When I first heard that Los Angeles Dodgers legend Clayton Kershaw intended to unretire and pitch for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic, my initial reaction was one of confusion.
Key Points
Bullet point summary by AI
- Los Angeles Dodgers legend Clayton Kershaw made a surprise decision to unretire for the World Baseball Classic with Team USA.
- Kershaw participated in exhibitions, but thankfully didn't tarnish his legacy in the WBC.
- His graceful exit ensures his Hall of Fame career is remembered solely for championship triumphs, not comeback struggles.
Kershaw, who turns 38 on Thursday, had battled several injuries in his final seasons. His days as one of the league’s greatest pitchers were long behind him, and everyone involved had accepted that a long time ago. That’s partly why him retiring after the Dodgers’ second straight championship worked out perfectly. Kershaw followed Michael Jordan and Peyton Manning in riding off into the sunset following a title. Luckily for baseball fans, Kershaw’s decision to leave the WBC early ensures that we won’t remember his career with memories of an opposing lineup teeing off on him during an international tournament, of all things.
Let’s be grateful that Clayton Kershaw left the World Baseball Classic early
I’ve seen it before, but winning a title makes it easier to forgive and forget. Yes, Kershaw struggled to stay healthy in recent seasons, though it arguably didn’t matter much in the end. He’ll enter the Hall of Fame as a three-time World Series champion, with the last two seasons featuring him celebrating with the Commissioner’s Trophy.
Now, Kershaw was coming back to suit up in the WBC? Well, not exactly. Although Kershaw pitched during an exhibition game against the San Francisco Giants, he never made it into an actual WBC game before announcing after pool play that he would leave the active roster, though he’d stay with Team USA to provide moral support.
Kershaw left baseball with the ending that every player should dream of. How often do we see a future Hall of Famer in any sport depart after a championship parade? More than anything, the Dodgers’ 2025 title meant that we likely wouldn’t need to add the, “He was great, but at the end of his career…” qualifier that we do with so many other players. Instead, any conversations about Kershaw’s 18 seasons can be discussed far more positively.
Think about it this way. How often do you run into someone who talks about how slow Derek Jeter looked throughout the 2014 season? Not many, right? Jeter hitting a walk-off single in his final game at Yankee Stadium changed the entire narrative about his last days in pinstripes. Manning was atrocious during the 2015 season, yet the Broncos’ Super Bowl title effectively erased the interceptions from our minds.
Clayton Kershaw went out on his own terms
Even if this is only the WBC, it wouldn’t have felt right to see Kershaw’s true ending come with him struggling to get outs. And, yes, maybe he would have pitched a perfect 1-2-3 inning out of the bullpen had manager Mark DeRosa called on him. By no means am I suggesting that Kershaw was doomed to fail the way that you or I probably would have if we took the mound against Team Canada or Team Italy.
“Being around this group is a fun way to end it, honestly,” Kershaw said about Team USA on Friday. “I got to know some of these guys that are kind of the faces of the game moving forward, and I got to meet them and watch them up close. It’s been a blessing.”
Actually, Kershaw choosing to pass the torch onto another pitcher — in this case, Blue Jays closer Jeff Hoffman — while saying he would stay with Team USA is the best ending we could have asked for. Kershaw didn’t need to be stubborn and demand he pitch, and DeRosa didn’t need to feel like he had to force the three-time Cy Young winner into a game. Everything happened organically.
“The game is in good hands, you know?” Kershaw said. “These guys are special, special players and really good humans.”
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