By Liam Doyle

They did it again! As of Nov. 1, the Los Angeles Dodgers are the champions of the World Series. The series was defined by the tooth-and-nail fight in the third and seventh games of the series. Fans stayed put for six hours and 40 minutes during the 18 innings of the third game, the most innings ever played during a World Series game. Again, in the final, fans were sent to extra innings when the Dodgers were down 4-3 in the 9th inning before Miguel Rojas electrified the stadium with his home run. From there, Will Smith finished the finale with a walk-off home run in the top of the 11th.

While the win is overwhelmingly exciting for fans and players alike, the moment doesn’t escape without a bittersweet ending. The Dodgers’ star pitcher, Clayton Kershaw, has announced his retirement from professional baseball. 

After spending 18 years in the league, Kershaw has earned numerous awards for his athletic performance and his reputation off the field. He is a three-time Cy Young award winner, 10-time All-Star, National Most Valuable Player, Triple Crown winner and received the Roberto Clemente Award for outstanding community service and character. What is possibly most impressive about Kershaw’s career is his ability to battle with ongoing back and shoulder injuries.

During his 18 years playing for the Dodgers, Kershaw has been estimated to have missed almost 

two whole seasons of games due to injury alone. His first major injury occurred in 2014 when he strained his upper back, causing him to miss around six weeks. After this, Kershaw continued to struggle to play due to his back. He herniated a disc in his lower back in 2016, strained his back again in 2017, missed a month of games in 2018 due to back inflammation and had multiple back flare-ups from 2020 to 2022, which caused him to miss many weeks at a time.

To make things worse, these recurring back issues led to further problems elsewhere in his body. To compensate for a weaker back, Kershaw began to stress his shoulder and ligaments in his arm and elbow. It began with elbow inflammation in 2021, which left Kershaw out of baseball for about two months, but quickly transpired into a greater issue. In 2023, Kershaw began to suffer from shoulder inflammation, forcing him to miss even more baseball games.  He was finally made to take major action during 2024 when he ruptured his glenohumeral joint capsule, forcing him to undergo invasive shoulder surgery.

If nothing else, Clayton Kershaw should be held in the hearts of fans for his determination and the sacrifices to his health made during his career. Most fans would agree that Kershaw said it best during his interview at the Los Angeles Dodgers’ FanFest, “I’m going to call it… I’m going to retire … I’m at peace with it. I think it’s the right time.” It may have taken 18 years to understand when to quit, but now that we’re here, it is indisputable that Clayton Kershaw has fulfilled his responsibilities as a Los Angeles Dodger. And while he may not take the field anymore, his fans will never forget his legacy.

Courtesy of The New Yorker