Dodger Stadium
60th Anniversary
Updated October 2024
Posted October 2022
Clayton Edward Kershaw (born March 19, 1988 in Dallas Texas) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League BaseballClayton Kershaw:
- He has played for the Dodgers for the entirety of his MLB career.
- A left-handed starting pitcher, Kershaw has played 14 seasons in the major leagues since he debuted in 2008.
- He is a nine-time All-Star, three-time National League (NL) Cy Young Award winner, and the 2014 NL Most Valuable Player.
- His 2.49 career earned run average (ERA) and 1.00 walks plus hits per inning pitched rate (WHIP) are the 2nd lowest behind only Jacob deGrom among starters in the live-ball era (minimum 1,000 innings pitched).
- Kershaw has a career hits allowed per nine innings pitched average of 6.83, the third-lowest in MLB history.
Clayton KershawHe has been described for much of his career as the best pitcher in baseball, and one of the greatest pitchers of all time
- Kershaw was drafted seventh overall in the 2006 MLB draft.
- He worked his way through the Dodgers' farm system in just one full season and reached the majors at 20 years old.
- When he debuted in 2008, he was the youngest player in MLB, a title he held for one full year.
- In 2011, he won the pitching Triple Crown and the NL Cy Young Award, becoming the youngest pitcher to accomplish either of these feats since Dwight Gooden in 1985.
- He has led MLB in ERA five times, and was the first major league pitcher to do so in four consecutive years (2011–2014). Kershaw is also a three-time NL wins leader and three-time NL strikeouts leader.
Clayton KershawKershaw pitched a no-hitter on June 18, 2014, becoming the 22nd Dodger to do so.Off the field, Kershaw is an active participant in volunteer work. He and his wife Ellen launched "Kershaw's Challenge" and wrote the book Arise to raise money to build an orphanage in Zambia. He has been honored with the Roberto Clemente Award and the Branch Rickey Award for his humanitarian work.