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Clayton Kershaw Marvels At Sandy Koufax’s Curveball Grip During ‘GOATS: On The Bump’ Appearance

Matthew Moreno
3 Min Read
Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers

Throughout much of his career with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Clayton Kershaw has faced endless comparisons to Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax. The two left-handers have become close and share a similarity as being regarded as the best pitchers of their generation.

Furthermore, Kershaw and Koufax both became renowned in large part due to a dominant curveball. That was among the topics Kershaw discussed with former teammate Ross Stripling on his new podcast, “GOATS: On the Bump.”

Kershaw marveled at the size Koufax’s hands and how that lent to his ability to throw multiple versions of a curveball. The future Hall of Famer recalled needing to explain to Koufax how he couldn’t simply throw his curve in the same fashion:

“Have you ever seen Sandy wrap his hands around a baseball? He’s like, ‘Hey, you should really try this with your curveball.’ And his middle finger and thumb are literally touching on the other side of the baseball. I’m like, ‘Sandy, I can’t do that. My hands are normal size. I can’t do that.’ That big of a hand can make a curveball do some crazy things.

“So he would say, ‘I get my curveball to break in two directions. I’m like, ‘What does that mean?’ He said, ‘Sometimes, I take my curveball and try to over rotate it to make it break away from a right-handed batter. And when I throw my normal one, I can break it in to a right-handed batter.’ I was like, ‘Sandy, nobody can do that.’

“The way that he talks about his curveball and manipulated his curveball is truly only what Sandy could do, I think.”

In addition to curveball grips, Kershaw and Stripling also highlighted Koufax’s career dominance, how he would succeed in the current era and more.

Kershaw joins elite group

With a win against the Washington Nationals, Kershaw improved to a career 177-77, joining an exclusive group of pitchers who are a minimum of 100 games over .500 since the divisional era began in 1969.

Kershaw joined the likes of Pedro Martinez (219-100), Roger Clemens (354-184), Randy Johnson (303-166), Jim Palmer (245-137), Mike Mussina (270-153), Andy Pettitte (256-153), Greg Maddux (355-227) and Tom Glavine (305-203).

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Matthew Moreno is a journalist from Whittier, Calif., who is a credentialed reporter and is currently the Managing Editor of DodgerBlue.com and LakersNation.com. In addition to covering Los Angeles Dodgers and Los Angels Lakers, Matthew has a strong passion for keeping up to date with the sneakerhead culture. It began with Michael Jordan and Air Jordan shoes, and has carried over to Kobe Bryant's signature line with Nike. Matthew previously was the lead editor and digital strategist at Dodgers Nation, and the co-editor and lead writer at Reign of Troy, where he covered USC Trojans Football. Matthew graduated from California State Long Beach University with a major in journalism and minor in communications. Contact: matt@mediumlargela.com