If you haven’t figured out by now that Clayton Kershaw is a future first-ballot Hall of Famer, you are:

• A) Not a true Dodger fan
• B) Not a true baseball fan

When describing the 32-year-old Dallas, TX native and Dodgers first-round draft pick (seventh overall) in 2006 out of Highland Park High School in University Park, TX, adjectives like great, outstanding, sensational, phenomenal simply do not do justice to the greatest (sorry) Dodgers pitcher – left or right-handed – since Sandy Koufax. In fact, if there is one person on the planet with whom Kershaw can legitimately be compared (and something that both men absolutely loathe), it is Koufax.

Following Thursday night’s 3-0 shutout of the Milwaukee Brewers at Dodger Stadium to sweep the best-of-three Wild Card Series in two games, Dodgers catcher Austin Barnes, himself a hero of the game, said it better than any of the aforementioned adjectives when describing Kershaw’s night.

“It was just a Kershaw outing.”

A ‘Kershaw outing’ indeed.

All the 6′-4″/225-pound left-hander did was allow no runs and only three hits while walking one (who he picked off of first base) and striking out a personal postseason-best 13 Brewer batters in eight innings pitched. That is the most opposing batters to be struck out by a Dodgers pitcher in a postseason game since the aforementioned Koufax did so in Game-1 of the 1963 World Series when he struck out 15 New York Yankees batters. Koufax also struck out the first five Yankee batters he faced that day. (Kershaw struck out the first two).

“It was just fun to sit back and watch him make pitches, compete, go pitch-for-pitch with [Brewers right-hander Brandon] Woodruff,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said postgame. “To see him go eight innings tonight and put up a bunch of zeros … just an outstanding performance.”

“That was pretty spectacular, for sure,” said fellow future Hall of Famer Mookie Betts of Kershaw.

As for Kershaw himself and as we’ve come to expect from our ace, he yet again downplayed his (choose adjective) performance.

Sort of.

“This was great, this was a fun night for me, getting the postseason off to a good start. We get to move on, too,” said Kershaw. “It kind of feels like a postseason victory, and just with the expanded playoffs, it’s kind of like now the postseason is starting, but nonetheless, we still had to do our job, we still had to get there, and now we get to get going.”

With the Dodgers now off until the NLDS begins on Tuesday evening in Arlington, TX as part of baseball’s COVID-19 induced ‘Bubble Environment,’ Kershaw actually gets to pitch at Globe Life Park – home of the Texas Rangers – near his Dallas home for the first time in his 13-year MLB career.

“If you would have told me that the first time I’m ever going to pitch in Texas is in the Division Series against somebody that’s not the Rangers, I mean, it’s like the craziest thing ever,” Kershaw said. “But actually I’ve been to Texas a few times, I’ve never gotten to pitch there, so it’s going to be weird.

“I live literally 10 minutes from the team hotel, and so I’m gonna be staring at friends and family through a glass wall, so it’s a weird deal,” Kershaw added. “But the good news is it’s a weird deal for everybody. I think the bubble will be fun to get to actually get to interact with some people finally, so that’ll be great.”

Great.

…just like Kershaw himself.

Play Ball!

  *  *  *  *  *  *