Clayton Kershaw, the Los Angeles Dodgers’ 37-year-old left-handed starting pitcher, announced his retirement from Major League Baseball, making 2025 his final season. He is set to officially retire after this year’s postseason.
Kershaw made his Major League debut in 2008, beginning his 19-year legacy as a cornerstone of the Los Angles Dodgers’ rotation. By his 10th Major League game, he’d already secured his first win, pitching six shutout innings and striking out five of the Washington Nationals batters. He made 22 pitching appearances during his rookie season and steadily improved his ERA and WHIP throughout his early years.
Kershaw’s impact reached far beyond the mound.
In 2011, Kershaw and his wife, Ellen, founded the Kershaw’s Challenge. Kershaw’s Challenge is a faith-based nonprofit organization that supports at-risk children in Kershaw’s hometown of Dallas, as well as Los Angeles. Since the start of Kershaw’s Challenge, the organization has raised $23 million for children in at-risk communities. Kershaw was also awarded the 2012 Roberto Clemente Award for philanthropy and sportsmanship. This established his impact and heart for service within the Los Angeles community.
Throughout his tenure as a Dodger, he has turned into a baseball icon with Hall of Fame potential. He’s a 10-time All Star, has earned three Cy Young Awards, won a World Series championship and was named the 2014 National League MVP. Most recently, he became the 20th pitcher in MLB history to record 3,000 career strikeouts, joining other legendary pitchers like Roger Clemens and Fergie Jenkins. However, Kershaw belongs to an even more exclusive club. He is one of only three pitchers who have recorded 3,000 strikeouts with just one team.
Kershaw has become something rare within today’s world of baseball: a franchise player.
Team loyalty is a dying trait among many professional athletes. With the promise of high-paying contracts with big-market, playoff-contending teams, it’s easy to see why players would be willing to leave when they hit free agency. Unfortunately, all of these big paychecks come with a price. The loyalty and bond with teammates, the fanbase and the city’s community as a whole cannot be cultivated when players are being traded left and right. Long-term team identity is becoming a relic of the past.
Anthony Rizzo, another baseball icon and recent retiree, signed a one-day contract with the Chicago Cubs, allowing him to retire with the team that he helped lead to their historic 2016 World Series victory — the first in 108 years. While he was briefly traded to the Yankees by Cubs management, Rizzo’s loyalty to Chicago stayed strong. He was able to cement his legacy and loyalty with the team, just like Clayton Kershaw has with the Dodgers.
Kershaw stuck with Los Angeles through the rebuild years of the 2010s and established himself as a “locker room guy” who witnessed the team’s highs and lows and could give encouragement to the younger players. His bond with the team and the fans allowed his career to thrive. The Dodgers franchise gave him a place to be not just a player, but a leader.
Kershaw is finishing his baseball career with an astounding career ERA of 2.54 and WHIP of 1.02, regarded by many as the second coming of Sandy Koufax. He spent 19 record-breaking years wearing Dodger blue and Dodger Stadium is the only ballpark he has ever called home. He has created a legacy of skill and service as a role model within the Los Angeles community. As Kershaw prepares to walk away from this October, an important question is raised:
Is Clayton Kershaw one of the last great franchise players in baseball?