Dodgers’ Hiroki Kuroda donates $50,000 to Japan earthquake relief

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Dodgers starting pitcher Hiroki Kuroda on Tuesday donated $50,000 to the earthquake and tsunami relief efforts in Japan, a Dodgers spokesman said.

Speaking through an interpreter, Kuroda also addressed his teammates during their morning meeting at Camelback Ranch to talk about the devastation in his home country, spokesman Josh Rawitch said.

Kuroda “wanted to tell them what it means to him,’ Rawitch said. Kuroda’s donation came on the same day that the Dodgers and KNBC-TV Channel 4 held a relief drive at Dodger Stadium to raise funds for the earthquake’s victims. The drive was scheduled to run until 7 p.m. PDT.

Kuroda, 36, was among several Japanese players in the big leagues who were stunned by the impact of the quake and concerned about family members and friends back home. Before joining the Dodgers in 2008, Kuroda spent several years playing for the Hiroshima Toyo Carp in Japan.

-- Jim Peltz in Phoenix