Dodgers Interview: Clayton Kershaw, in his own words, on his final regular-season start

Name: Dodgers Interview: Clayton Kershaw, in his own words, on his final regular-season start
Uploaded: 2025-09-28T17:16:43-07:00
Channel: Steve Webb
Description: https://youtu.be/caJ62vRqd0k?si=hwrg4vDjzom3M04C SEATTLE -- It couldn't have gone any better. With his wife, kids, and friends looking on from the stands, Clayton Kershaw put an exclamation point on a Hall of Fame career with a "vintage" performance. 5.1 IP, no runs, seven strikeouts. You can't help but feel joy for the guy who's brought Dodger fans

Steve Webb

2 minutes read

SEATTLE, WA - SEPTEMBER 28: Clayton Kershaw #22 of the Los Angeles Dodgers greets Ben Rortvedt #47 as he exits the final regular-season game of his career between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park on Sunday, September 28, 2025 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Joe Nicholson/MLB Photos via Getty Images)

SEATTLE — It couldn’t have gone any better. With his wife, kids, and friends looking on from the stands, Clayton Kershaw put an exclamation point on a Hall of Fame career with a “vintage” performance. 5.1 IP, no runs, seven strikeouts. You can’t help but feel joy for the guy who’s brought Dodger fans so much of it over the years.

Clayton Kershaw framed the day simply. “Yeah, it was a great day. I mean, it was, obviously the game didn’t matter for either team. So, just to be able to go out there and try to enjoy it as best you can and obviously pitching well helps.” He added, “Honestly, I just have a lot of gratitude for the last 10 days or so, or however long it’s been. It’s been super special to me. From the way my teammates have handled it, coaching staff, everybody to the fans honestly has been just amazingly special. So, I’m just very grateful for it all.” Then he turned the page: “Now excited to have everybody’s focus towards winning the last game of the season, which will be great.”

Asked about the sixth-inning handoff, he admitted the surprise. “Yeah, Doc told me I had the last hitter there and no one was coming, so I was, ‘Hey guys, I’m kind of cashed out at this point.’ I wasn’t expecting to be done or to keep going. So, yeah, it was weird to see Freddy come out, but obviously a great gesture. That’s playing the game with teammates—that’s what makes it special. So that was cool.”

Keeping emotions in check while competing took work. “Yeah, it was hard,” he said. “I hadn’t seen my family in a minute. Ellen and the older two kids flew in today just to see this game, and so to see them over there, and AJ (Ellis) and Honey (Rick Honeycutt) were there too. Just the people that I kind of grew up with here, and have them here, was really special. And so, that was hard, that was hard to see them, and hard in a good way, just emotional.”

The compass never wavered from the mound’s demands. “After that, you don’t want to embarrass yourself,” Kershaw said. “You want to get people out. So, try to compete as best you can. And thankfully it worked out.”

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