We’d heard plenty about this young left-handed pitcher, dating to that Sunday spring training game in Vero Beach, Florida, in March of 2008, when the young Clayton Kershaw snapped off a classic 12-to-6 curveball to strike out Boston’s Sean Casey and had Vin Scully, televising the game back to Southern California, almost swooning: “Ohhhh, what a curveball! Holy mackerel! He just broke off Public Enemy No. 1.”

We heard more about him once the minor league season began and the 20-year-old Kershaw lit up radar guns in the Florida State League, with a 1.08 ERA, 39 strikeouts and 11 walks in 33⅓ innings. I was among those in the media corps suggesting it was time to bring him to the majors, but then-Manager Joe Torre preached caution, saying in early May: “When you think you have something that

See Full Page