You look back at the big picture and you realize a couple of things about baseball. The first is that Major League Baseball (MLB) has been around for about 120 years. In all those years, only 19 pitchers in its history have reached 3,000 career strikeouts. Then came one night, July 2, 2025, and one more name was added to that list of extraordinary men.
Clayton Edward Kershaw, one of the greatest pitchers of his generation, threw career strikeout number 3,000 last night against the Chicago White Sox. It’s another great accomplishment that puts Kershaw in great company with other legendary pitchers like Sandy Koufax.
Kershaw added to his MLB Hall of Fame resume by becoming the 20th pitcher to reach 3,000 strikeouts. Clayton is also just the 4th left hander to reach the mark. But even more remarkable is the fact that he is just the 3rd pitcher to record 3,000 strikeouts while pitching for just ONE team. It was truly a night to remember for Kershaw, his family, and for all Dodgers fans. You could feel the raw emotion watching Dodger Stadium erupt in excitement after Kershaw got White Sox third baseman Vinny Capra looking on a backdoor slider.
“It’s a little bit harder when you’re trying to strike people out,” Kershaw said after the game, “I never really had to do that before.” But it was well worth for the Dodger faithful, some of whom watched Kershaw’s greatness over the years from his ERA titles to his MVP season. Dodger fans gave him a standing ovation that lasted around six minutes.
It was a long time coming since Kershaw’s first strikeout, when he got future teammate Skip Shumaker out. Of course, the Dodgers came back and won the game thanks to 2024 World Series hero and MVP Freddie Freeman. But winning the game was just the icing on the cake of a great day.
Kershaw later held a champagne flute in the clubhouse and told the players, coaches and trainers who surrounded him that none of his individual accolades — the three Cy Young awards, the MVP, the 10 All-Star Game selections, the five ERA titles — mean anything without the people to celebrate it with.
Kershaw later said, “I don’t know if I put a ton of stock in being with one team early on. It’s just kind of something that happened. Over time, I think as you get older, and you appreciate one organization a little bit more — the Dodgers have stuck with me too. It hasn’t been all roses. I know that. There’s just a lot of mutual respect, I think. I’m super grateful now, looking back. To say that I’ve spent my whole career here — I have a lot more appreciation for it now.”
I think I speak for all Dodger fans when I say that we are more than happy to see Kershaw stay with the Dodgers for the rest of his career. I hope to be there on what should be another special day for Kershaw. That will be the day they eventually retire his number 22 to celebrate all his accomplishments with the Dodgers.
