Dodgers Dugout: The 25 greatest Dodgers of all time — No. 4: Clayton Kershaw
Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell, and we continue the top-25 countdown. We will break down the Arizona-Dodgers NLDS in tomorrow’s newsletter, but today seemed an appropriate time to run this member of the top 25, a guy starting Saturday in what possibly could be his last start as a Dodger.
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Readers voted in droves, submitting 15,212 ballots by email, Twitter and Facebook. Voters were asked for their top 10 Dodgers in order from 1 to 10, with first place receiving 12 points, second place nine points, third place eight, all the way down to one point for 10th place.
The last time we did this was in 2018, and there have been some changes in the rankings.
So, without further ado:
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The 25 greatest Dodgers: No. 4 — CLAYTON KERSHAW (308 first-place votes, 82,637 points)
2018 rank: 6th
How rich is the Dodgers’ pitching history? So rich that a guy who has won three Cy Young Awards and is considered by many to be the greatest pitcher of his generation is only the second-best pitcher in team history.
Let’s look at some of Clayton Kershaw’s career numbers and where he ranks in MLB history.
ERA: 2.48, first among active pitchers, 41st all-time.
W-L%: 210-92 (69.5%), first among active pitchers, fifth all-time.
WHIP: 1.004, second among active pitchers, fifth all-time.
Hits per 9 IP: 6.818, first among active pitchers, third all-time.
K’s per 9 IP: 9.768, 10th among active pitchers, 14th all-time.
According to most voters, the only thing keeping them from putting Kershaw at the top of the list is that he has pitched inconsistently in the postseason and has only one World Series title, which compares poorly with Sandy Koufax.
Off the field, Kershaw is active in helping others. He and his wife, Ellen, have an organization, Kershaw’s Challenge, that raises money for different causes each year and encourages others to donate their time or money to help those in need. Major League Baseball has given him the Roberto Clemente Award and the Branch Rickey Award for his charitable efforts.
Kershaw’s focus on game day is legendary. If you get a chance to go to a game he is starting, make sure you get there early so you can watch him stretch and warm up his arm. It’s an amazing sight. And his bullpen preparation is always the same, described by former Dodgers catcher A.J. Ellis in an ESPN interview thusly: “Three fastballs when I’m standing up. I sit, and three fastballs down the middle. Then three fastballs either side. Three changeups away. Fastball inside. Three curveballs to the middle. Fastball inside. Three sliders to the middle. Then he goes to the stretch position. Two fastballs inside, two fastballs away, two changeups, one fastball inside, two curveballs, one fastball inside, two sliders. Back to the windup, and one fastball inside, one fastball away.”
Finally, my favorite bit of Kershaw trivia: He is the great-nephew of Clyde Tombaugh, the astronomer who discovered Pluto.
Previously
Getting to Dodger Stadium
For those of you about to brave the wonderful Dodger Stadium parking lots for Games 1 and 2 (and maybe beyond), you might be interested in this story by Bill Shaikin, which talks about an alternative possibility that may one day be available. An excerpt:
“You can take a shuttle bus from Union Station to Dodger Stadium. You might be able to take a gondola to the stadium someday, but that also would require you to get to Union Station.
“In Los Angeles, summer means Dodger Stadium and the Hollywood Bowl. For half a century, the Hollywood Bowl has offered park-and-ride buses, directly from your neighborhood, with drop-off at the front gate, and no need for a transfer at Union Station, or anywhere else.
“The park-and-ride program is convenient, efficient, and popular. So why don’t the Dodgers offer park-and-ride buses?
“‘We have looked into it,’ Dodgers president Stan Kasten said.”
Read more about it here, then come back and vote in this poll about getting to Dodger Stadium.
Poll results
We asked whom you would rather the Dodgers face in the NLDS, and after 17,322 responses, the results:
Arizona, 61.2%
Milwaukee, 38.8%
NLDS schedule
Saturday, Arizona (Merrill Kelly, 12-8, 3.29 ERA) at Dodgers (Clayton Kershaw, 13-5, 2.46 ERA), 6:20 p.m.
Monday, Arizona (Zac Gallen, 17-9, 3.47 ERA) at Dodgers (Bobby Miller, 11-4, 3.76 ERA), 6 p.m
Wednesday at Arizona, TBA
*Thursday at Arizona, TBA
*Saturday, Oct. 14, at Dodgers, TBA
*-if necessary
All games will be on TBS.
And finally
Vin Scully calls every out of Clayton Kershaw’s no-hitter. Watch and listen here.
Until next time...
Have a comment or something you’d like to see in a future Dodgers newsletter? Email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com, and follow me on Twitter at @latimeshouston. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
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