Steve Webb
Sometimes, you just have to sit back and bask in the glow of accomplishment. And finally, after season upon season of disappointment, Clayton Kershaw is able to do just that. “I can’t get enough,” he said in an interview just broadcast on SportsNet LA, “It’s been awesome.” Speaking from his home in suburban Dallas, the three-time Cy Young winner looked completely refreshed and rejuvenated. Gone was the scruffy beard and dirty ballcap version of Kershaw that we last saw celebrating on the mound with his teammates after the Dodgers game 6 victory over the Rays. Replaced by a shaved and youthful looking player obviously still over the moon about the Dodgers’ World Series win.
“I’m just catching up on my reading a little bit,” he joked, picking up a copy of the LA Times story about the Dodgers’ historic triumph. “To be able to finally say we won one. I’m going to bask in it until at least the beginning of Spring Training and maybe even up until Opening Day, and then obviously we got a job to do after that.” The lefty acknowledged that there is still some unfinished business that he and his teammates needed to take care of before the experience would be truly complete. “With not being able to celebrate yet with the fans, and not being able to do a parade and things like that, I’m going to bask in it as long as I can.”
Being the best pitcher on the planet for a decade comes with the burden of expectations. And with every early playoff exit, Kershaw admitted that the off-season was often a time of regret and disappointment. Time and again, he’d fallen short of those expectations, regardless of his own personal accomplishments. “I think this is the first time that I’ve kind of been able to sit back and enjoy something. When everything is so team-based, winning the World Series is the only goal. I don’t take for granted some of the things I’ve been able to accomplish individually, but at the end of the day we’ve always set out to win a World Series. . . Now that we’ve actually accomplished that goal, I think I’ve let myself sit back and enjoy that.”
Dodgers fans couldn’t agree more. See you at the parade, my friend!
