Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw spends time with Sandy Koufax

Reporting from Phoenix — 

Clayton Kershaw beamed as he recalled the events of the previous night, from how he and Sandy Koufax compared the sizes of their hands at the Nokia Theater to his hourlong conversation with the legendary left-hander on the flight back to Arizona.

“It was pretty awesome,” Kershaw said. “To sit there and talk to him for an hour was unbelievable. I learned more on that one plane trip than I have in a long time.”

Kershaw was invited by Manager Joe Torre to participate in his on-stage conversation with Koufax in Los Angeles on Saturday night, which was moderated by Times columnist T.J. Simers. The event raised $700,000 for Torre’s Safe at Home Foundation.

Kershaw was still shaking his head as he recalled how much longer Koufax’s fingers were than his.

“At least an inch or so,” Kershaw said.

Kershaw said Simers teased him for how few innings the pitchers of today throw compared to the pitchers of Koufax’s era. Koufax pitched 335 2/3 innings and 27 complete games in 1965.

“No comparison,” Kershaw said.

While Torre has no intention of using Kershaw that much, he hinted that he would let him pitch deeper into games than last season.

Asked whether the 22-year-old Kershaw would remain on a pitch count of 100 or so this season, Torre put his index fingers to his lips and said, “Shhhh. Let’s not talk about it. If we don’t talk about it, we don’t have to worry about it.”

Torre said that instead of the total number of pitches Kershaw throws, he will be focused more on how many pitches he throws in each inning. Kershaw said he understands why.

“You could throw 80 pitches in a game, but if you do that in four innings, sometimes you’re a lot more sore than if you throw 110 pitches in eight innings,” Kershaw said. “It’s the amount of stress in an inning that dictates how much stress you put on your arm.”

Back for another season

Brad Ausmus almost didn’t come back.

The Dodgers’ backup catcher, who turns 41 in less than two months, said he strongly considered retiring over the winter.

“Going into the off-season, I was probably leaning toward retiring,” he said. “As the off-season wore on, I hedged a little more.”

Ausmus, who was a free agent, said he decided he would return for his 18th major league season under one condition: he had to play for a team close to his home in Del Mar.

“The kids are getting older,” he said of his daughters, 11-year-old Sophie and 10-year-old Abby.

The Dodgers signed Ausmus to a one-year, $1-million contract. The deal will pay him a base salary of $850,000 this year and includes a $1-million mutual option for 2011. If Ausmus or the Dodgers decline the option, he will be paid $150,000.

Ausmus said he is comfortable with his role with the Dodgers, which will be the same as it was last season -- to mentor Russell Martin and relieve him of catching duties once a week.

“I was well aware it was going to be the same role this year,” Ausmus said. “Mentally, I’m at peace with it.”

Short hops

Eric Stults will start in the Dodgers’ B game against the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday. . . . Ronald Belisario hasn’t reported to camp.

dylan.hernandez @latimes.com

twitter.com/ dylanohernandez