ATLANTA — In a week where so much of the focus was on players who weren’t playing in the All-Star Game, and those who were selected that weren’t seen as deserving, it was the player who had been in more Midsummer Classics than anyone else who delivered the most profound reminder.
Before the start of Major League Baseball’s 95th All-Star Game at Truist Park in Atlanta, National League manager Dave Roberts called upon longtime Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw to speak in the clubhouse.
And in an impromptu pregame speech as the team’s elder statesman, Kershaw imparted the most important lesson he’s learned from his 11 All-Star Games.
“The All-Star Game, it can be hard at times for the players,” Kershaw recounted when asked about his message to the team. “It’s a lot of travel, it’s a lot of stress, chaos, family, all this stuff.”
“But,” the 37-year-old future Hall of Famer added, “it’s meaningful, it’s impactful for the game, it’s important for the game. We have the best All-Star Game of any sport. We do have the best product. So to be here, to realize your responsibility to the sport is important … And I just said I was super honored to be part of it.”
Though he only faced two batters in the National League’s 7-6, sudden-death swing-off win over the American League — a game that saw Shohei Ohtani key an early two-run rally with a single, the NL take a six-run lead after home runs from Pete Alonso and Corbin Carroll in the sixth, and the AL storm back to force a 6-6 ninth-inning tie that triggered the event’s first-ever home run derby tiebreaker — Kershaw’s brief outing provided one of the night’s signature moments.
A potential All-Star farewell, to a future first-ballot Hall of Famer.
“I didn’t anticipate to be here. I definitely didn’t anticipate to pitch,” Kershaw said. “It was awesome. So thankful for it now.”
Kershaw, admittedly, was picked for this year’s game for more sentimental reasons than anything.
After making only 10 starts in the first half of the year following offseason foot and knee surgeries, the future Hall of Famer was shoehorned in as a “Legend Pick” by commissioner Rob Manfred, getting the nod a week after becoming the 20th pitcher in MLB history with 3,000 strikeouts.
The honor made Kershaw feel awkward, with the three-time Cy Young Award winner repeatedly joking that he hadn’t really deserved to return to the All-Star Game for the first time since 2023, despite his 4-1 record and 3.38 ERA so far this season.
“When Doc told him, he goes, ‘Is this a senior citizen discount?’” first baseman Freddie Freeman recounted with a chuckle. “That was his exact response in the clubhouse.”
And at first, Kershaw later acknowledged, he even had a little hesitancy about participating in this week’s festivities in Atlanta.
“My initial response was just, you don’t ever want to take somebody’s spot,” he said. “You don’t ever want to be a side show.”
A side show, however, Kershaw was not.
Instead, as the man with the most All-Star selections of anyone in this year’s game (and the fourth-most by a pitcher), Kershaw became the center of attention as soon as he entered at the start of the second.
He retired the first two batters he faced, getting help in left field on a Cal Raleigh lineout before striking out Toronto Blue Jays slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr. He then turned to the dugout to see Roberts coming to get him, ending what could very well be his final appearance in the Midsummer Classic (even though, he has made a point of noting, he has not made any decision on retirement after the season).
Thus, as he exited the mound, he was serenaded with one of the night’s loudest ovations, waving a hand in appreciation before blowing a kiss to his family in the stands.
“It’s almost like it’s full circle in the sense of, he’s done it 11 times,” Roberts said. “I think he enjoyed every single bit of this experience, from being named, to sharing it with his family, to the media day and the Home Run Derby.”
“I loved seeing Clayton just happy,” Roberts added.
Many others in Atlanta felt the same way.
Shohei Ohtani watches his base hit during the first inning.
(Brynn Anderson / Associated Press)
NL starter Paul Skenes of the Pittsburgh Pirates had the locker next to Kershaw in the home Truist Park clubhouse, and joked his only hope was that veteran left-hander wouldn’t get sick of him by the end of the event.
“He’s such a class act, it’s just so impressive,” Skenes said. “We were in the waiting room before the red carpet today, and he had all his kids, and watching him as a dad too, it was a cool experience.”
San Francisco Giants ace Logan Webb recalled watching Kershaw while growing up in Northern California.
“I just respect him so much, watching him pitch,” Webb said. “You could’ve asked me five years ago, and you could’ve said Clayton Kershaw was a legend already. He is a legend. I’m just happy I’m able to share a clubhouse with him.”
Kershaw’s lighter side was on display Tuesday, as well, with the pitcher mic’d up with the Fox broadcast team for his brief outing.
“I’m gonna try to throw some cheese real quick, hold on,” he deadpanned while unleashing an 89-mph fastball to Raleigh for what became a line drive that Kyle Tucker of the Chicago Cubs tracked down in left field with a sliding effort.
“Hey!” Kershaw exclaimed. “That was sick.”
On his first pitch to Guerrero, Kershaw threw another fastball that the Blue Jays’ star took for a strike.
“Right down the middle,” Kershaw said. “I’m so glad he didn’t swing.”
When Guerrero got to a 1-and-1 count after a curveball in the dirt, Kershaw contemplated his next pitch.
“I think I probably gotta go slider,” he said. “Let’s see what Will thinks.”
Behind the plate, teammate Will Smith instead called for a curveball.
“Nope, he wants curveball again,” Kershaw laughed. “All right, fine.”
Guerrero swung through it — “Oh, got him,” Kershaw said — before freezing on a slider two pitches later for a called third strike.
“I’m getting blown up by former teammates saying, ‘Wow, you’ve changed so much,’ and they’re right,” Kershaw said with a laugh afterward, acknowledging his once-fiery demeanor never would have allowed him to embrace an in-game interview like that before. “I don’t think I would’ve ever done that [in the past]. But it was actually kind of fun.”
Really, that was the theme of Kershaw’s whole week.
Reluctantly accepting his stature as one of the game’s most decorated players. Accepting an invitation designed to honor his career accomplishments. And providing a reminder of the All-Star Game’s meaning, in what will perhaps be his last time on such a stage.
“It’s a very awesome, special thing to get to come to All-Star Games,” he said. “I remember the first one, how special that was. And I don’t think a lot has changed for me over the years to get to come to these things. So I don’t take that for granted. I think it’s really awesome. I mean, I shouldn’t be here anyway, so it’s very possible this could be my last one. So it was just a very awesome night, special.”
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