Clayton Kershaw retiring as the greatest Dodgers player ever

He came to town as a calm of Texas responsible for wearing the Hollywood team.

For 18 years, in greatness and sorrow, through sweet dreams and bitter despair, he did exactly that.

He was beautiful. He was horrible. He has established records. He crushed the seasons. He was passionately embraced. He was horny loudly.

For 18 years, Clayton Kershaw has crossed the range of emotions as a hero and bad, moments of euphoria focused with despair spells, picturesque summers who disappear in the wild wicked in October.

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But carry the dodgers, he did it, with courage and dignity and grace, and in the end, he will only be surrounded by love, a deep and lasting roar of a city to a simple man who wanted to be in legend.

Clayton Kershaw announced Thursday that he was retiring at the end of this season.

The largest dodger in Los Angeles leaves the building.

“Yeah, I’m going to call him, I’m going to retire,” he said on Thursday afternoon at a tears press conference in a Dodger Stadium room also filled with teammates and family. “I’m at peace with, it’s a good time.”

It is more durable than Sandy Koufax, more accomplished than Fernando Valenzuela, more impactful than any striker from the 67 years of team history in Los Angeles.

He is not only the biggest Dodger, but also lies at the top of a list of the greatest athletes in the history of Los Angeles, joining Magic Johnson and Kobe Bryant as a temple of renown that spent their whole career with a team from Los Angeles and left a legacy that has changed the culture of their franchise.

The golden era of Dodger Baseball, 11 western division titles in 12 years, two World Series championships? It is a glory that carries the shadow of a man, his teammates according to Kershaw’s daily leadership in a place that resembles and feels its implacable shine.

Are dodgers disinterested? It’s Kershaw. Are dodgers responsible? It’s Kershaw. Do Dodgers have the strength to get out of what seems to be a constant adversity? It’s Kershaw.

“When it comes to him, the story I have always told is that he has always given the example,” said teammate Max Muncy. “Everyone has been known for 10 years that he is going to be a temple of fame, but there is no one in this clubhouse that has worked harder than him. … He presents himself, he gets his work, he will work as hard as possible, he will leave everything there, and then when it’s over, he’s going to have fun.”

Their new motivation to capture a second consecutive championship this fall? It is also Kershaw.

“I think that his last postponement, this last push, I think that certainly motivates his teammates, who want him to come out as a champion,” said manager Dave Roberts. “And nothing more than we would like to win in 2000. He treated everything – success, failures – with grace, professionalism and it has always been coherent.”

That he retires now is not a surprise. He has been talking about it for several years. He is 37 years old, his beard became gray, he fought all kinds of injuries and is no longer a cornerstone of the rotation.

But that he ends his career while trying so well is a huge surprise. His quick ball crosses the plate on the idle, but he is still able to do it enough to go 10-2 with a 3.53 MPM, including 5-0 with an MPM of 1.88 in August.

“It was such a fun year, I had such a matter with this group,” said Kershaw. “I can’t think of a better season to go out.”

The Dodgers players, including the Cop-Court Mookie Betts and the double-meaning star, Shohei Ohtani, listen to Clayton Kershaw speaking during his retired press conference on Thursday.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

He can still fight. He can always compete. And although there will be a lot of emotions surrounding his last departure at home against the Giants of San Francisco, he could go up during the playoffs, taking an emergency or even leaving the enclosure of the lifters.

How great it would be to see him finished strong in October? After all, it was his resilience in October that defined his career here. Although it has a MVP price, three CY Young prices, 222 victories and 3,039 stick withdrawals, they are not the figures that many people will remember.

At 4.49 ERA in 39 appearances in the playoffs, these are the figures.

It is the failure that Kershaw endured, it is the task that he formerly felt, it is the results that really certify his greatness.

The cardinals of St. Louis bombed him. The Astros of Houston deceived him. Washington nationals have shaken him. And two years ago, during his last departure in the playoff series, overlooking a seriously injured shoulder which should have kept it out of the mound, the diamonds of the Arizona bombed him for six points before being able to obtain two withdrawals.

However, he never complained about the injury. He has never excused for anything. He never grabbed that he was causing a short rest, or while with a tramp arm, or tangant with a terrible offense and an enclosure of unworthy filetry.

The Dodgers launcher, Clayton Kershaw, becomes emotional Thursday while announcing that he will withdraw from baseball at the end of the season.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

He continued to implode in the playoffs but he continued to return, year after year. He never let his failures own it, he never let them slow down, until he finally overcome his curses by going 4-1 with a 2.93 MPM in a World Series race in 2020 which ended with a championship victory against the Rays of Tampa Bay.

When the dodgers won this title, Kershaw was seen looking in the heavens, recognizing that the redemption is finally his. He was injured last year and did not launch into the playoffs, but he was nevertheless part of this team, giving him two titles which almost filled his career.

He had another personal goal, however, and reached it this summer by becoming only the 20th player to record 3,000 stick withdrawals.

After this match, a victory over the White Sox in Chicago in early July, the stoic Kershaw finally recognized the chills of spending his entire career with a team and the impact of his trip.

“I don’t know if I put a ton of stock to be with a team from the start,” said Kershaw that night. “It’s just something that has happened. Over time, I think that getting older, and you appreciate an organization a little more – the dodgers have stayed with me too. It is not all roses. I know that. There is just a lot of mutual respect, I think.

This appreciation was obvious at the press conference on Thursday while Kershaw read with tear a sincere essay by his wife Ellen about her view of 18 years from the stands, then ended his declaration of opening by citing his favorite biblical verse.

“Whatever you do, work with it with all your heart …” Starts the Colossian verse.

“This is what I try to do,” said Kershaw. “Just work. Just work. “

Respect for this work has captivated a city, and Kershaw will surely hear it in recent days.

The largest dodger in Los Angeles leaves the building in the middle of a roar that will live forever.