With fall now upon us, baseball’s regular season has come to a close.
And as eight teams (four from each league) tirelessly compete against each other in an effort to call themselves World Series champions, all eyes are on Clayton Kershaw, Major League Baseball’s best active pitcher, to see if he can finally seal the deal.
A rookie at age 20, Kershaw has been masterful for the past four seasons, posting an average ERA of 2.11. Kershaw, now 26, has fashioned himself into the best lefty pitcher since Sandy Koufax. Some would say that he is the best pitcher – period – since Koufax.
Over the past four seasons, Kershaw received two Cy Young awards, posting ERAs of 2.28 and 1.83 in 2011 and 2013, respectively. There is even a good argument to be made that he should have won the award in 2012, which went to R.A. Dickey instead.
Over the course of his seven-season career, Kershaw posted an ERA+ of 151. This means that on average, Kershaw was at least 50 percent better than the rest of the league he played in. And while wins are not the most accurate way of assessing a pitcher’s ability on the field, he has racked up two 20-win seasons.
Now, while I do not have the power to see into the future, it is safe to assume that Kershaw will, yet again, receive the 2014 National League Cy Young Award. If he does, it will be his third, tying himself with Koufax, another Dodger great.
From 1962 to 1966, Koufax was untouchable, posting an 1.95 ERA. He was 67 percent better than the league he played in based on his ERA+ and put up a total win-loss record of 111-34. In 1963, Koufax finished 25-5 with a 1.88 ERA. That year, he not only won the Cy Young award, but he also took home the Most Valuable Player Award (MVP) along the way to lead the Dodgers over the Yankees in the World Series. From 1965 to 1966 he had a combined ERA of 1.89, winning 26 games in 1965 and 27 in 1966. Koufax earned his other two Cy Young awards in both seasons.
1966 proved to be Koufax’s best year in what also happened to be his last. Despite being swept by Hank Bauer’s Orioles in the World Series, Koufax posted an ERA+ of 190 – in other words, almost 100 percent better than the rest of the MLB.
When Koufax retired following the loss to the Orioles, he had four World Series rings (one in 1955 as a rookie, 1959, 1963 and 1965), three Cy Young awards (at a time when only one award was given to both leagues), one MVP award and a career ERA of 2.76. This was all for a man who left baseball at the age of 30.
If Kershaw is the recipient of this year’s National League Cy Young Award, then he too will have three to call his own. But what Kershaw has yet to develop is a winning resume in the postseason.
In the six playoff series that he has partaken in, Kershaw is 1-4 with a mediocre 5.20 ERA. This includes his most recent performance in Friday night’s loss to the Saint Louis Cardinals, in which he allowed seven runs.
It’s also important to note that Koufax never played on teams that had the strong offensive presence that Kershaw has been blessed with. All Koufax needed was one run. For Kershaw, this has not been the case.
Perhaps the comparison is a bit unfair given the fact that Kershaw is in the prime of his career and has just signed a contract through the 2021 season. However, the questions still remain. Will Clayton Kershaw go down in history as the greatest pitcher in baseball history? Probably not. But will he go down as one of the greatest pitchers of his generation? Most likely, assuming that no catastrophic injury occurs. Lastly, will he fashion himself into a better and more affective pitcher than Sandy Koufax? Only time will tell.
Isaac Simon can be reached at [email protected].
