Clayton Kershaw is a Major League Baseball Pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers. A left-handed starting pitcher, Kershaw has spent his entire major league career with the Dodgers since debuting in 2008. He is a 10-time All-Star, three-time National League (NL) Cy Young Award winner, and the 2014 NL Most Valuable Player. His 2.48 career earned run average (ERA) and 1.00 walks plus hits per inning pitched rate (WHIP) are the 2nd lowest behind only Jacob deGrom among starters in the live-ball era (minimum 1,000 innings pitched). Kershaw has a career hits allowed per nine innings pitched average of 6.83, the third-lowest in MLB history. He has been described for much of his career as the best pitcher in baseball, and one of the greatest pitchers of all time.
Kershaw was drafted seventh overall in the 2006 MLB draft. He worked his way through the Dodgers' farm system in just one full season, and reached the majors at 20 years old. When he debuted in 2008, he was the youngest player in MLB, a title he held for one full year. In 2011, he won the pitching Triple Crown and the National League Cy Young Award, becoming the youngest pitcher to accomplish either of these feats since Dwight Gooden in 1985. Kershaw pitched a no-hitter on June 18, 2014, becoming the 22nd Dodger to do so. Being a left-handed strikeout pitcher and playing for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Kershaw has often been compared to Hall of Fame pitcher Sandy Koufax. He became the first pitcher in history to lead MLB in ERA for four consecutive years when he did so in the 2011 through 2014 seasons.
In 2017, Kershaw made his seventh straight opening day start, tying Don Sutton for most consecutive opening day starts, and Sutton and Don Drysdale for most total opening day starts by a Dodger. On June 2nd, Kershaw struck out Jonathan Villar of the Milwaukee Brewers for his 2,000th career strikeout. He was the fifth youngest player in major league history to reach that mark, as well as the second fastest pitcher to 2,000 strikeouts, accomplishing the feat in 277 games (behind Randy Johnson's 262 games). He was named to his seventh straight all-star game, second most in Dodgers history after Drysdale. In 27 starts, he was 18–4 with a 2.31 ERA and 202 strikeouts.
Off the field, Kershaw is an active participant in volunteer work. He and his wife Ellen launched "Kershaw's Challenge" and wrote the book "Arise" to raise money to build an orphanage in Zambia. He has been honored with the Roberto Clemente Award and the Branch Rickey Award for his humanitarian work.
The featured Official Major League Baseball was autographed by Clayton Kershaw in blue. The future Hall of Famer has also added a RARE "2011 NL Cy" in blue. As can be viewed from the images, "Cy" is a little faint. In 2011, Kershaw won the pitching Triple Crown and the National League Cy Young Award, becoming the youngest pitcher to accomplish either of these feats since Dwight Gooden in 1985. Kershaw went 21-5 with a 2.28 ERA. The Baseball features a JSA Authentication Hologram (JSA H10727) Awesome Baseball signed by one of the Greatest Pitchers Ever!!!!