Written by Tom Verducci at SI.com
In the greatest night of his Hall of Fame pitching life, when he carved up the most prolific offense in baseball with ease and precision unlike anything ever seen in the World Series, Clayton Kershaw, erstwhile Clydesdale of a workhorse, was done after just 84 pitches. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts walked up to Kershaw in the dugout after the seventh inning, when Kershaw still had not thrown a pitch with a runner in scoring position all night, told him he was done and punctuated his inarguable decision with a punch to the chest.
Kershaw had no say in the matter, though not one minute later, after Roberts returned to his perch at the dugout rail, he circled back to tell his manager that he still felt strong. It was a moot point.
Game 1 of the World Series Tuesday night, a 3–1 win for Los Angeles, will go down as one of the most clinical games ever thrown in the Fall Classic. With Sandy Koufax looking on from the second row, our generation’s Koufax, upon waiting 10 years to take the ball in the World Series, responded with a signature game. It wasn’t Koufaxian in length, but it was every bit the facsimile when it came to the precise craft of pitching.
“That,” pitching coach Rick Honeycutt said, “was really special. It might have been his best, because he showed how good he is without just overpowering people. Changing speeds, mixing it up, putting the ball where he wanted … What you saw tonight, that was as perfect a clinic of pitching as you will see.”
To continue reading this article, click here.
