It was as if we just stepped out of Dr. Emmett “Doc” Brown’s DeLorean time machine on June 18, 2014 – a day that every Dodger fan remembers well.

That was, of course, the day that Dodgers ace and future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw threw his no-hitter against the Colorado Rockies at Dodger Stadium and came within a Hanley Ramirez throwing error of a perfect game.

Hard to believe it’s been six years.

But it wasn’t June 18, 2014; it was September 3, 2020, in a year that no one in their right mind would ever time-travel back to. And instead of a Hanley Ramirez throwing error, it was a (very) generously-ruled infield single off the bat of Arizona Diamondbacks first baseman Christian Walker that Dodgers second baseman Kiké Hernandez airmailed to 6′-4″ Dodgers first baseman Cody Bellinger that should have been ruled a throwing error.

Be that as it may, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts pulled Kershaw from the game following that one-hit-inning, and understandably so – Kershaw had already thrown 99 pitches, of which 68 were strikes.

“Going into the sixth, (Kershaw) was at 86 pitches,” Roberts told reporters after the Dodgers eventual 5-1 win. “To think you’ve got to get 12 outs, we’re not going to do that.”

Although the (now) 32-year-old Dallas, TX native and Dodgers first-round draft pick in 2006 out of Highland Park High School didn’t pitch his second career no-hitter, what he did do was actually even more incredible – he recorded his 2,500th career strikeout to join an elite group of major league pitchers.

“I don’t ever want to discredit any of the stuff that’s happening because it is cool, it really is,” Kershaw said, after ending his night with eight strikes and 2,505 over his 13 major league seasons. “It’s just hard for me to think about it, honestly, or wrap my head around being associated with names like that and getting to see your name on different types of leaderboards. It’s just hard to grasp really.”

At 32 years, 168 days old, Kershaw became the third-youngest pitcher in MLB history to strike out 2,500 batters. Only Hall of Famers Nolan Ryan (31 years, 101 days) and Walter Johnson (31 years, 197 days) did so at a younger age. He is also the fifth pitcher to reach 2,500 career strikeouts by his age-32 season behind Ryan, Johnson, and Hall of Famers Pedro Martinez (32 years, 221 days) and Tom Seaver, (32 years, 287 days). As everyone knows, Seaver died this past Monday due to Lewy body dementia and complications from COVID-19. He was 75.

“It’s obviously a huge honor, and I’m thankful that I’ve been able to be here long enough to do it,” Kershaw said. “And hopefully, I can keep going.”

“He was an All-Star last year, so let’s not forget that,” Roberts said. “But right now, he’s just continuing to make pitches. He feels good and healthy and strong. He was our ace last year, and he’s pitching like an ace again.”

Roberts added that he, too, was not particularly pleased with the official scoring on Walker’s sixth-inning single, but added that the sixth inning was going to be Kershaw’s last, regardless of the circumstances.

“The number one thing is he’s healthy, really,” Roberts said. “For him to be healthy and not have to guard, protect against his body, his back, it allows him the freedom to execute his pitches.”

As for Kershaw, who is always very astute to what’s going on at any given moment, he didn’t allow the thought of pitching his second career no-hitter affect his game or game plan.

“If I were to get through the sixth there, I think after that, maybe it starts getting more real,” he said. “Up until then, to me, it’s not really real until after the sixth. After the seventh, you’ve got a real chance after that.”

Bravo, Clayton Kershaw. Bravo!

Play Ball!

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