Steve Webb
MINNEAPOLIS, MN — Wowza. In the wake the fabulous performance by Clayton Kershaw today, Baseball Twitter exploded in dissention and controversy. It all revolved around the mutual decision between Kershaw and manager Dave Roberts to end his perfect game after seven innings at 80 pitches. Needless to say, whenever something historic is going on, you’re going to stir up a bunch of hot takes. And boy there were plenty:
Jake Arrieta, who nudged out Clayton and Zach Greinke for the Cy Young in 2015, was a player who agreed:
Yep, there was no shortage of people who thought Clayton should have gone for it.
Even Hall of Famers were weighing in on the controversy:
On the other hand, there were plenty who agreed with the decision, more interested in the Dodgers’ long-term goals than one more moment in the sun for a player who’s had many in his career.
Radio blabber Colin Coward was salivating, knowing that his show prep for tomorrow was done for him on this one:
So how did Dave Roberts defend the decision? He said in the end, it wasn’t a hard call to make. “There’s a lot of people that are cheering for the Dodgers, not only just for today and Clayton to throw a no-hitter, but for the Dodgers to win the World Series,” said the seventh-year manager, who has twice previously removed pitchers in the midst of a no-hitter. “For us to do that, we need him healthy.
“There’s a point where you just got to decide — I got to decide — to what end?” Roberta continued. “I’m as a big fan as anyone of Clayton. And to see a battery of him and Austin throw a perfect game or a no-hitter, I’m all in. But again, to what end or to what cost? … Yeah, I have to make a tough decision. But ultimately, it wasn’t as tough as perceived.”
There probably would have been a time in his career that Kershaw would have been royally teed off, by the decision, but in fact, he seemed pretty good-natured about his near-miss at history.
“Those are individual things,” he said after the game. “Those are selfish goals. We’re trying to win, that’s really all we’re here for. As much as I would have wanted to do it, I’ve thrown 75 pitches in a sim game. I hadn’t gone 6 innings, let alone 7.”
In the end, Kershaw knew that baseball is a grind, and this one game in April wouldn’t mean much if he were to damage his chances of being healthy all year. “In the end, I would have loved to (stay in), but bigger things, man, bigger things…”
Yup. As a fan, I would have loved to have seen it, but we want to see this in October this year:
