I've slowly been getting into a baseball groove since my March was consumed by the Lakers and March Madness. I used to get hyped for Opening Day and it didn't hit me until Saturday when one of my NABJ colleagues came down for the weekend since he was hoping to see his Giants beat my Dodgers to kick off 2013.
Well Opening Day came and went while I was at work and during a break, I saw that Clayton Kershaw not only threw a 4-hit masterpiece with 94 pitches, but even helped his own cause with a 414-foot bomb to centerfield to break a 0-0 tie. My friend told me he couldn't believe that ball was going over the fence until it finally landed.
The last Dodgers pitcher to throw an Opening Day shutout? Fernando Valenzuela in that magical 1981 season. The last pitcher to throw a shutout and hitting a home run? Bob Lemon in 1953. The fact that it was against the hated Giants made it even better.
I've watched Kershaw grow from a hard-throwing kid who the team had high hopes for in 2008 and 2009 into a precise and lethal beast. I dubbed him the Young Prince because of the hype and him debuting at 20 years old. Safe to say that he's left no doubt that his promise has been fulfilled. Every fifth day, the Boys in Blue can turn to their Texas lefty and they know they're getting at least 6-9 innings of lights out work.
His resume speaks for itself - a Cy Young, Golden Glove and pitching Triple Crown in 2011, back-to-back MLB ERA titles, the nastiest curveball in the game and 4 straight years with a sub 3.00 ERA. He's the best pitcher in the National League with all respect to Matt Cain (who pitched six shutout innings Monday).
If I'm Stan Kasten, Magic Johnson and the rest of Dodgers ownership, I respect the fact that we're paying Kershaw $11 million this year but I have to know he's worth much more than that. He's a special pitcher and if the best pitcher in baseball - Justin Verlander - is worth $180 million, Kershaw has to be worth that much, if not close or more.
Kershaw's a class act who suspended negotiations talk this season - something I love when players do in any sport. His focus is on getting the team back to the playoffs as it should be. After Monday's effort made history, the ownership should focus on making sure he stays in that position for years to come.
Meanwhile, I look forward to seeing the Dodger/major league debut of Korean phenom Hyun-Jin Ryu tomorrow. And not to be outdone, but if Carl Crawford can have an impact like he did Monday, that might be the X-Factor for how far the Dodgers can go.
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