THE LAST OF HIS KIND

A portrait of a great pitcher in action.

By sportswriter McCullough’s estimation, Clayton Kershaw (b. 1988) is “the best left-handed pitcher of his generation, the spiritual heir to Sandy Koufax.” It didn’t hurt that Kershaw, pitching for the Los Angeles Dodgers, took notes from Koufax himself. At 27, Kershaw had already won three Cy Young Awards, pitched more than 1,600 innings, and signed one of the richest contracts in baseball history. There were technically better pitchers out there; as the author notes, “Kershaw threw hard, but others threw harder. His curveball and his slider were sharp, but others were nastier.” What Kershaw had in abundance, though, was a competitive sense that caused him to try just that much harder. Raised in Dallas, Kershaw courted controversy by speaking out for the Black Lives Matter movement, a sentiment born of growing up without much money in a town full of it. That circumstance was also motivation for excellence, since “Kershaw did not want to flame out and leave his mother strapped with bills.” McCullough delivers a view of a fundamentally decent man with the usual foibles, one who brings kindness as well as ungodly pitches to the game. Kershaw, for example, ended the hazing of rookies, holding them up “as teammates trying to help capture a title” and sitting next to them in the dugout, quietly coaching them during the game. The author also addresses the financial realities of a sport turned into a big business, where players come and go as pawns on the board, especially when the chips are down. Whatever Kershaw winds up doing, though, this vigorous account gives the sense that he will do it well.

Dodgers fans and aspiring pro pitchers alike will enjoy this report of how a master of the diamond works his magic.