The Los Angeles Dodgers winning the 2020 World Series not only ended the franchise’s championship drought but also gave Clayton Kershaw the final achievement that had been missing from an otherwise Hall of Fame résumé.
Cody Bellinger and Julio Urias were among the teammates that recognized the importance of the achievement for the left-hander’s legacy. Kershaw, however, downplayed the significance and simply was happy to help the organization get past the finish line.
Since winning the World Series, Kershaw has made a few changes to his routine. One of them included putting his longtime glove on the shelf. That decision stemmed from conversations with Walker Buehler and Joe Kelly during the postseason, as Kershaw relayed during a recent appearance on “Jimmy Kimmel Live”:
“I finally retired my glove after basically my whole career. It’s been about 13 years (using it). Walker Buehler and Joe Kelly, during the playoffs they were kind of kidding around and were like, ‘Hey, if we win this thing, you need to retire that glove. It’s time.’ And I kind of blew them off and was like, ‘Yeah, OK. Whatever.’ But they just kept on me. They were like, ‘No, seriously, you need to retire that glove.’ The more I thought about it, they were right.
“So sure enough, we won and I put it away. But Spring Training this year, I was pretty horrible. And so I was thinking about breaking into the glass and getting the glove back out. But so far so good. It’s still in safekeeping. … I don’t do change well. Like, I have the same stuff. I just don’t change anything ever. So yeah, it was tough to say goodbye. … Truth be told, this glove is like six years old, that I’m using right now. I just had it stowed away, so this is still an old glove too.”
Kershaw previously revealed he began wearing his now-retired glove during the 2009 season. He was in the midst of his second year and wound up using it for all of his ensuing starts through the 2020 season.
The glove now sits in a display case in Kershaw’s office outside of his home gym.
Kershaw filled with ‘gratitude’ after World Series ring ceremony
Prior to their home opener against the Washington Nationals earlier this month, Dodgers players and coaches received their 2020 World Series rings in a pregame ceremony.
When Kershaw’s name was announced, he got one of the loudest ovations from the approximately 15,000 fans in attendance at Dodger Stadium.
“Getting to see the ring for the first time, put that on and celebrate with your teammates, celebrate with fans back here at Dodger Stadium,” Kershaw said of the ceremony. “It was emotional for me to get to be a part of. Just a lot of gratitude on my end. It was a special day.”
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