Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Curtis Granderson celebrates in the dugout after scoring a run on an RBI single from teammate Adrian Gonzales in the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Detroit Tigers Saturday, Aug. 19, 2017, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Lon Horwedel)

Dodgers left fielder Curtis Granderson slams into the padded wall as he attempts to catch the walk-off home run hit by the Pirates’ Josh Harrison (not pictured) during the 10th inning. The home run was the only hit allowed by Dodgers pitcher Rich Hill, who took a perfect game into the ninth inning. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)

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The Dodgers’ Curtis Granderson rounds third base after hitting a go-ahead home run off Pirates starting pitcher Chad Kuhl, center, in the fourth inning of Thursday’s 5-2 victory in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)

Dodgers fans wave flags and cheer as Curtis Granderson is greeted by manager Dave Roberts after hitting a home run against the Pittsburgh Pirates in the fourth inning of a game, Thursday, Aug. 24, 2017, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)

Los Angeles Dodgers’ Curtis Granderson looks skyward as he enters the dugout after his solo home run during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Detroit Tigers, Sunday, Aug. 20, 2017, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)



Los Angeles Dodgers Curtis Granderson follows the flight of his fly out during the second inning of a baseball game against the Milwaukee Brewers, Saturday, August 26, 2017, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Michael Owen Baker)

Los Angeles Dodgers Curtis Granderson warms up in the outfield before playing the Detroit Tigers in a baseball game, Saturday, Aug. 19, 2017, in Detroit. Granderson was traded to the Dodgers Friday night. (AP Photo/Lon Horwedel)

LOS ANGELES — The Santa Ana Valley High School football team was about to play its second game of the season. It could have been any Saturday in September – Curtis Granderson wasn’t sure the year – but this game happened to be on Sept. 10, 2011.

Granderson was in town because his New York Yankees were playing the Angels. Santa Ana Valley held a freshman pep rally that Friday, Sept. 9. The Yankees did not, so Granderson set aside time to visit the school, which sits in a working-class neighborhood 6.5 miles south of Angel Stadium.

“I think the team was pretty decent,” Granderson recalled Sunday, “but there was a lack of – I don’t want to call it school spirit – but just school participation.”

Standing in front of the assembled students, Granderson asked for a show of hands: Who was going to the game tomorrow? Of the 500 or so kids in the crowd, fewer than 60 raised a hand, said the school’s activities director, Michael Moss.

“When he found out how many people weren’t going he said, ‘I’m in. You’re going. Money’s not going to be an issue anymore’,” Moss said.

Granderson wrote the school a check to cover the cost of admission for the entire freshman class. The check must have been worth at least $2,200, Moss said.

When the Dodgers acquired Granderson from the New York Mets on Aug. 19, they did not merely gain an outfielder. Granderson is the reigning Roberto Clemente Award winner, an honor given annually to the player who best exemplifies the game of baseball, sportsmanship, community involvement and the individual’s contribution to his team.

Granderson started his “Grand Kids Foundation” in 2007, when he was 26 years old and playing his second full season with the Detroit Tigers. The Dodgers are his fourth team. But as his visit to Santa Ana six years ago shows, it doesn’t matter where Granderson plays his home games. His ideas for community involvement extend to wherever the team plane touches down next.

“Recently I was in San Francisco playing the Giants, where we had part of our New Balance Fitness Challenge, which we initially started in Florida four years ago,” Granderson said. “It’s now grown to eight different cities, including San Francisco. The timing worked out where our game in San Francisco was the weekend we were doing that. So myself and the (Giants) relief pitcher (Cory) Gearrin, the two of us went out to the park at 10 in the morning. We had about 200-plus kids moving around, showing the importance of just being active.”

The details of Granderson’s charitable efforts differ, but his target audience is always the same.

Growing up in Lynwood, a middle-class suburb on Chicago’s south side, Granderson’s parents were both teachers. Curtis Granderson Sr. taught physical fitness at the K-8 level. His mother Mary was a high school science teacher. If the ability to reach a child’s mind is an inherited trait, Granderson is the perfect case study.

Money might have been an issue sometimes growing up, but Granderson’s parents made sure their son never noticed. Sometimes that meant taking second jobs.

“We didn’t have everything, we didn’t struggle,” he said.

Naturally, education was a priority. Skipping college was not an option for young Curtis. Listed somewhat generously at 6-foot-1 and 180 pounds, Granderson grew into an eventual third-round draft pick at the University of Illinois-Chicago. In 2006, he took $25,000 out of his rookie paycheck ($335,000) to fund an athlete’s video lounge on campus.

UIC’s $10 million ballpark now bears Granderson’s name as well. He donated half of that amount toward the park’s construction in 2013. At the time, it was reported to be the largest donation to the school’s athletic program as well as the largest one-time gift from a professional athlete to his alma mater. When Granderson talks to children about giving back, his actions amplify that message like a bullhorn.

Those who only know him away from a baseball field reiterate the same core truths: Granderson gives back – a lot. He talks to children about giving – a lot.

“His foundation was born because of his spirit more than anything else,” said John Fuller, a publicist who worked with Granderson during the foundation’s early years. “The first time I spoke to him on the phone, I said, what do you want from this? His first answer was ‘I’d really love to help the schools in Detroit. Can we do that?’ He loves to give back. He really does.”

Granderson became a Dodger on Aug. 19. Within a week, a teammate asked him for advice on how to start his own charitable foundation. He’s already scheduled to participate in two community events in Southern California in September: one through the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation, another with the Urban Youth Academy in Compton.

“When I caught wind that there was even any chance to get him, I was pretty excited because I know what he can bring to the clubhouse,” said Bob Geren, Granderson’s bench coach with the Mets and now the Dodgers.

Granderson, 36, is a free agent at the end of the season. The Dodgers sacrificed Triple-A reliever Jacob Rhame to get him; the Mets sent back some of his salary costs. From a baseball standpoint, it was similar to the trades that made Chase Utley a Dodger in 2015, and Rich Hill and Josh Reddick a year ago.

Granderson might be the archetype of a “veteran clubhouse presence,” but it’s not a coincidence that the Dodgers have a habit of collecting similar players in August.

“Hopefully if you’re planning your process right, the guys you wind up going out and acquiring all fit that same mold of guys who are additive to the clubhouse,” General Manager Farhan Zaidi said. “All those guys are obviously their own individuals and different people who bring different things to the clubhouse, but I do think the common thread is that they’re all guys who can be part of a really strong winning atmosphere. I don’t think that’s a coincidence.”

The value Granderson brings as a hitter and left fielder is inherently limited. The Dodgers have just 33 games remaining this season, plus the playoffs. Granderson has just four hits in his first 29 at-bats, though three are home runs.

Regardless of his performance the next two months, Granderson will almost certainly do more off the field than on.

Six years later, one visit to one school still echoes in the hallways. Moss, a guidance counselor at Santa Ana Valley, said Granderson’s generosity left a lasting impression.

“I made a point: if there’s someone who’s an outsider that cares that much about you being a participant in your school, you should even more so,” Moss said. “I keep that in the back of my mind and use it as one of the little parables and stories that I tell about people having integrity, backing up their words with their actions, that their financial commitment is true to their word. I use that activity as an example a lot.”