Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts has accomplished plenty during his tenure, and one bit of history he’s made is being the only skipper in MLB history to ever remove multiple pitchers from a perfect game after seven innings, which was done with Rich Hill and Clayton Kershaw.
Kershaw turned in a vintage performance in his 2022 regular season debut against the Minnesota Twins last week as he retired all 21 batters faced and collected 13 strikeouts. The left-hander was six outs away from throwing the first perfect game of his career before being removed at 80 pitches.
Hill was in a position similar to Kershaw during a September 2016 start against the Miami Marlins. After getting through seven perfect innings, Roberts made the decision to take the left-hander out as a precaution due to his previous blister issues.
Hill could relate to Kershaw and recalled being frustrated by the move as he wanted an opportunity to finish the perfect game, via Chris Cotillo of MassLive:
Hill said Friday that Roberts was pretty adamant in his decision and that he was not very happy about it at the time. He joked that his agent, Seth Levinson, would be a better person to ask about his reaction that night. Hill apparently made a very spirited phone call to Levinson after the game.
“I know there was concern about my finger, with my blister, and I was coming over from the trade and we were in September and a few weeks away from the playoffs and having a big role on that team,” Hill said. “Would it have been something that would have been amazing to accomplish? Absolutely. There’s no question about that, personally and professionally. It was difficult to go through as a player, to be in a situation like that.”
While Hill was disappointed by Roberts’ decision to remove him from his start, he understood the logic behind it. “I get it. Obviously I didn’t want to come out of the game,” Hill said at the time.
“But I think there’s a bigger picture here, and we all know what it is. It’s something that put Dave in a very difficult position. You look at it and you move on. That’s all you can do. We’re in the middle of this race right now, so just continue to move forward. That’s the best way I can put it.”
Hill later had another run at MLB history when he held a no-hitter against the Pittsburgh Pirates over nine innings during the 2017 season, only to surrender a walk-off home run in the 10th.
Kershaw shares similar mindset as Hill
Although the circumstances were different, Kershaw also understood Roberts’ decision to remove him from his perfect game.
“Felt like we made the right choice in the moment, and obviously you wake up the next morning and think, ‘What if?’,” Kershaw said days after his bid for history was cut short.
“But at the end of the day, in the moment, it felt like the right decision. Can’t go back now. “It’s a special thing. I don’t take them for granted. I understand the history of the game and understand there’s only been 20-something in history. I get that.
“But I said it the other day, the individual stuff is not why I continue to play the game. I want to win, so that supersedes anything.”
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