Congratulations, Clayton Kershaw. Three strikeouts, and you’re in.
In one of the most exclusive clubs in the world, the not-so-secret society of 3,000-strikeout hurlers.
That’s so many punchouts, so many step-right-up-and-sit-right-downs, that the Dodgers’ left-hander will be one of only 20. That’s 20 of, what, 11,000-some players who’ve pitched in the big leagues (my best guess based on Baseball Almanac’s running ledger)?
Definitively, there have been more 3,000-hit-makers than 3,000-K pitchers. More 300-game winners, more 500-base-stealers, more 500-home run-hitters.
Way more sub-10-second 100-meter dashers. More astronauts in outer space. More EGOT winners.
That’s how rare punchout artists of Kershaw’s ilk are.
The 3,000-strikeout signpost is a testament to the 37-year-old’s talent and longevity – his legacy as one of the greatest to ever do it.
A story to which longitude and latitude – location, location, location! – matter, too. Control and command and the fact that Kershaw will not only be just the fourth lefty in the club, but if he finishes his career with the Dodgers, also one of only three members who pitched for only one team. (John Smoltz notched 3,011 strikeouts with the Atlanta Braves before recording another 73 for the Boston Red Sox and St. Louis Cardinals.)
As it is, it’ll be just Kershaw, Bob Gibson and Walter Johnson to finish where they started; Johnson, the club founder, is also its only member with a better career earned run average (2.17, way, way back in 1927) than Kershaw (a career 2.51, entering Wednesday).
In Kershaw’s case, it’s pretty rad that a family man from Texas can feel like family to Angelenos who’ve watched him grow, to those of us who remember watching a promising babyfaced 20-year-old make his first start on May 25, 2008, striking out the first batter he faced, naturally.
From that start, L.A. loved the kid with the unconventional delivery and violent trajectory, the killer curveball, deadlier slider. With all that compete.
It’s wild to think about all that’s happened in the 18 years since, how much all our lives have changed – from social media to Shohei Ohtani. And how much of a constant Kershaw has been.
More will power than pure power – despite pain in his big toe, knee, back, shoulder, pelvis, forearm. That famous, fanatical five-day routine, pity a fool who’d dare to disrupt his all-consuming focus on game days.
Angelenos pulled so hard for Kershaw over the years they probably pulled some muscles themselves every time he got the ball in the playoffs, taking it late and long and on less rest than many aces would’ve been asked to – even before this current era that has suppressed pitch counts and probably also the possibility that too many more pitchers will line up to join the 3,000-strikeout club, even if they somehow stay healthy.
This big, broad city stood with Kershaw as he withstood years of physical and emotional postseason torment before his boys in blue broke through in 2020, in a bubble back in Texas.
L.A. stood for ovations when he hit 1,000 on the strikeout odometer on April 17, 2013, faster than any other Dodger pitcher, in 20 fewer innings than Sandy Koufax. Tuned in to see him cross the 2,000-strikeout threshold on June 2, 2017 – faster, by age, than all but four pitchers before, history postponed a few weeks, at the time, by a herniated disc.
I reckon people around here will be talking about this generation of graybeards for, well, for generations. Telling stories about the Lakers’ LeBron James, who became the NBA’s all-time leading scorer at 38 and who’s still fending off Father Time at 40.
And about the Rams’ Matthew Stafford – yes, we’ve heard that Kershaw and he grew up playing sports together in Dallas – who was a Super Bowl winner in 2022 and who remains one of the NFL’s top quarterbacks now at 37.
And Kershaw, who wasn’t a mid-career import, who didn’t arrive via free agency or trade, like those guys. He’s made all of his memories, reached every one of his milestones as a Dodger. Won the 2014 MVP, became a three-time Cy Young winner, a 10-time All-Star and two-time (so far) champion, all reppin’ L.A.
And he’s still got it at 37.
Still got the stuff, at 4-0, with a 3.03 ERA through eight starts. Still got all these people in the palm of his hand, still got the compete going into game No. 450 on Wednesday.
Had to have been a large swath of L.A. watching the Dodgers’ 3-1 victory at Coors Field in Colorado on TV in the middle of the day last Thursday, when Kershaw sat down five batters in six innings for his fourth consecutive victory — working quickly, as he does, toward 3,000.
Credit manager Dave Roberts with the save for pulling his longtime ace after 69 pitches and six innings, delaying the inevitable for a few days. Now his fans can celebrate him and with him at Dodger Stadium, where Kershaw also got his 100th win, his 200th win, his 1,000th strikeout, his only no-hitter. Where he tossed that first strikeout, and 18 eventful years later, where he’ll deal for his 3,000th.