If you are an avid fan of Dodgers baseball, and let’s be honest here, you probably wouldn’t be reading this if you were not, you’ve undoubtedly had the privilege to witness some great things.

For you oldsters, that might include the Brooklyn Dodgers winning the World Series in 1955, or (as in my case) the Los Angeles Dodgers winning it in 1959, 1963, and 1965, or Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax pitching a perfect game on September 9, 1965.

For you younger Dodgers fans, that might be winning the World Series in 1981, 1988, and most recently in 2020, or it might be Kirk Gibson hitting his historic home run on October 15, 1988 in Game-1 of the aforementioned 1988 World Series. More recently, it might be future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw pitching his no-hitter on June 18, 2014.

This to name only a few.

On Wednesday, April 18, 2023, another such moment occurred when that Kershaw fellow beat the New York Mets 5-0 at Dodger Stadium in front of 46,884 (mostly) Dodgers fans. Not only was it the 35-year-old Dallas, TX native’s and Dodgers first round draft pick in 2006 out of Highland Park High School in University Park, TX milestone 200th career win, he also struck out his 2,833rd career batter – 22nd most in Major League Baseball history.

“I don’t know if it was the moment or what, but that just kind of was a big moment in the game more than anything, so I think that’s kind of where that emotion came from,” Kershaw told the packed Dodger Stadium media room crowd after the game.

“He’s done it his entire career as being the guy you look to to be the stopper, to change the momentum,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of Kershaw’s historic performance on Tuesday night. “I know going into today he felt that and embraced that. The hardest thing is to go out and execute. I thought tonight, from start to finish, it was the best stuff he had from pitch one to pitch 100.”

Execute he did. Kershaw allowed no runs and only three hits (all singles), while striking out nine and walking none in his stellar seven innings pitched. Were it not for a lengthy 13-pitch at-bat by Mets left fielder Mark Canha in that seventh inning, Kershaw said that he would have come back out to pitch the eighth.

When asked about his historic 200th career win and his career 2,833 career strikeouts, Kershaw gave a very Kershaw-like answer.

“That’s just not why I play the game. It’s hard to express ’cause I’m obviously grateful for the time that I’ve had here and I don’t ever want it to come off that I’m not grateful for that,” Kershaw answered, clearly from the heart. “I just… the goal is to win, and that’s why tonight is really cool, because it’s a team stat, the win. So for me to be able to do that 200 times is just a product of being on some great teams. Just, once again, thankful to be part of this organization, it’s really what tonight comes down to.”

It is us, the millions of Dodgers fans in Los Angeles and around the world, who are grateful to you for being a career Dodger, Kersh. Thank you for allowing us to enjoy history with – and because of – you.

Play Ball!

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