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Speaker 1: Eric, an interesting day today around Major League Baseball. I

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Speaker 1: knew it was going to happen. I was kind of

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Speaker 1: hoping it never did. But next stop Cooperstown for Clayton Kershaw.

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Speaker 1: But Kersh announced this afternoon at Dodger Stadium that he

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Speaker 1: is in fact hanging it up after eighteen seasons as

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Speaker 1: a Los Angeles Dodger. He is retiring at the end

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Speaker 1: of the year. I've had the pleasure of covering Clayton

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Speaker 1: as a Dodger almost his entire career. But what is

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Speaker 1: a career it has been, Eric, what are your thoughts

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Speaker 1: about Kersh saying? Okay, that's enough.

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Speaker 2: First, congratulations with Clayton Kershaw. Second lock in, the Dodgers

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Speaker 2: are going to win the World Series? No way, A superstar,

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Speaker 2: a first ballot should be unanimous. Hall of Fame pitcher

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Speaker 2: retires and announces it one week, one and a half

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Speaker 2: weeks left in the season and their team doesn't win

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Speaker 2: the World Series, get it. You don't play for the Gipper,

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Speaker 2: or you don't do it like. This guy's still producing.

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Speaker 2: This guy's still producing on a big league level. And

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Speaker 2: for him to announce this, we really like forget how

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Speaker 2: dominant he was because right now he's still been super

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Speaker 2: uber successful. Yes, he hasn't had a thirty two start

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Speaker 2: season in a little bit, but he's never not gone

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Speaker 2: out there undone. Well, So congratulations Clayton, everything you've earned.

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Speaker 2: You're probably even a better person than you are a player.

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Speaker 1: It's funny because that video that we were just watching

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Speaker 1: right there where Clayton just stuck his hands up in

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Speaker 1: the air. Obviously, that was his no hitter in twenty fourteen,

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Speaker 1: and aj Ellis was behind the plate and I was

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Speaker 1: fortunate enough to cover that moment, Eric, And you know

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Speaker 1: how important and how special that is as a backstop

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Speaker 1: when you are the guy behind the dish that's calling

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Speaker 1: the pitches and putting the fingers down for a no hitter.

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Speaker 1: And I remember that I was the second no hitter

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Speaker 1: I had ever covered in my career. And it was

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Speaker 1: cool because it was at home and Ellen Kershaw had

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Speaker 1: come down from the stands. And Clayton and Ellen today

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Speaker 1: as we sit here in twenty twenty five, are about

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Speaker 1: to have their fifth child. They're expecting their fifth child,

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Speaker 1: but at the time in twenty fourteen, they had just

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Speaker 1: found out that they were pregnant with their first and

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Speaker 1: Callie Anne is the first, the first of what is

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Speaker 1: now the Kershaw's four children about to be five, and

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Speaker 1: they are having another girl, so they have bookend girls.

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Speaker 1: But that was such a special moment for the Kershaw

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Speaker 1: family because I remember distinctly Clayton is there. Obviously Ellen

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Speaker 1: comes down, and I just kind of got out of

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Speaker 1: the way because obviously the story is Clayton, and the

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Speaker 1: moment that he shared with Ellen in that moment with

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Speaker 1: all of the fans there at Dodger Stadium was such

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Speaker 1: a special moment. And I certainly thought that, man, every

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Speaker 1: time Clayton Kershaw takes the ball, Eric, and you know

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Speaker 1: this better, having been in this game as long as

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Speaker 1: you have, I felt like every time kirsh took the ball,

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Speaker 1: a no no was in play, right, A no no

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Speaker 1: was a possibility. And the way that he has continued

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Speaker 1: the course of his career over eighteen seasons in one

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Speaker 1: uniform has been so special. And I think Dodger fans,

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Speaker 1: and really baseball fans in general, I think we take

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Speaker 1: for granted how special it has been to witness not

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Speaker 1: only one of the best left handers in the game

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Speaker 1: in our generation, in our time, but one of the

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Speaker 1: best pitchers that this game has ever seen.

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Speaker 2: And yes, we can look at all of his Baseball

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Speaker 2: Reference has got a bunch of bold He's got his

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Speaker 2: Cy Young's his you know, just World Series titles, all

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Speaker 2: that stuff. But I go back to a story and

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Speaker 2: I think Chase Outley told me it was two thousand

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Speaker 2: and nine when he was on the Phillies and you know,

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Speaker 2: Dodger Stadium before they renovated. Everything was like a dungeon underneath.

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Speaker 2: It was like a minor league stadium where you're always

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Speaker 2: passing guys, and he was he was walking to the cage,

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Speaker 2: which was on the other side, so you had a

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Speaker 2: sometimes you'd come across Dodgers and Chase out It was

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Speaker 2: affiliate at the time. I think Clayton had two or

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Speaker 2: three years in the big leagues at this point, and

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Speaker 2: he walks by and he sees his guy in a mirror,

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Speaker 2: a full length mirror, and he's going, you know, he's

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Speaker 2: he's doing his thing, and he's looking at the mirror

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Speaker 2: and he's doing his thing. He's looking at the mirror.

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Speaker 2: And one of the coaches from the Dodgers was there

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Speaker 2: at the time too, not doing anything with Clayton, but

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Speaker 2: he was just there hanging out outside there, and he's like,

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Speaker 2: what's he doing? He goes this kid was told that

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Speaker 2: he was tipping, and so he comes out here to

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Speaker 2: this mirror and he does his motion so that he

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Speaker 2: is not ever tipping. Like this is a guy that

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Speaker 2: was dominant already in the game at an early early age,

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Speaker 2: and he was trying to fix the tiny little leaks,

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Speaker 2: the tiny little leaks in something that could allow somebody, Hey,

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Speaker 2: you know what, I need something to be able to

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Speaker 2: get a hit off of Clayton Kershaw, and he wouldn't

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Speaker 2: allow it. And so for me, Chase Utley saying those

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Speaker 2: things and seeing that stuff, that's like a great player

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Speaker 2: complimenting a great player, to see why great players become

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Speaker 2: elite players. Elite players become Hall of famers.

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Speaker 1: And I think the competitiveness is one of the things

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Speaker 1: about Clayton Kersha. And you were just talking about it

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Speaker 1: right there, Eric talking about seeing himself and you know,

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Speaker 1: pitching out of the stretch or pitching out of the

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Speaker 1: wind up, or tipping pitches and he's looking at the

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Speaker 1: reverse image of himself in the mirror. But every single

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Speaker 1: time we went to a different ballpark that at the

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Speaker 1: time Clayton had not pitched on before, goes out to

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Speaker 1: the mound, feels the mound, goes out to the outfield wall,

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Speaker 1: does his things kind of like you know, scans the

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Speaker 1: areas taking in the ballpark. He was just such a competitor,

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Speaker 1: and he was the guy that was always the stopper

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Speaker 1: or he was the guy that would always would get

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Speaker 1: you on a winning streak again. And he never took

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Speaker 1: anything for granted. And he still has. I mean, you know,

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Speaker 1: he's still pitching. Like Clayton hasn't passed. He's just announcing

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Speaker 1: his retirement. But he never took anything for granted, and

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Speaker 1: he always put just as much effort. And when he

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Speaker 1: didn't need to write, I mean, he's a certified first

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Speaker 1: ballot Hall of Famer. He didn't have to put in

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Speaker 1: all that work in, day in and day out over

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Speaker 1: the course of eighteen seasons, and he did it anyway.

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Speaker 1: And he's figured out one thing Clayton's never lost. You know,

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Speaker 1: maybe the velocity isn't there right, maybe the curveball isn't

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Speaker 1: exactly as devastating as it used to be. Maybe, you know,

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Speaker 1: the miles per hour aren't there, but the competitiveness has

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Speaker 1: always been there, and that's not anything that has ever

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Speaker 1: been in question for Clayton, and he has been the

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Speaker 1: epitome of what you would hope to be in the

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Speaker 1: same uniform, which I don't think we give enough. I mean,

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Speaker 1: there are very few guys that are the Todd Helton's

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Speaker 1: of the world, the Clayton Kershaws of the world, you know,

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Speaker 1: the Joe Maers of the world. The guy that gets

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Speaker 1: to put on the exact same uniform for the entirety

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Speaker 1: of his career. That's pretty special.

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Speaker 2: Took my thunder. That's what I was going to end with,

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Speaker 2: because if we don't talk about it once, we have

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Speaker 2: to talk about it ten times. The fact that he

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Speaker 2: played for the same team the whole time, a guy

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Speaker 2: that you were just saying, how many kids he has

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Speaker 2: at home? Much better? Much better go play in Texas.

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Speaker 2: You get to stay at home. You get to stay

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Speaker 2: at home. The Rangers had interest in him, There was

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Speaker 2: always rumors about that. But you know what, good for

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Speaker 2: the Kershaw family, good for Dodgers organization for saying no,

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Speaker 2: that's not going to happen, and it really doesn't matter.

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Speaker 2: It really ultimately doesn't matter. He would have done the

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Speaker 2: same thing in Texas. But for my baseball tradition, my

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Speaker 2: love of baseball, there's no way I wanted to see

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Speaker 2: Clayton Kershaw in another uniform. And now we get it.

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Speaker 1: No doubt about that. You had mentioned the cy Young

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Speaker 1: zeric three times sy Young Award winner twenty fourteen nationally MVP.

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Speaker 1: That is the same year in which he threw that

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Speaker 1: no hit or five ERA titles eleven times. I'll start

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Speaker 1: two time World Series champion and perhaps my friend a

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Speaker 1: third time World Series champion before Clayton Kershaw, number two,

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Speaker 1: one of the best left handers ever to pick up

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Speaker 1: a baseball, has announced his retirement today at Dodgers Stadium