Clayton Kershaw sends inspiring message to Dodgers fans after retirement announcement

Clayton Kershaw’s time with the Dodgers has coincided with plenty of the club’s signature moments. The run of dominance in the 2010s. A shift to a new era that resulted in a World Series win in 2020. A second World Series title last season in the first year of the Shohei Ohtani era. 

And while this year will mark the end of Kershaw’s run in Los Angeles after he announced that he’s going to retire at the end of this season, he spoke at length yesterday about his run with the Dodgers and provided some insight into his thoughts on Dodgers fans.  

“It’s been a wild ride and they’ve been behind us every step of the way,” Kershaw said in a press conference announcing his retirement. “It hasn’t been a smooth ride but I’m super grateful for every single Dodgers fan. It’s been pretty special to have that fan base behind us. There’s nothing better than having a full Dodger Stadium and getting to pitch behind it.” 

Clayton Kershaw thanks Dodgers fans after announcing retirement 

At this point, Kershaw stands out as one of the top players in Dodgers history by accolades (an MVP win alongside three Cy Young awards), winning (he’s picked up 222 MLB wins) and performance (his 80.5 bWAR is the most of any Dodgers player in the franchise’s 142 year history). 

In total, he’s made 227 career starts at Dodger Stadium and has a 2.26 ERA in 1,475 1/3 innings on its mound — generational numbers to match a generational pitcher. 

It also helps that this year is arguably one of his best showings in recent memory. 

After only throwing 30 innings last year due to a variety of ailments, Kershaw has posted a 3.53 ERA across 102 innings this year and has helped save the Dodgers’ rotation as they’ve worked through a slew of injuries in their pitching staff.

Kershaw will make his final regular season start at Dodger Stadium on Friday, though there’s a chance he could take the mound again in October depending on how things go in the postseason. 

As of now, the Dodgers lead the Padres by three games in the National League West, but also have the worst record of the league's division leaders, meaning that they’re on pace to host a three-game series in the Wild Card Round. 

Not only would that mark Los Angeles’ first appearance in the Wild Card round since 2021 (back when it was a one-game Wild Card), but it would also give Kershaw three more chances to take the mound at home, provided he cracks the playoff roster. 

Doing so would be the best of both worlds for both Kershaw and the Dodgers, as it would give them a chance to win with a veteran pitcher on the mound while giving Kershaw a chance to add to his postseason legacy after he got rocked by the Diamondbacks in 2023 in his last October appearance. 

But whatever happens, none of it will take away from the legacy that Kershaw authored on the mound at Dodger Stadium. And he has a great appreciation for how the team’s fandom helped that happen.