DODGERS The KERSHAW Thread

eithier and pollock were there too
would have been nice to interviewed all four together, or could have had russ & dre and then barnes & aj
no surprise apple tv botched the opportunity
although you could argue that dontrelle >>> jessica as the colored commentator

 

Well, that's a wrap. 223 regular season wins, ties him for 74th best. Many of the guys ahead of him played 100+ years ago. Even the ones in more recent decades played during a time when starting pitchers went more innings and therefore were more likely to have 20-win seasons. His final record is 223-96 -- the only pitcher in the modern era with over 200 wins and fewer than 100 losses. This is a distinction that will very likely remain exclusively his for the long-term. Of course, winning games is just one pitching metric in which he's excelled... there are many, many others. Truly a once-in-a-lifetime ballplayer.

 

The fan in my fully concurs and would love to see that happen.

But everyone is different. What makes a player like Kersh decide that 37 is old enough, while Verlander is at 42 and still returning next year, or Nolan Ryan pitching until almost 47? What made one of my favorite football players, Barry Sanders, decide to hang them up at 31 while seemingly still in his prime? Everyone has their own set of circumstances and personal life priorities that may not include putting the maximum number of years into their sport. When someone decides enough is enough while appearing to still have the ability to excel, you've got to respect that and tip your hat to them.

 

I know you do. I meant "you've got to respect that" in the general sense, not you specifically.

Verlander is a little perplexing to me. Not a great season (even though he did show some improvement at the end). He risks further tarnishing his baseball legacy by coming back in '26. Hot wife and two little ones at home - if it were me I'd be, "I'm out of here." But along the same lines I mentioned above, to each their own priorities.

Can't really say that Kershaw is leaving at the top of his game, but he proved this year that he could fully come back from his injuries and be a very competitive pitcher in his 18th season. Pretty cool way to call it quits, yet bittersweet to me as a fan, for sure.

 

One more thing about Kershaw - not that anyone here needs me to tell you, but just stating it for the record. Dodgers do not win the division without him this year. Can't forget that at one point, Snell and Glasnow were on the shelf as was Catman, Ohtani hadn't taken the mound yet, and Sheehan hadn't even thrown his first OKC rehab pitch. It was Yamamoto and Kershaw, an ineffective May, and fill-in starters and bullpen games. Many of CK's 11 wins occurred during that stretch, and odds are that without him many of those would have been L's - let alone the additional strain on the pen. Think of all the sports superstars that essentially were a novelty item - a side show if you will - on their farewell tour... it's pretty damn cool that Kersh can say he played such an instrumental role in the team's success.

Really want to see the Dodgers find the postseason magic and, per @F!nski 's words, put a bow on it.

 

if he’s conservative (and he does hail from tx), he should carpetbag and run for calif governor
relocate all the libs to sf and call it mainland molokai — lepers, homos and giants fans
fuck it, move the homeless there too — and then annex it from calif (and the us)
shit, move all the felons, er, terrorists, er, illegal aliens, er, immigrants there too
viva la revolution!

 

Another case of Clayton Kershaw being an awesome human

@JomboyMedia
“He’s an amazing human being… He was a great teammate to my little brother, and I’ll never forget that and how much he meant to the Thompson family… It was nice having a friend in Dallas before I even got here.” -Klay Thompson on Clayton Kershaw

https://x.com/JomboyMedia/status/1973042752033362126