In order to receive baseball immortality in the sacred Halls of Cooperstown, a Major League Baseball player must be five years removed from the game, them’s the rules.

As such, if Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw were to retire right this second, the earliest that the former MLB MVP, three-time Cy Young award winner, former Triple-Crown winner, 10-time All-Star, 2020 World Series Champion, former Gold Glove winner, five-time ERA title holder, and former MLB Player of the Year could be enshrined in baseball’s Hall of Fame would be 2028, and make no mistake about it, he will be a first ballot Hall of Famer.

The only question remaining is: When will the Dallas, TX native and Dodgers first-round draft pick in 2006 out of Highland Park High School in Dallas decide to retire?

On Wednesday morning, the 2023 National League and American League Cy Young Award winners were announced, and for the first time in a very long time, Kershaw name wasn’t even on the ballot. (Congratulations to Blake Snell and Gerrit Cole respectively).

The reason, of course, is because the hard-throwing (now) 35-year-old left-hander was placed on the 15-day injured list on July 3, 2023 (retroactive to June 30) for what was reported as “left shoulder soreness,” which resulted in him missing over six weeks of the 2023 regular season. Even at that, Kershaw still finished the regular season with a respectable 13-5 record and Kershaw-like 2.46 ERA, with the Dodgers winning the National League West with an outstanding 100-62 record.

As a surprise to no one, Kershaw was given the ball for Game-1 of the 2023 NL West Division Series against the Arizona Diamondbacks, which was a complete disaster. He allowed six runs on six hits in his 0.1 innings pitched, to suffer the loss with a horrific 162.00 ERA.

Shortly after his team’s three-and-out departure from the 2023 postseason, Kershaw underwent glenohumeral ligament surgery on his ailing left shoulder, after which he announced that he expects to return to action “some point next summer.”

As Dodgers fans well know, 2023 was the final (and only) year of his one-year/$20 million contract extension with the Dodgers – the only MLB team he has ever played for.

…or was it.

There have been (very) widespread rumors this offseason that Kershaw may choose to sign a one-year deal with the Texas Rangers, so that he can:

• Prove that he isn’t washed up.
• Wrap up his Hall of Fame career much closer to his Dallas home, where he can spend more time with his family.

To be brutally honest, the extremely popular and extremely charitable southpaw might want to consider proudly holding his head high and proudly retire from the game now to get that five-year Hall of Fame clock ticking. Afterall, he has absolutely nothing left to prove to anyone. He already will forever be remembered as one of the greatest to have ever played the game.

That said, there is zero doubt – none whatsoever – that Clayton absolutely positively wants to continue playing the game, which should come as a surprise to no one. But to be even more brutally honest, the mere thought of Clayton Kershaw pitching in anything other than a Dodgers uniform is simply unfathomable. After all, he will one day have his number retired, and he will one day have a bronze statue of him out in the Center Field Plaza of Dodgers Stadium – alongside those of Hall of Famers Jackie Robinson and fellow lefthander Sandy Koufax, both of whom only wore a Dodgers uniform

Play Ball!

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