and Detroit Tigers.
You see, I believe so strongly that there are only a handful of people you will encounter in life that completely change your destiny. You have to be open to following the baseballs in your life and letting these people come into your life every day because you might miss them.
And how fortunate am I that I met my destiny-changer when I was only 9 years old?
Fortunate indeed.
For additional information on the Dedeaux Foundation, please contact info@dedeauxfoundation.org
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