Clayton Kershaw ended his illustrious 18-year career unaware that he’d just won the World Series again.
At least at first.
The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 in 11 innings in Game 7 on Saturday night to become the first team in a quarter century to win consecutive championships.
But that was news to Kershaw initially.
The three-time Cy Young Award winner was warming up in the bullpen and had lost track of the outs when Alejandro Kirk grounded into a game-ending double play with runners at the corners.
“When he hit the double play, I thought the run scored and it was tied. I had no idea. I thought I had the next batter,” Kershaw said, laughing.
It was left to Dodgers bullpen catcher Josh Bard to let Kershaw know the game was over and they had won.
“Bardo was there and he looked at me, he said, `We just won the World Series’ and I was like, `Are you sure?’”
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The 37-year-old left-hander announced in September his plans to retire after this season.
He said at his locker Saturday night that he couldn’t have asked for anything more. Kershaw spent his entire career with the Dodgers and won three World Series rings. He became one of the greatest pitchers of his generation and one of Los Angeles’ most beloved athletes of the 21st century.
“It’s not a sad feeling. It really isn’t,” Kershaw said. “I mean, how cool is this? I will forever for the rest of my life be able to say we won Game 7 of the World Series in the last game I ever played. You can’t script that. You can’t write it up. Even if I was not throwing 88 (mph), I still would be done. It’s just the perfect way to end it.”
The three-time Cy Young Award winner made a clutch appearance out of the bullpen in the 12th inning of Game 3, a 6-5 victory that stretched 18 tense innings.
“You can’t script that, either. I’m thankful to get out there and get that last out,” he said. “That’s so cool.”
In his prime from 2010-15, Kershaw led the National League in ERA five times, in strikeouts three times and wins twice.
He has already earned a place alongside Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, Don Newcombe and Fernando Valenzuela among the greatest pitchers to wear Dodger Blue.
Kershaw had one of the best pitching seasons ever in 2014, when he finished 21-3 with a 1.77 ERA and 233 strikeouts to win both the Cy Young and Most Valuable Player awards in the NL.
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Kershaw built his reputation with a pitching style that relies on deception, movement and velocity changes. He has said he modeled his mechanics after his favorite childhood pitcher, Roger Clemens.
The 11-time All-Star is tied with Zack Wheat and Bill Russell for the most years playing with the Dodgers. Kershaw also won World Series championships in 2020 and 2024.
He has a career record of 222-96 and 15 shutouts, most among active major leaguers. He threw his only no-hitter in June 2014 against Colorado.
His 2.54 ERA is the lowest of any pitcher in the live-ball era since 1920, and his winning percentage tops all pitchers with at least 200 victories since 1900.
Kershaw said he’s been offered a job by Dodgers President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman.
“He mentioned something where I can hang out,” Kershaw said. “I don’t know what that looks like, but this is a special organization and they don’t need me to win World Series — that’s obvious. But if there’s anything that I can do in the future to be a part of it, I hope that’s the case.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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