LOS ANGELES — As Clayton Kershaw takes the mound tonight for what is slated to be his final regular-season start at Dodger Stadium, the love isn’t just pouring in from Los Angeles. Across MLB, opponents and rivals—guys who spent a decade-plus trying to solve his slider—have been lining up to pay their respects.
What stands out isn’t only the trophy case (3 Cy Youngs, an MVP, 3,000+ strikeouts) but the way Kershaw carried himself in the most competitive spaces. That’s the consistent refrain from across the diamond.
“I sent one over out of admiration”
ESPN captured a perfect 2025 snapshot of Kershaw’s stature among his peers: opponents quietly sending jerseys into the Dodgers’ clubhouse, hoping for a signature before the legend hangs ’em up. Padres ace Joe Musgrove admitted he’d rarely done that in nine big-league seasons—“This is the first that I’ve sent one over in admiration for what someone has done for the game.” Rockies lefty Kyle Freeland got one, too, with Kershaw inscribing his resume on the back. It’s a small ritual that says plenty about respect in a rivalry-heavy sport.
“He amazes me every single time”
Giants ace Logan Webb—who’s been on the wrong end of Kershaw’s craft in the fiercest rivalry of the era—put it simply: “He seems to amaze me every single time.” Webb, who shared an All-Star clubhouse with Kershaw this summer, also marveled at how the Dodger has kept getting outs with diminished velocity, calling it the most impressive thing about Kershaw’s late-career evolution.
“Everything you could want in a human being”
From the other side of the rivalry tonight, Giants starter Robbie Ray offered a human-first appraisal: “He’s everything you could want in a human being and a teammate, just an all-around great guy.” Ray recalled the thrill of playing catch with Kershaw at his first All-Star Game and reconnecting this year as their families—kids around the same ages—crossed paths. It’s a reminder that beneath the duels and box scores there’s a fraternity that knows who shows up the right way.
“Two of the biggest competitors”
Longtime Giants coach Ron Wotus, who watched Kershaw and Madison Bumgarner wage 13 must-watch battles, called them “two of the biggest competitors” of their generation. Former Giants outfielder Hunter Pence—the kind of gamer who appreciates another—said those Kershaw-Bumgarner nights were charged, fast, and full of respect on both sides. That’s the purest tribute a rival can offer: we elevated each other.
The rookie’s eye test
Cincinnati’s Andrew Abbott, still new enough to be wide-eyed, found himself studying Kershaw’s improvisation at Dodger Stadium—was that a changeup? The Reds righty came away convinced that Kershaw’s baseball IQ is as elite as his old velocity, praising the way he “figures things out on the fly.” When the kids who grew up watching you become your peers and still treat you like a north star, the legacy is already cemented.
Beyond autographs, a shared code
The “sign my jersey” phenomenon can sound like memorabilia for memorabilia’s sake, but read between the lines: Musgrove, Freeland, Webb, Abbott—these are competitors acknowledging a standard. Kershaw’s own response says just as much. He signs them, sometimes listing “3X NL Cy Young, 2014 NL MVP, 2X WS Champ!” as if to say: none of it happened by accident. The humility in the ritual—and the willingness to honor the request from a rival—reflects the way he’s navigated the game for 18 seasons.
The rival city’s perspective
Zoom out to the Bay and you get a macro tribute. A San Francisco feature framed Kershaw’s final home start as a capstone to a rivalry he helped define, noting the respect he earned even from a fan base trained to boo Dodger blue. The same story put Kershaw among the rare lifers—Jeter, Jones, Mauer, Molina—who spent their entire careers with one club. Coming from the other coast of the 101, that’s weighty praise.
The national lens
Wire services have been busy cataloging Kershaw’s run and the reaction to Thursday’s announcement: 222 wins, 2.54 ERA (the live-ball yardstick), and a first-ballot glide path to Cooperstown. The recurring theme in the national write-ups is less about hardware and more about example—how a generation of pitchers learned that attacking with conviction and adapting without ego is its own kind of dominance.
The common thread
Strip away the uniforms and the logos and you hear the same message: Kershaw’s peers admire how he competed, how he evolved, and how he treated people. Musgrove’s “admiration,” Webb’s “amazed,” Ray’s “great human,” Wotus’s “biggest competitors,” Abbott’s “figures it out”—five different vantage points, one legacy.
So before first pitch tonight, take a moment to see the scene through the other dugout’s eyes. The guy they game-planned for, guessed against, and occasionally tipped a cap to is getting one more ovation in Los Angeles. The rivals will be applauding, too.
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