Like every minute in time, if you missed it, you missed it – 2:22:22 on Tuesday morning, February 22, 2022, affectionately called “Twosday” – and there will never be another palindrome like it again, not ever.

The good news is that if you missed the one at 2:22 a.m., there will be another one at 2:22 p.m. … sort of. Although (most) clocks will read 2:22 p.m. on 2-22-22, it is technically the 14th hour of the day, or 14:22; but hey, close enough, right? And there will never be another one of those again either, so there’s that.

But what about that other 22 – soon-to-be (on March 19) 34-year-old future Hall of Fame left-hander Clayton Kershaw? Will Dodgers fans soon miss him as well?

Fact is, nobody knows, possibly not even the Dallas, TX native and Dodgers first-round draft pick in 2006 out of Highland Park High School in University Park, TX himself.

Because of the current MLB lockout (and that little pandemic thing), it remains to be seen if there will even be a 2022 regular season. That said, Monday saw the first real negotiations between Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association after weeks of bickering and finger-pointing, with every indication that talks will now continue on a regular basis towards establishing a new Collective Bargaining Agreement.

And then there’s the (strong) possibility that Dodgers President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman may not want to pay Kershaw what is expected to be a very lofty (and possibly lengthy) contract extension to remain in Dodger Blue.

The caveat to all of this is that Kershaw has already made $257,701,142 over his 14 seasons as a Dodger. Can anyone even spend that much money (rhetorical)?

There is, of course, the possibility that Kershaw may be willing to give Friedman and the Dodgers a so-called ‘hometown discount‘ to remain in Los Angeles. Should he be willing to do so, it absolutely guarantees that he will become the 17th player, coach, or manager to enter the sacred Halls of Cooperstown as a Dodger.

Then again, it’s hard to believe that even if Kershaw decides to continue playing and signs with another team, he would not enter the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in a Dodgers uniform – the team with whom he won three Cy Young Awards, was an eight-time All-Star, a five-time ERA titleholder, a three-time Triple Crown winner, a MLB MVP and Player of the Year, a Gold Glove winner, and a World Series Champion.

Happy Twosday, Number 22!

Play Ball!

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