It was short, it was to the point, it was painful to watch, and it was happy and sad at the same time. During a live televised SportsNet LA press conference on Thursday afternoon, 37-year-old future first-ballot Hall of Fame left-hander Clayton Kershaw announced that he will be retiring at the end of this, his 18th Major League season, all with the Dodgers.
The Happy is that he now gets to be a full-time husband and dad to his wife Ellen and kids Cali Ann, Charley, Cooper and Chance.
The sad is obvious for every Dodgers – and baseball – fan on the planet.
Without going into the Dallas, TX native’s (very) long list of Cooperstown-worthy career accomplishments and awards, here is a (very) brief summary from Baseball Reference.com:
Here is the prepared written statement (verbatim) that Kershaw read to viewers and listeners:
I have a lot of thank yous to get through. I can’t have time today to do it justice for all the people that have helped me along the way and got me to this point. So today, I’m just going to keep it short and sweet, and then be able to really tell people just how grateful I am for everybody that’s in this organization, that’s in this room, that’s been here later on.
I think it’s the right time.
It’s been such a fun year. I’ve had such a blast with this group. I’ve had such a blast with all you guys. I can’t think of a better season to go out. And we still have a lot to accomplish, obviously, this month — and the last thing I want to do is be a distraction to anybody for accomplishing our ultimate goal — to win in the last game of the season. So we’re going to get through this today, and then we’re going to go win the rest of the games and be good.
But just a few thank yous, Mark and Todd and ownership. Thank you guys, so much for everything that you’ve done for me. And Andrew, Gomer, Slater, front office, Stan, Lon, everybody. Thank you guys. You’ve done so much for me and my family. Doc and the whole coaching staff, thank you guys. I know I’m a pain sometimes, so thank you for putting up with me.
And then Thomas and Possum, the whole training staff, you guys are the best. So thank you for helping me get this carcass out on the field every fifth day. Appreciate it. And then Trav, Yav, strength guys. There’s a whole article about my bowl now. So thank you guys for helping me with that. Alex, clubhouse guys, you guys are unbelievable. Everything you do for this team. Y’all are the glue for real. So thank you guys.
The hardest one is the teammates. So I’m not gonna look you guys in the eye. You guys sitting in this room, you mean so much to me. We have so much fun. I’m gonna miss it. I’m going to miss working out day one in the weight room, listening to crazy music with you guys, shirtless Sundays — I’m going to miss all of that. I’m going to miss the flights. I’m going to miss everything about them. Freddie, you know what I’m talking about. I’m going to miss all those.
The game in and of itself, I’m gonna miss a lot. But I’ll be OK without that. I think the hard part is the feeling after a win, celebrating with you guys. That’s pretty special.
To the friends and family that aren’t here that have supported me. Thank you guys. So much. Everybody back in Dallas, you guys were with me from square one. So thank you guys. You all saw me when I was 14 to where I am now. So you’ve seen every part of me. So thank you guys for putting up with me for that long.
All right, Ellen, you four muskrats, four and a half muskrats. Ellen sent me this thing today, and I’m going to read it, because I get to do whatever I want. You guys are here, so deal with it. And it won’t take long. I’m almost done, I promise.
Ellen’s way to process things is to kind of read through things. And this was from her vantage point. She calls it her, What do you call your perch up on top? And this is what she said. This is how she views our last 18 years here.
From my perch, I have been uncomfortably pregnant. Nursed newborns, rocked them to sleep to the roar of the seventh-inning stretch to get their last nap in. Feed them baby food pouches, teething crackers, changing blowout diapers, been frazzled with toddlers, tantrums and meltdowns, chased them through the concourses. A Mary Poppins bag full of tricks and games to keep them occupied, and ironically, teaching them the ins and outs of baseball. Explaining all the numbers on the scoreboard and the concession line, the ballpark food.
She’s been there. She’s cried over some really hard losses and some really incredible milestones. She’s watched our kids fall in love with the game, with the players and watching me pitch. Singing “Take Me Out to the Ball Game,” chasing beach balls, ducking from fly balls, spilling food and popcorn all over the fans below them. And she’s done it thousands of times, thousands of bathroom runs, all in the stadium. And the workers and ushers are their best friends now. So I just thought that was an amazing way to sum up her life from the stands and just what she’s seen through it all. SoThanks, babe. That’s amazing.
No, thank YOU Clayton. THAT’S amazing!
Play Ball!
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