Alex Rodriguez to headline annual Winnipeg sports dinner

It’s another big coup for the Rady Jewish Community Centre in Winnipeg.

On Wednesday, they unveiled three-time most valuable player and World Series champion Alex Rodriguez as this year’s keynote speaker for the 47th annual Rady JCC Ken Kronson Sports Dinner.

“We are beyond excited to have a first class athlete and person such as Alex Rodriguez coming to Winnipeg and be our keynote speaker,” Sports Dinner Chair Blair Worb said in a media release.

“This year the Rady JCC (YMHA) will celebrate its 100^th Anniversary and we feel privileged to have a person like Alex joining us in our special year.”

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Rodriguez retired from Major League Baseball following the 2016 season after an illustrious 22-year career. He sits fourth on the all-time home run list with 696 round trippers. He’s also a member of the three-thousand hit club and is a 14-time all-star.

RELATED: Teemu Selanne heading back to Winnipeg in May

The Rady JCC has been able to get some of sports biggest names to speak at their annual dinner over the years. Rodriguez follows in the footsteps of NFL quarterback Eli Manning who was last year’s keynote speaker. Bobby Hull, Mickey Mantle, Bob Costas, Mike Ditka, Scotty Bowman, Phil Esposito, Pete Rose, Peyton Manning, Dan Marino and Cal Ripken Jr. are just a few of the big names to attend the event over the years.

The event raises funds for under-privileged children, scholarships and subsidies for families in need, and seniors and special needs programming.

Tickets are now on sale for the dinner which will take place on June 18 at the RBC Convention Centre.

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Past Keynote Speakers

1973     Bobby Hull, Karl Kassulke, Don Shula

1974    Marvin Milkes, Jim Bouton

1975    Normie Kwong, Mickey Mantle

1976    Rudy Pilous, Jesse Owens

1977    Danny Gallivan, Leo E. Durocher

1978    Emmett L. Ashford, John Havlicek

1979     Mickey Mantle, Rollie Miles, Billy Martin, Whitey Ford

1980    Graham Leggat, Bud Grant

1981     Don Cherry, Steve Stone

1982     Tom Gorman, Frank Gifford

1983     Art Holst, Terry Bradshaw

1984     George Blanda, Bart Starr

1985     “Boom Boom” Geoffrion, Johnny Bench

1986     Bob Costas, Mike Ditka

1987     Roy Firestone, Doug Flutie

1988     Dennis Hull, Ron Luciano

1989     Sherry Bassin, Dan Dierdorf

1990     Larry Csonka

1991     Angella Issajenko, Bob Knight

1992     Jim Valvano

1993     Jay Johnstone, Jimmy Piersall

1994     Eli Zaret, Denny McLain

1995     Art Donovan

1996     Jim Bouton, Dennis Hull

1997     Sparky Anderson, Sherry Bassin

1998     Mark Levy

1999     Jerry Tarkanian, Darryl Dawkins

2000     Rubin “Hurricane” Carter

2001     Roy Firestone

2002     Leigh Steinberg

2003     Dan Hampton

2004     Phil Esposito

2005     Scotty Bowman

2006     Pete Rose

2007     Warren Moon

2008     Chris Berman

2009     Peyton Manning

2010     Cal Ripken Jr.

2011     Joe Montana

2012     Mark Messier

2013     Drew Brees

2014     Earvin “Magic” Johnson

2015     Jets Roundtable – Paul Maurice, Kevin Cheveldayoff, Mark Chipman and NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly

2016     Dan Marino

2017     Teemu Selänne

2018     Eli Manning