The Los Angeles Dodgers winning the 2020 World Series not only lifted a burden off the franchise but also gave Clayton Kershaw the final achievement that had been missing from an otherwise Hall of Fame résumé.
Kershaw jogging in from the bullpen to celebrate with teammates is one of the lasting images from the Dodgers’ championship win at Globe Life Field, and so too are the embraces he shared with his wife Ellen and their children, and manager Dave Roberts, among others.
While Kershaw has been touted by many as the best pitcher of his generation, the absence of a championship was used by some as a counter argument. However, for former teammate Alex Wood, Kershaw’s career statistics are further evidence of being in a class of his own, via Andy McCullough of The Athletic:
“I mean, that’s not the first time I’ve looked at Clayton’s career stats or totals,” Wood said. “But I hadn’t recently. So I just hopped on there to check it out. People want to talk about ‘Oh, maybe his stuff has fallen, or his velo has gone down.’ But like, if you literally just took all that context away and looked at his stats . . . for any year you want to look at, any ace in baseball would take his numbers any year of his entire career, and laugh at you or scoff at you for thinking he was anything other than elite.”
And with Kershaw and the Dodgers now having won a World Series, Wood reasoned it further invalidates the criticism they had received:
“Nobody can say shit about Clayton, about the Dodgers, about any of those guys,” said Wood, who signed with San Francisco this winter. “He’s done it now. But he didn’t need that for his Hall of Fame career. He didn’t need that.”
Cody Bellinger and Julio Urias were among the Dodgers who expressed how glad they were to see Kershaw capture what had been an elusive championship. Though for his part, Kershaw maintained the chase for a ring was never about his personal legacy but rather being able to win with as a team.
Kershaw finding different motivation with same focus
Now having been crowned a World Series champion, Kershaw acknowledged there was a slight shift in his motivation but not overall focus of wanting to win a title. “Now it’s more positive,” Kershaw said this spring.
“It’s like, ‘I want to get ready and be at my best for this team because we’re really good. We have a chance to win. I don’t want to squander that.’”
Kershaw turned 33 years old Friday and is entering the final season of a contract extension signed in 2018.
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