Before Freddie Freeman joined his teammates in the Dodgers’ clubhouse to celebrate winning his second consecutive World Series, he stopped to talk to FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal about all the emotions he was feeling after an electric Game 7.
The prevailing feeling? Joy — not for himself, but for his teammate.
“I’m just so happy Clayton Kershaw is a three-time champ,” Freeman, a three-time champion himself, said.
‘I’m happy Clayton Kershaw is a 3-time Champ’ 🥹 – Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman on winning World Series
Ever since Kershaw announced his intention to retire at the end of the season in September, the Dodgers have had hopes of sending the 37-year-old ace off on a high note as a champion. Not only did they deliver on that goal, but they did it in dramatic fashion.
“How can I script it any better?” Kershaw told the MLB on FOX desk. “That’s the last time I’ll ever play a baseball game. Game 7; extra innings; I get to be out there, run on the field and celebrate with my teammates. I’m just so thankful, man. My cup is overflowing.”
Kershaw didn’t make an appearance in Saturday’s series-deciding Game 7, but there was a moment he thought might have to step out onto the mound one last time.
“I had my back turned to it, I had no idea we had one out,” Kershaw said. “I was warming up and then, sure enough, double-play-turned-game-over. But I think I might have had the next batter right there.”
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Thanks to some extra-innings heroics from Yoshinobu Yamamoto, it didn’t come to that. Instead, Kershaw got to watch from the dugout as his teammates closed out the series.
“For it to end tonight like this, I don’t really have words for it,” Kerhsaw said. “I’m just so honored. It’s unbelievable.”
Kershaw was able to get his World Series sendoff, however. In the 12th inning of Game 3, Kershaw came out of the bullpen with the bases loaded and the score even at five runs a piece. Kershaw got the save, and the Dodgers went on to win in the 15th inning, 6-5.
“To win a third World Series with this group of guys, to get the last out of an inning in the 12th inning was just stuff that you couldn’t even script.”
Of course, Kershaw won’t look back on some of his other postseason outings with the same fondness, but as he looked back at his career one final time from behind the MLB on FOX desk, one word came to mind: grateful.
“I’m grateful for all of it,” Kershaw said while being serenaded with “Hall of Fame” chants from the visiting fans at Rogers Centre. “Good times, bad times, injuries, bad starts, bad postseasons … this is beyond my wildest expectations for a baseball career.
“What a way to end it.”
Clayton Kershaw gets EMOTIONAL looking back at his Dodgers career, grateful for 3rd WS title 🥹
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