May 25, 2008: Clayton Kershaw shines in major-league debut for Dodgers

Less than two years after the Los Angeles Dodgers selected him in the first round of the June 2006 amateur draft, Clayton Kershaw made an impressive major-league debut. He pitched six innings, struck out seven, and held the St. Louis Cardinals to two runs as the Dodgers won 4-3 in 10 innings on May 25, 2008, at Dodger Stadium.

Afterward, Kershaw earned praise from both his teammates and the opposition, Brad Penny, the Dodgers’ veteran right-hander, said, “He came out, attacked them. Didn’t back down from anyone. He’s going to be fun to watch every day.”1 St. Louis right fielder Ryan Ludwick called the rookie “impressive” and said Kershaw’s curveball looked “kind of like [2002 American League Cy Young Award winner Barry] Zito’s. It’s big.”2

The 6-foot-3-inch left-hander had turned 20 years old on March 19. In those minutes before game time, he said, “My heart was beating so loudly I could barely hear the National Anthem ringing through Dodger Stadium.”3

Kershaw’s rapid path to Los Angeles began with a telephone call. Dodgers area scout Calvin Jones tipped off team executive Logan White about the hard-throwing prospect, then a senior at Highland Park High School outside Dallas, Texas.

White watched Kershaw pitch in February 2006 and came away impressed. “It was one of those feelings scouts will tell you that you get,” White said. “I had this feeling inside my gut and inside my heart that this kid is special.”4 Kershaw completed a 13-0 campaign in his final year at Highland Park, with a 0.77 ERA and 139 strikeouts in 64 innings. He struck out all 15 batters in a Texas Class 4A quarterfinals game shortened by the mercy rule. Gatorade named Kershaw its National Player of the Year for baseball, and Texas A&M University offered him a scholarship.5

Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti, on the job for less than a year, listened to Jones and White talk about Kershaw’s talent and potential. “I could tell the conviction they had for Clayton Kershaw was about as strong as I’d heard on anybody,” Colletti said.6

On the June 6 draft day, after five college pitchers and California State University-Long Beach third baseman Evan Longoria went in the first six picks, the Dodgers selected Kershaw. “We knew the [Detroit] Tigers liked [University of North Carolina left-hander Andrew Miller, who was taken with the sixth pick] and Kershaw,” White said. “The [Kansas City] Royals [who were picking fifth] liked Miller, also. Had the Royals taken Miller, the Tigers would have taken Kershaw in front of us. We didn’t know until that morning how the domino would fall.”7

Kershaw received a $2.3 million signing bonus.8 He began his pro career with the Gulf Coast League (Rookie level) Dodgers in Florida, where he went 2-0 with a 1.95 ERA in 37 innings. Kershaw split 2007 with the Great Lakes Loons of the Class A Midwest League and the Jacksonville Suns of the Double-A Southern League. He posted a combined mark of 8-7 with a 2.95 ERA in 122 innings.

The Dodgers invited Kershaw to spring training in 2008. He threw 14 innings and struck out 19 batters while allowing just one run. He amazed the Dodgers’ legendary broadcaster Vin Scully with a curveball that he used to strike out Boston Red Sox batter Sean Casey, who was in the final season of a 12-year career and had a lifetime .301 batting average. “Holy mackerel!” Scully exclaimed. “He just broke off Public Enemy Number One. Look at this thing! It’s right there and Casey is out of there.”9

Kershaw began the regular season in Jacksonville, where he went 0-3 but had a 2.28 ERA and 47 strikeouts in 43⅓ innings. Colletti promoted him to the Dodgers after that strong start. “We were intrigued with what he brought,” Colletti told the Los Angeles Times. “Whether or not that translates to the big leagues, we’ll find out.”10 In a corresponding move, the Dodgers designated Esteban Loaiza for assignment. The 36-year-old right-hander was 1-2 with a 5.63 ERA.11 Catcher Russell Martin expected Kershaw to give the team “a boost of energy.”12

A crowd of 46,566 filed into Dodger Stadium on a cool Sunday afternoon. The temperature was 62 degrees at first pitch. The Dodgers had a record of 25-23 and sat in second place, 3½ games behind the Arizona Diamondbacks in the National League West Division. They were coming off an 82-80 campaign and a fourth-place finish.

The Cardinals were 30-21, in a virtual first-place tie with the Chicago Cubs (29-20) in the NL Central Division. St. Louis was looking to rebound from a disappointing 2007 campaign, when they finished 78-84, in third place.

St Louis boasted a formidable lineup and went on to lead the NL in batting average and OPS+. First baseman Albert Pujols earned his second career NL MVP Award, while Ludwick enjoyed a career-best season, finishing second in the NL to Pujols in slugging percentage. Third baseman Troy Glaus hit his 300th career homer on September 3.

The first Cardinals batter Kershaw faced, Skip Schumaker, struck out swinging. After Brian Barton walked, Pujols knocked an RBI double to left field. Unfazed, Kershaw struck out Ludwick and Glaus to end a 32-pitch inning.

The Dodgers tied the game in the bottom of the first on Luis Maza’s one-out home run off St. Louis starter Todd Wellemeyer. Kershaw faced the minimum nine batters over the next three frames and added two more strikeouts. Brendan Ryan hit a leadoff single in the second inning but was erased when Schumaker grounded into a double play.

The 29-year-old Wellemeyer, in his first full season with St. Louis, nearly matched Kershaw. He struck out two Dodgers in the bottom of the second and one in the third. He retired the side in order in both frames. In the fourth inning, he gave up an RBI double to Martin. Andre Ethier, who began the rally with a one-out single, came around to score.

St. Louis mounted a minor threat in the top of the fifth. Cesar Izturis reached base on a fielder’s choice and headed to second on Wellemeyer’s sacrifice. Kershaw came up big, though, and struck out Ryan to end the inning. Wellemeyer, in turn, retired the Dodgers in order in the bottom half of the frame.

Schumaker struck out to start the St. Louis sixth. Barton followed with a single, and Pujols’ base hit put runners on first and third. Barton scored on Ludwick’s fielder’s choice. Kershaw ended his debut by getting out Glaus and Jason LaRue.

Los Angeles took a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the sixth. Juan Pierre led off with a base hit against Wellemeyer and advanced to second on Maza’s sacrifice. After Ethier flied out, Martin lined an RBI single to left field.

Cory Wade came in from the bullpen to relieve Kershaw. Izturis, the only batter he faced, walked, and Dodgers manager Joe Torre called on Joe Biemel. Izturis stole second base and sprinted to third following Martin’s wild throw into the outfield. Biemel struck out Rick Ankiel and gave way to 285-pound Jonathan Broxton, who allowed a run-scoring fly ball to Aaron Miles before recording the final two outs of the inning.

The score remained 3-3 after nine innings. Dodgers reliever Takashi Saito, in his second inning of work, struck of the side in the top of the 10th after fanning two hitters in the previous frame. Cardinals batters struck out 16 times in the game.

Terry Tiffee began the Dodgers’10th with a base hit off Mike Parisi, who, like Saito, was pitching his second inning that day. Pierre forced out Tiffee on a failed sacrifice bunt. Parisi threw a wild pitch with pinch-hitter Mark Sweeney at the plate, and the speedy Pierre headed to second base. Sweeney struck out, but the lefty-swinging Ethier lined an RBI single into right field that gave the Dodgers the win. Losing pitcher Parisi’s record fell to 0-1. Saito, the winner, improved to 3-1. The game lasted 3 hours 18 minutes.

Despite Ethier’s heroics, newspaper accounts focused more on Kershaw, and the Dodgers outfielder understood. “He’s here for a reason,” Ethier said about his new teammate.13

Cardinals hitting coach Hal McRae, who batted .290 in 19 big-league seasons, said his team knew about Kershaw’s occasional command issues in the minors, especially with breaking balls. “But for the most part, it was there,” McRae said. “He threw strikes. He made quite an impression.” Kershaw threw a number of inside fastballs to Cardinals hitters. “Some guys just poke around in there without being serious,” McRae said. “This kid is serious.”14

Kershaw shrugged off getting a no-decision. “As long as your team wins, that’s really all that you’re there for,” he said.15 A few years later, he recalled, “I had the time of my life that day.”16

Acknowledgments

This article was fact-checked by Jim Sweetman and copy-edited by Len Levin.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com and Retrosheet.org for pertinent information, including the box score and play-by-play.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/LAN/LAN200805250.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/2008/B05250LAN2008.htm

Notes

1 Kevin Baxter, “Ethier’s Hit Caps Solid Debut by Kershaw,” Los Angeles Times, May 26, 2008: 35.

2 Joe Strauss, “Young LA Lefty Impresses Cards,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 26, 2008: B5.

3 Clayton and Ellen Kershaw, Arise (Ventura, California: Regal, 2011), 126.

4 David Vassegh, Extra Innings (Podcast), June 9, 2021, https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/extra-innings-podcast-ep-11-6-9-21/id1562950135?i=1000524777580.

5 Texas Monthly, “Clayton Kershaw: 19, Pitcher, Dallas,” texasmonthly.com, February 2008, https://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/clayton-kershaw/.

6 Scott Miller, “How Prep Phenom Clayton Kershaw Became an L.A. Dodger 10 Years Ago,” Bleacher Report, June 9, 2016, https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2642794-how-prep-phenom-clayton-kershaw-became-an-la-dodger-10-years-ago.

7 Vassegh, Extra Innings (Podcast), June 9, 2021.

8 Kevin Baxter and Ben Bolch, “Dodgers, Angels Sign Their Top Draft Picks,” Los Angeles Times, August 16, 2010, https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2010-aug-16-la-sp-0817-baseball-draft-20100817-story.html.

9 Jay Jaffe, “The Day Vin Scully Met Public Enemy Number One,” Fangraphs.com, April 28, 2020, https://blogs.fangraphs.com/instagraphs/the-day-vin-scully-met-public-enemy-number-one/.

10 Baxter, “Future Is Now Pitching for Dodgers,” Los Angeles Times, May 25, 2008: 74.

11 Kevin Baxter, “Jones to Be Out for Four to Six Weeks,” Los Angeles Times, May 25, 2008: 73.

12 Baxter, “Ethier’s Hit Caps Solid Debut by Kershaw.”

13 Baxter, “Ethier’s Hit Caps Solid Debut by Kershaw.”

14 Joe Strauss, “Young LA Lefty Impresses Cards.”

15 Baxter, “Ethier’s Hit Caps Solid Debut by Kershaw.”

16 Clayton and Ellen Kershaw, 135.