Dodgers icon Clayton Kershaw leaves fans stunned with retirement

On Thursday, homegrown Dodger and future Cooperstown first-balloter Clayton Kershaw announced his intention to retire from baseball following the conclusion of his 18th season in Los Angeles.

Dodgers fans could sort of feel that the end was approaching, but it was a shocking piece of news for the Dodgers to announce on a random Thursday afternoon. Kershaw has been signing what have ostensibly been one-year deals with the club since 2022, and in the offseason between 2023 and 2024, there were some rumblings that he might call it a day when his free agency went on a lot longer than anyone expected.

Still, he came back and won his second World Series with the Dodgers, which reinvigorated him so much that he offered clear reassurances that he would be back before he declined the player option on his existing deal and went back to the drawing board with the front office to agree on a new one.

This season, he became the 20th member of the 3,000 strikeout club. He's become the unlikely anchor for a flailing Dodgers pitching staff despite starting the season late — but how could anyone really doubt him?

Kershaw will pitch his last regular season start at Dodger Stadium on Friday against the Giants.

Clayton Kershaw announces retirement at the end of the 2025 after 18 years with the Dodgers

It's the end of an era for the Dodgers, one that will inevitably leave the entirety of Dodger Stadium in shambles whenever Dave Roberts comes in on Friday to relieve Kershaw of his duties one last time.

Kershaw is a two-time World Series winner, a Triple Crown winner, an MVP, a Gold Glover, an 11-time All-Star, and three-time Cy Young winner — and he did it all wearing a Dodgers uniform. He's been the one and only constant through almost two decades, shifting rosters, winning and losing seasons; both the second coming of Sandy Koufax and the guy that managed to surpass him.

Now, it's up to the Dodgers to send Kershaw out on a high note. The stakes were already high, but they've grown exponentially now. He has his two World Series rings, and it might be a little too poetic for the Dodgers to go back-to-back for the first time in franchise history to send him off the way he deserves — but this is quite literally the Dodgers' all-time most valuable player. He's on every Dodgers fans' Mount Rushmore of players in the franchise's 142 seasons. It's only right that the Dodgers do him justice.