Clayton Kershaw, historic Dodgers pitcher, announces his retirement

(AFP) Iconic Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, 37, announced Thursday that he will retire at the end of the current Major League Baseball season.

The Dodgers released a statement on social media announcing the decision by Kershaw, who helped the team to two World Series titles (2020 and 2024) and is three-time winner of the Cy Young Award, given by the Majors to the best pitcher of the year.

The Dallas, Texas-born pitcher is scheduled to take the mound at Dodger Stadium on Friday for his final regular-season start.

Mark Walter, owner of the Los Angeles team, congratulated the pitcher "for a fabulous career" and thanked him for "so many moments of joy" given to the franchise, in which he became one of the most representative figures in the last era.

A future Hall of Famer, Kershaw will retire after completing 18 seasons with at least 222 wins and more than 3,000 strikeouts.

"I'm at peace with the decision, it's the right time, I can't think of a better season to cap my career," the slugger said Thursday prior to the series opener against the San Francisco Giants.

"We still have a lot to fight for in the rest of the season, I don't want to be a distraction, so we'll talk about this today and then let's go win games," he added.

Injuries weighed down his career

Plagued by injuries for much of 2024, Kershaw reemerged this season with a 10-2 record in 20 starts and a 3.53 ERA as the Dodgers seek a repeat World Series title under the wake of Japanese star Shohei Ohtani.

Kershaw was the Dodgers' seventh overall pick in the 2008 draft out of Dallas' Highland Park High School, and he established himself as a rising star the following season.

In 2011 he was selected to the All-Star Game for the first time and received his first Cy Young Award as the National League's top pitcher. He again pocketed the award reserved for the best pitchers in 2013 and 2014.

He led the majors in earned run average from 2011 to 2014, the year he became the second pitcher to win the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award.

Despite many succeses, injuries have also derailed his career.

A back ailment sidelined him from the diamond in 2016. But he returned to help the Dodgers win their first National League title in 2017 and then tasted success again in the World Series in 2020.

Moments to forget

Kershaw will also leave behind painful moments from his career.

In Game 5 of the 2017 World Series he surrendered a 4-0 lead against the Houston Astros and a year later shouldered the loss to the Boston Red Sox in Games 1 and 5 of the World Series.

Since the 2020 campaign, when the Dodgers beat Tampa Bay in the World Series, injuries continued to plague him and he spent several times in the operating room for left shoulder, knee and foot surgeries.

He played only seven games for his team last season, when they beat the New York Yankees in the World Series. He returned in May of this year to the pitching rotation.

The Dodgers begin a four-game series Thursday against the San Francisco Giants as they battle for the NL West division lead with the San Diego Padres.