Clayton Kershaw once laughed at himself for being such a big fan of The Bachelor with a tweet that included the hashtag #mancardgone. So perhaps it was fitting that the emcee for Kershaw's charity ping-pong tournament last week was the host of The Bachelor and The Bachelorette, Chris Harrison.
"I'm really honored to help out and raise money for the kids, but then once the kids are helped, I want to destroy Clayton," Harrison cracked.
The event called Ping Pong 4 Purpose featured a doubles tournament with Dodger players and celebrities including the most recent Bachelorette, Andi Dorfman, and her fiance, Josh Murray, Jimmy Kimmel, George Lopez, Jaleel White, Craig Robinson and Mario Lopez.
It is a major fundraiser for Kershaw's Challenge, the foundation that he and his wife, Ellen, created to help two organizations in Africa, one in Los Angeles (Dream Center) and one in his hometown of Dallas (Mercy Street). Building hospitals and orphanages is part of its mission.
"Baseball is so much fun; I have blast getting to do it," Kershaw said. "But the end of the day, when kids are being helped, that's where Ellen and I find our passion: Trying to help kids who can't help themselves."
Here is a closer look at the festivities from Dodger Stadium:
In case you're curious about how the tournament unfolded, Kershaw and Clippers star Chris Paul lost in the first round to Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke and former MLB player Jerry Hairston Jr.
Greinke and Hairston advanced to the championship match by beating Dorfman and Murray, in the semifinals. But the team of Dodgers second baseman Dee Gordon and actor Josh Henderson (Dallas on TNT) prevailed in the finals.
