SEATTLE (AP) — In the latest edition of the Clayton Kershaw farewell tour, the surefire Hall of Fame left-hander was removed from his final regular-season start by an unexpected individual.
Rather than Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts walking to the mound to take the ball from Kershaw, it was teammate Freddie Freeman who made the move after the 37-year-old left-hander recorded his seventh strikeout in on Sunday.
Freeman’s request for the ball was denied, though, as Kershaw slid it into his back pocket and exited the contest to a standing ovation from a sold-out T-Mobile Park crowd of 45,658
“I’ve always tried to do right by him, and he’s done the same for me and this organization,” Roberts said. “You just can’t find any superlatives to describe what he has done in his career and for this organization.”
Kershaw’s 451st and final regular-season start may have come in a contest without postseason implications, considering both teams were locked into their respective seeds, but it was a vintage performance nonetheless. He made a handful of Seattle hitters look silly with his trademark curveball, induced plenty of soft contact and kept the Mariners scoreless across 5 1/3 innings.
Though Kershaw missed the start of the year while recovering from offseason surgery, he was healthy the remainder of the 2025 campaign and quite effective, too. In 2024, neither was the case for Kershaw, which in part prompted the 11-time All-Star and 2014 NL MVP to come back for an 18th season.
“I didn’t want it to be because of an injury that I stopped playing or to be because I just couldn’t get anybody out anymore,” Kershaw said of his retirement. “So, this was perfect. It really was. It was the perfect way to do it. I still feel like I can get people out this next month if I need to, and then I don’t have to do that anymore. It’ll be great.”
Prior to Sunday’s start, Roberts said he would allow Kershaw to go “as long as he can” and not be shortened up as a way of managing his innings, since he would be left off Los Angeles’ roster for the wild card series. Kershaw threw 94 pitches, his second-most in a start this season, and was as effective as he’s been all year.
The last two weeks for Kershaw, though, have also been filled with gratitude. On Sept. 18, Kershaw said he would retire at the end of the season, meaning he would tie Zack Wheat and Bill Russell for the most years with the Dodgers (18) in franchise history.
Since that announcement, Kershaw has made an emotional final home start, as well as toed the rubber for the last time in a regular-season game.
“Dodger Stadium last week was pretty amazing, to be able to walk off that mound to that ovation was something I’ll never forget,” Kershaw said. “Today was really special, too. So, I couldn’t ask for anything more. It’s been an amazing 10 days, two weeks, and now we can all turn our focus to beating the Reds.”
Rather than Kershaw taking the mound for Game 1 against Cincinnati, Roberts hinted it would likely be left-hander Blake Snell, though he refrained from officially announcing as much postgame. At least in the wild-card round, Kershaw will take on an observational role, one which the veteran hurler will soon get accustomed to — and received a sneak peak of following his final start.
After Kershaw departed the contest and celebrated with his teammates, he found himself in a contemplative state for a few moments. Such has been the case for the lefty in each of his last few starts as he soaked in each last moment of competition on the diamond.
“I try to reflect as best I can,” Kershaw said. “I’m not great at it, and we still have a little bit to go. At the end of all this, I’ll have a lot of time to figure out how to do that.”
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