An off day for players turned into a star-studded 5th annual Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation (LADF) Blue Diamond Gala at Dodger Stadium on Wednesday night. Equality trailblazers and members of the Dodgers ownership group, Billie Jean King and Ilana Kloss, were honored during the event.
Players and celebrities walked the blue carpet and after a dinner reception were treated to a private concert by Grammy Award winner Bruno Mars. The sold-out event was attended by more than 2,000 guests and generated over $3 million in donations, which set a record.
Dodgers broadcasters Joe Davis and Orel Hershiser were responsible for leading the digital auction, which scrolled updates on bids across the videobards at Dodger Stadium.
“We’ll get to a point where people are going to understand in their heart they feel something to give,” Hershiser told DodgerBlue.com.
“And then they can give immediately right then. They’re not beholden to a trip in Hawaii or auctioning off a car. They’re beholden to their heart and what they want to give.”
The funds will support the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation in their continued efforts to give back to the local community. They raised $9 million in 2018 and are likely to surpass $10 million this year.
“We’re on track to really create some amazing things moving forward and we’re excited to celebrate our success with everyone,” LADF CEO Nichol Whiteman told DodgerBlue.com. “We’ll be talking about big, new ambitions on deck and raising a lot of money to support children in communities that need it most.
“We are really thinking about significant impact projects that this Gala itself will allow us to embark upon. We’ll be impacting millions of children in Los Angeles throughout the years to come.
The LADF recently completed a 15-year promise by building a 50th Dodgers Dreamfield. The Foundation then used that as a springboard for a commitment to reach 75 fields by 2033 to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Dodgers’ move from Brooklyn.
“Through the generosity of our ownership we get a platform to be able to share our message with the entire city of Los Angeles and really impact more and more children,” Whiteman added.
“We’re just thrilled that we continue to amp up this event every year and take it to the next level. Really excited about Bruno Mars tonight.”
Although the Dodgers rarely get an off day at home, players were more than willing to show their support for organization’s foundation.
Austin Barnes, Cody Bellinger, Walker Buehler, David Freese, Kiké Hernandez, Rich Hill, Kenley Jansen, Clayton Kershaw, Max Muncy, Joc Pederson, Hyun-Jin Ryu, Corey Seager, Justin Turner, Alex Verdugo and manager Dave Roberts were among those to attend.
“We build our platforms up, we keep trying to better ourselves and I feel like with that it gives us an opportunity to give back,” Verdugo said of being involved with LADF.
“Whether it’s with charities, going to schools, hospitals, things like that. Anything helps. It’s very important to be involved.”
Kershaw added: “It’s obviously a really fun night for us. We get to see Bruno Mars perform. Ultimately, we’re here for the Dodgers Foundation, and I think a huge reason they get such a good turnout is because of all the things they do in the community. They do a great job of helping us connect to that and when it comes down to it helping a lot of people, and they do that.”
Turner, who like Kershaw is active in the L.A. community not only with the Dodgers but his own foundation as well, commended the LADF on their work. “The Foundation and everything that they do in the city of Los Angeles is incredible,” he told DodgerBlue.com.
“This is our big event of the year that brings in the most money, and to see the amount of support that we get from the L.A. community and celebrities that come out to celebrate, have a good night and raise a lot of money is pretty special.”
While generating support for the annual Blue Diamond Gala has been done with ease, identifying a favorite song of Mars’ was much more difficult for the attendees.
“Twenty-Four Karat Magic is good. That’s the first one that pops to mind,” Davis said. “He has so many good ones.”
His broadcasting partner didn’t fare much better. “We don’t know a lot of titles but we know a lot of tunes, and I ain’t signing,” Hershiser joked.
Turner and his wife Kourtney faced a similar challenge. “I tend to go for the power ballads, but I don’t know,” Kourtney said when asked for a favorite song. “‘That’s What I like’ is a good one. We had that on in the car on the way here. A little ‘Finesse.'”
Meanwhile, Bellinger was simply looking forward to entire performance. “I can sing along to some of his songs, for sure,” he said.
