4 thoughts on “Kershaw pitches seven perfect innings, gets pulled”
It’s unclear to me whether Kershaw really wanted to try to finish or if he agreed with the pitch count. Some people said that the coach asked him if he wanted to go longer, but Kershaw doesn’t mention that in his post-game interview. Or at least the one that I saw. He did take the high road saying that it was best for the team at this point in the season, and that what happens at the end of the season is more important, but for all I know he was just being a good team player.
I guess I’m used to NFL players being passive-aggressive when it comes to why they lost the game.
Given the low pitch count, I think that they would have left him in if he had asked for the chance to finish, but the decision to remove him was logical and correct from the team’s perspective. Why strain the arm of your ace, risking his injury, when you have a 6-0 lead and plenty of fresh arms in the pen? I’ve written extensively in the past about the fact that “complete games” are a losing proposition.
But a perfect game? That’s a tough call. Perhaps it would have been the last perfect game in MLB history. He was also on pace for 17 strikeouts, which would have made it the greatest single-game pitching performance in all of major league history. (The previous best was a perfect game with 14 Ks, jointly held by Koufax and Matt Cain.)
That’s a sizable chunk of history to discard cavalierly.
You should get demoted to intern.
Short spring and the pitchers don’t have their arms built up yet. And Kershaw is coming back from injury and was limited as to how much he could coordinate with the team medicals over the winter because of the lockout.
They’re not my #1 team – that’s the Guardians – but I’ve been rooting for the Dodgers since I was a little kid in Whittier when Vin Scully brought them west. Nearly needed surgical removal of the transistor radio from my ear the next year when they went from 7th to champs.
And I approve the hell out of Robert’s decision. No Johann Santana on his watch. I want to see a healthy Kershaw closing out his career in glory in the post season this year.
The Dodgers are my team, but honestly, they should be kicked out of Major League Baseball for this shameful act.
It’s unclear to me whether Kershaw really wanted to try to finish or if he agreed with the pitch count. Some people said that the coach asked him if he wanted to go longer, but Kershaw doesn’t mention that in his post-game interview. Or at least the one that I saw. He did take the high road saying that it was best for the team at this point in the season, and that what happens at the end of the season is more important, but for all I know he was just being a good team player.
I guess I’m used to NFL players being passive-aggressive when it comes to why they lost the game.
Given the low pitch count, I think that they would have left him in if he had asked for the chance to finish, but the decision to remove him was logical and correct from the team’s perspective. Why strain the arm of your ace, risking his injury, when you have a 6-0 lead and plenty of fresh arms in the pen? I’ve written extensively in the past about the fact that “complete games” are a losing proposition.
But a perfect game? That’s a tough call. Perhaps it would have been the last perfect game in MLB history. He was also on pace for 17 strikeouts, which would have made it the greatest single-game pitching performance in all of major league history. (The previous best was a perfect game with 14 Ks, jointly held by Koufax and Matt Cain.)
That’s a sizable chunk of history to discard cavalierly.
You should get demoted to intern.
Short spring and the pitchers don’t have their arms built up yet. And Kershaw is coming back from injury and was limited as to how much he could coordinate with the team medicals over the winter because of the lockout.
They’re not my #1 team – that’s the Guardians – but I’ve been rooting for the Dodgers since I was a little kid in Whittier when Vin Scully brought them west. Nearly needed surgical removal of the transistor radio from my ear the next year when they went from 7th to champs.
And I approve the hell out of Robert’s decision. No Johann Santana on his watch. I want to see a healthy Kershaw closing out his career in glory in the post season this year.
The Dodgers are my team, but honestly, they should be kicked out of Major League Baseball for this shameful act.