I have failed God more times than I can count. I have known better and still chosen wrong. And yet He still calls me His, still forgives my sins, and still stays. Grace like that wrecks me in the best way and leaves me undone with gratitude.
I will never understand Kiké magically becoming good in October after being bad all year, but I’m just going to accept it’s a thing that will keep happening with no explanation.
There have been over 1,000 pitchers in MLB history to make at least 150 career starts.
Only one of them was more likely to deliver a scoreless start than he was to suffer a loss: Clayton Kershaw (101 scoreless starts, 96 losses as of now).
More than 17 years ago, I went to Mobile, Alabama, to meet a 20-year-old everyone said was going to be the next great pitcher. His name was Clayton Kershaw.
I had no idea what he would be, because none of us has any idea what a pitcher will be. But I really liked him. He was a kid, but he had a maturity about him. That rare mixture of confidence tempered by humility.
What he became was astounding. Three Cy Youngs. Two World Series rings. One MVP. Inner-circle Hall of Famer. Forever Dodger. He is one of the defining pitchers of his generation and an all-time great.
I re-read that story today after Kershaw announced his retirement. There are far better things that have been written about Kershaw — do yourself a favor and read @ByMcCullough’s brilliant “The Last of His Kind” — but it made me a little wistful looking back on a career in its infancy when we know it turned into a supernova.
If you’re interested in reading it, my old pals at Yahoo Sports still have it up: https://t.co/NsaHGWqC9F
CLAYTON KERSHAW. HISTORY MADE.
3,000 strikeouts
10x All-Star
3x Cy Young Award Winner
2011 Pitching Triple Crown
2014 National League MVP
2x World Series Champion
Legend