Kershaw and Another Dodger Championship

Dodgers Clayton Kershaw Final Season and Another Championship Run

By David A. Avila

One advantage of being a “Boomer” over the span of decades is witnessing two Dodger greats Clayton Kershaw and Sandy Koufax in action. Both were southpaws with mind-bending curveballs and impeccable control.

Who was greater?

Only championships decide that.

Koufax and Kershaw both were integral parts of Dodger world championship teams. Koufax in 1959, 1963 and 1965. Kershaw in 2020 and 2024.

When number 32 Koufax stepped on the mound you could expect high velocity fastballs. At the time radar guns were not used to measure the speed, but were available for Kershaw. Koufax threw smoke. Kershaw was no patsy.

I remember watching San Francisco Giant Willie McCovey swinging so hard to catch up to a Koufax high fastball that he hurt his rib from the swing and missed several weeks recovering. Losing McCovey hurt the Giants who were always battling the Dodgers for the top spot during the 1960s.

Kershaw was equally diabolical in making batters swing and miss that devastating curve. When he “was on,” the other team might as well sit down and hope he got tired. Early in his Dodger career Kershaw played on subpar teams due to poor ownership.

On Sunday Sept. 28, 2025 Kershaw pitched for the final time as a Dodger in a regular season game against the Seattle Mariners who are playoff bound like the Dodgers. Both teams won their respective divisions. It was the Mariners first in 24 years and the Dodgers 12th in 13 years. The Dodgers won 6-1 behind Kershaw’s final start with him shutting out the Mariners for 5 innings.

The Texas native walked off the mound to a standing ovation by the Mariner fans in Seattle. He tipped his cap in two directions as he walked off the mound with a 4-0 lead in the sixth inning.

I remember being lucky enough to watch Kershaw pitch his first game as a Dodger back in 2008 at 20 years old. A few days earlier in May 2008, while chatting with then Dodger manager Joe Torre, who mentioned that a young southpaw named Clayton Kershaw was going to be joining the club soon and to watch out for him. I asked when he would be starting and made sure to attend his first start. I had to see why Torre thought so highly of this rookie. Torre had faced Koufax in his prime and knew a thing or two about hitting.

This rather tall lanky southpaw walked out to the mound on May 25, 2008 and had that presence that all good pitchers have: an aura of confidence and certainty that they are in control. I remember him missing some spots but not many and getting swing and misses. But the Major League hitters are the best in the world and they make quick adjustments. That day Kershaw lost to the St. Louis Cardinals. What I remember most is watching the young southpaw overthrow. He was trying too hard to fire his fastball and missed his mark. Eventually he walked a batter and then Albert Pujols greeted him with a double down the third baseline to score the first run against Kershaw. It was fitting that Pujols a Hall of Fame career batter, taught him a valuable lesson about not trying to overpower every batter. It’s always better to hit your mark than overpower. When the zest in his fastball diminished late in his career, Kershaw was still able to get outs simply by placing his pitches where the batter was not expecting. It enabled him to have a long outstanding career despite being unable to top 90 mph fastballs.

Greatest Team Ever Assembled

Before the season started some journalists suggested this Dodger edition could be the greatest Dodger team ever brought together. It could even be the greatest baseball team in history.

Aside from Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts and Kershaw who were all former Most Valuable Player award winners, the Dodgers signed two-time Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell, Japan’s best Roki Sasaki and former MLB standout Tanner Scott. It was an incredible array of talented everyday players and pitchers that boggled the mind of outside observers.

After starting hot in Japan, the Dodgers reeled off eight consecutive wins and it looked like they might never lose a game. Of course, they did lose and then pitchers began to get hurt. One by one starting pitchers were injured and suddenly the Dodger front office was looking for replacements in the minor leagues.

The Dodgers vaunted minor league system provided them with several key pitchers including Jack Dreyer, Edgardo Hernandez, Landon Knack, Bobby Miller, and Justin Wrobleski. Injuries continued to mount up during the year but the Dodgers kept firing away. They had built up a hefty lead in the NL West and San Diego Padres and San Francisco Giants slowly crept up behind them.

When losing streaks began to whittle away at their lead Kershaw gave them great performances one after another. For those who kept insisting his velocity was gone he kept shutting out the opposition to give the Dodgers opportunities to win and they did.

Along with Yoshinobo Yamamoto that one-two punch kept the Dodgers in the lead. Soon, the other Dodger pitchers who had been on the injury list began getting healthy and making contributions like Snell, Shohei Ohtani and Tyler Glasnow. When they took the mound the other teams were stymied until the Dodger bullpen began allowing them to take advantage. After months keeping the Dodgers in the hunt the overused bullpen needed to catch its breath.

When the Padres and Giants tried to make their moves the Dodger pitching showed up. And suddenly the Dodger bats that had been rather dormant began hitting up once Max Muncy returned from injury and was aided by Mookie Betts getting hot. Suddenly, the Dodgers of April were back and the NL West rivals were unable to catch up.

Though the Dodgers were not as formidable offensively as in 2024, they still led the NL in homers with 244. They also led in runs scored with 825. The Milwaukee Brewers were second in runs scored with 806 and Chicago Cubs with 793.

In 2025 the Dodgers pitching allowed 683 runs and though the team ERA did not lead the NL in 2025, during the second half Dodger pitching was the stingiest in the second half of the season with a 3.45 ERA. The Brewers followed with 3.47, San Diego Padres 3.61 and Chicago Cubs 3.73.

The playoffs are another matter. Which ever team gets hot can make a run all the way as the Dodgers did in 2024. But can they make another run and become the first team since the New York Yankees to win back-to-back world championships?

If the Dodgers can repeat, they definitely will earn the right to be called one of the greatest teams ever assembled. Dodger Nation will soon discover starting on Tuesday when the Dodgers play the Cincinnati Reds in the Wild Card phase.