With Clayton Kershaw announcing that 2025 will be his final season, tributes have been pouring in from across the game. On MLB Network, hosts Greg Amsinger, Harold Reynolds, and Dan Plesac devoted a full segment to celebrating the Dodgers legend. Their reflections highlighted not just the dominance of Kershaw’s career, but the way he embodied what it means to spend nearly two decades in one uniform.
“We’ve grown up with Kershaw”
Amsinger set the tone from the start: “This show is kind of dedicated to Clayton Kershaw. We’re going to relive some of his best moments, some of our personal moments on Clayton Kershaw. But it is wild because his first full season in the big leagues was the first year of MLB Network and we’re starting to get to that stage, Harold, where we’re riding the entire career through with these players.
For Amsinger, the connection has been personal—he’s been on air for every Cy Young Award and the 2014 MVP presentation, often as the first voice to greet Kershaw on national television. “Clayton, we’ve grown up together,” Amsinger joked, recalling those moments.
Reynolds: “Vin Scully will be the soundtrack”
Harold Reynolds emphasized how deeply tied Kershaw is to Dodger history: “It’s crazy, right? You were talking earlier about Larry Bowa telling you this is the best kid. He was 100% right. But what I was going to say is like hearing Vin Scully calling your games—when you go back and you’re looking at Clayton Kershaw’s Hall of Fame reel, it’s going to be Vin Scully making calls. That’s pretty cool stuff.”
For Reynolds, Kershaw isn’t just a generational pitcher; he’s a figure inseparable from the voices and moments that define Dodger baseball.
Plesac: “Knowing when to say when”
Dan Plesac offered perspective from the player’s side, praising Kershaw for understanding the right moment to step away: “I commend him for an amazing career. And I think one of the hardest things to do for any player is to know when to say when. Like when you get tired of fighting the fight—it’s not the game, it’s not the guys, it’s what you have to put your body through once the season is over. … I think this past year he went into the offseason and felt like he really wasn’t a part of that World Series champion team last year. … He probably at this time did everything that he could possibly do to have one last hurrah.”
Plesac went further, calling Kershaw a first-ballot Hall of Famer and suggesting that you could make the case he belongs in the top five left-handers ever to pitch.
One Team, One Jersey
The panel also spent time discussing the significance of Kershaw playing his entire career in Dodger blue. Despite free agent opportunities and speculation about a homecoming with the Rangers, Kershaw never left.
Reynolds put it bluntly: “Don’t think this team isn’t making a run for Clayton. Clayton’s pretty much needed on this team. That’s how great Clayton has been this year.”
Plesac added: “The iconic players—there’s a much better connection and appreciation when they wear one jersey. When you think of the Dodgers, you think of great starting pitching. You think of Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, Fernando Valenzuela—and now you think of Kershaw. To do it in one uniform is special.”
Kershaw himself, in a clip replayed during the segment, acknowledged that he now takes pride in being a career Dodger: “You think about Todd Helton, Chipper Jones, Derek Jeter—these guys that did it with one uniform. That’s pretty cool. I don’t take that for granted anymore.”
Career Highlights and Favorite Memories
The hosts shared their personal favorite Kershaw moments:
- Amsinger recalled Kershaw’s 2013 Opening Day home run against the Giants, a 1-0 masterpiece where he hit the deciding blow himself.
- Reynolds pointed to the 2014 no-hitter, calling it “complete dominance—15 strikeouts, no walks, one error away from a perfect game.”
- Plesac remembered saying on-air that Kershaw’s fist pump at the end of that no-hitter would one day be immortalized in bronze outside Dodger Stadium: “Someday there will be a statue of Clayton Kershaw, and that will be the pose.”
The crew even unveiled a mock statue on set, recreating that iconic moment.
“The Koufax of His Generation”
In closing, Reynolds and Plesac both underscored the historical weight of Kershaw’s career. “He will forever be known as that guy, like Sandy Koufax,” Reynolds said. Plesac added, “When somebody mentions the name Kershaw, you automatically think Dodgers. When you think Dodgers, great pitchers, you think Koufax, you think Kershaw. And this is deserved—for him to go out on top.”
As Kershaw prepares for his final Dodger Stadium start, MLB Network’s reflections echoed what Dodger fans already feel: this isn’t just the end of a career. It’s the closing chapter of a legacy that belongs in the same breath as Koufax, Drysdale, and Valenzuela.
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