Clayton Kershaw announces retirement, cites faith and family in emotional farewell 

Major League Baseball All-Star pitcher Clayton Kershaw announced Thursday he will retire at season’s end, thanking his family and teammates as he cited his favorite Bible verse and said he is “at peace” with the decision.

On the surface, the retirement of the Los Angeles Dodgers great seems surprising: He’s 10–2 this season with a solid 3.55 ERA and has been a key contributor for a team sitting atop its division –and one that has high hopes of repeating as World Series champions.

But for the 37-year-old Kershaw, retirement gives him an opportunity to leave while he’s still at the top of his game – something that few athletes in this era get to do.

He has not played for any other Major League team.

“Going into the season, we kind of knew that this was going to be it, so we didn’t want to say anything in case I changed my mind,” the left-hander told reporters at a news conference. “But over the course of the season, just how grateful I am to have been healthy and be out on the mound and be able to pitch, I think it just made it obvious that this was a good sending-off point. And it is. I’ve had the best time this year. It’s been a blast.”

Kershaw is one of the league’s most outspoken Christians, regularly sharing his faith at public events and frequently thanking Christ during postgame interviews.

He closed his introductory statement at the press conference by citing Colossians 3:23 – the same passage listed on his social media profiles.

“My last thing is my favorite Bible verse. It’s ‘Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as you’re working for the Lord, not for men.’ … That’s what I’ve tried to do. Just work at it and love it,” he said. “I’m really not sad. I’m really not. I’m really at peace with this.”

Kershaw is one of the greatest pitchers in league history, with 11 All-Star selections, three Cy Young Awards and five ERA titles. Widely regarded as a lock for the Hall of Fame, Kershaw is one of only 20 pitchers ever to record at least 3,000 career strikeouts.

Fighting back tears, Kershaw thanked his wife, Ellen, his high school sweetheart, for her sacrifices during his 18-year career.

The couple has four children, with a fifth on the way. Television cameras often catch glimpses of her holding one of the children – everyone cheering – while their father faces a batter.

“She’s cried over some really hard losses and some really incredible milestones. She’s watched our kids fall in love with the game, with the players and watching me pitch,” he said. “… And she’s done it thousands of times, thousands of bathroom runs, all in the stadium. And the workers and ushers are their best friends now.”

Asked what he will do after baseball ends, Kershaw said he will watch his children play their own sports.

“I think I’m going to have enough kids to keep me busy for a while,” he said. “So I’m excited to not miss another game and watch all the baseball, volleyball, dance, soccer.

“What other sports do they play?” he asked his wife in the audience before he continued: “Football, basketball, everything. So I’m going to do that for a while.”

The Kershaws operate a faith-based charity, Kershaw’s Challenge, that serves at-risk and vulnerable children in Los Angeles, Dallas, Zambia and the Dominican Republic.

Baseball, he said, has given him a “platform” to make a difference off the field.

It also has allowed him to spread his faith. In 2021, Kershaw described a turning point in his teen and young adult years when he began seriously studying who Jesus was.

“If Jesus really is who He said he was, and He really did rise from the dead, then that should change our lives, and that should look drastically different than any other religion, than any other thing in our world,” he said on the Sports Spectrum podcast.

“We should be different … because of what we believe about Jesus.”

(Image credit: Screenshot/Instagram)