Good News Tuesday: Curtis Granderson

Last week the MLB Players Association named Detriot Tigers' outfielder Curtis Granderson the Marvin Miller Man of the Year winner. The award is given to the player "whose on-field and off-field performance most inspires others to higher levels of achievement by displaying as much passion to give back to others as he shows between the lines on the baseball diamond."

Granderson, 28, created the Grand Kids Foundation in 2008 to give more education and youth baseball opportunities to inner-city kids. He is a member of the Action Team national youth volunteer program.

Granderson is the son of two recently retired teachers, his sister is a teacher and in 2000 he earned his degrees in Business Administration and Advertising from University of Illinois-Chicago. He recently wrote All You Can Be: Dream It, Draw It, Become It! where he "shares the lessons that he learned growing up--the importance of family and choosing the right friends, the power of listening and staying positive, and most important, [and] the value of being yourself." (Amazon)

His book is being distributed free of charge to public elementary school libraries in Michigan, a recent article on the Michigan Department of Education Web site stated. I'll get that book for my son to go along with his book written by Derek Jeter.

Like my blogging pal Mike, over at The Happy Go Lucky Bachelor, I like sharing stories about black professional athletes. Don't believe the hype about them. The majority of them are just like Curtis. Recent stories you might have missed include New York Yankees Derek Jeter who won the Roberto Clemente award for community service last week and Los Angeles Angels star Torii Hunter the Branch Rickey award winner earlier this year who was recently featured for his community service work in his hometown.

So thank you Curtis Granderson.