Prologue: Prologue: Clayton Kershaw's Significance in Major League Baseball History

Dallas Prospect: A baseball prospect who loves chicken fingers
Parents: If music and art can be a bad match
STORY | Little Baseball King and Carly's Routine
Wife: CTonga06 and EllenMelon87
Childhood: A Dallas kid with a crush on number 22
School days: Dreaming of becoming a professional athlete
STORY | Who the hell is this guy?
Senior year: The season couldn't be more perfect.
STORY | The 'One, Two, Three' Pitching Form That Changed My Destiny
RECORD | Perfect game with three strikeouts

Minor Leaguer Kershaw, the ruler of the minor leagues
Draft of Destiny: 2006
RECORD | Dodgers' phone call turns around, 2005 prospect signing fails
STORY | The Ridiculous Experiences of Potential First-Round Draft Pick Kershaw
Most Notable High School Pitcher: Dodgers' No. 1 Pick
STORY | $2.3 Million in 'Money'
COLUMN┃'Kershaw out, OOO'... Why did they draft another player?
Minor League: Kershaw's Homework on Bombing the Minor Leagues
STORY | Kershaw, the minor leaguer who almost became a trade target
Promotion to the Major Leagues: Early Graduation, Big League
RECORD | Kershaw's minor league career highlights from his 2008 major league promotion
RECORD | Clayton Kershaw's Career Minor League Performance

The Ace of the Dodgers: A Real Major Leaguer Becomes an Ace
Kershaw's Major League Debut: A Tough Major League Game
COLUMN┃Kershaw, the All-Round Player: From Defense to Checkpoints to Hitting
COLUMN┃Kershaw's Pitch Characteristics and the Fly Ball Revolution
STORY┃My Relationship with Hiroki Kuroda and Team First
As the Dodgers' ace: Growing into a top-tier pitcher in the majors
RECORD┃Winners of the Cy Young Award four or more times
STORY | The Trio We Loved Back Then
RECORD | LA Dodgers Legendary Pitchers

3,000 strikeouts: Kershaw makes history and goes down in history.
Playoffs: Kershaw's Struggles with Injury
COLUMN┃A Nightmare in the Postseason, Still a Happy Ending
RECORD | Cy Young Award Winners by LA Dodgers Pitchers
Dodgers Icon: The Ace's Final Journey
STORY | Kershaw and Ohtani's First Matchup
RECORD | Career batting averages against Clayton Kershaw (limited to batters who faced him at least 30 times)
RECORD | Ranking of lowest career batting averages against Clayton Kershaw (limited to batters who faced him at least 50 times)
RECORD | Major Injury Log
COLUMN┃The Road to 3000K
STORY | Clayton Kershaw's Final MLB Regular Season Appearance

Epilogue

On May 22, 2008, Kershaw was finally promoted to the major leagues after playing his final minor league game.
Three days later, on May 25th, his major league debut was against the St. Louis Cardinals, who were in second place in the National League Central Division at the time.
The opposing team's batting lineup was lined with veteran players, and it seemed like a very harsh situation for a rookie pitcher.
But Kershaw did his part with six solid innings of pitching and led the team to victory.
And on July 27th of that year, in his tenth start, he finally made a name for himself by recording his first major league win.


In 2009, Kershaw showed enough growth to be evaluated as having evolved once again.
With a fastball averaging 94 miles per hour and a curveball with a large drop, he dominated the batters, striking out 9.7 batters per nine innings. The following year, in 2010, he added a slider to expand his pitch arsenal, and recorded double-digit wins for the first time since his debut.
Now in his third year in the major leagues, he has established himself as the Dodgers' undisputed starting pitcher.
Kershaw was one of the hardest-throwing pitchers in the league, but he wasn't just "fast."
He knew how to take away the timing of the batter, and that made him an unassailable pitcher.


In 2011, Kershaw won the Cy Young Award, the highest honor for pitchers, winning the Triple Crown.
He continued his dazzling performance in 2013 and 2014.
In particular, in 2014, he had a near-perfect season, winning the most wins, leading the league in ERA, and striking out 239 batters.
That year, Kershaw won both the Cy Young Award and the MVP, becoming only the 11th pitcher in major league history to win both titles simultaneously.
Although he suffered from frequent injuries from 2015 to 2017, he still consistently led the team and showed the appearance of a veteran.
He finally achieved 2,000 career strikeouts, becoming the 79th pitcher in history to do so and winning his third career wins.

Kershaw played for the Los Angeles Dodgers for 18 seasons, demonstrating what it means to be an ace pitcher, and he served as a symbol representing the Dodgers' overall style and spirit beyond just individual achievement.
In "Player 24 - Clayton Kershaw," Kershaw's nearly 20-year career with the Dodgers is captured in detail, capturing his special memories and ending his career perfectly with a victory in his final season.
Another unique appeal of this book is that it conveys Kershaw and the Dodgers' 18-year journey through colorful images, along with insightful writing by two baseball expert journalists.

Texas boy, Dodgers' eternal heart!
The king of the mound, with blue blood flowing,
MLB's best pitcher, Clayton Kershaw

Clayton Kershaw was a pitcher who dominated the major leagues with his natural talent, but his upbringing was by no means smooth.
As a child, Kershaw's mother, Marianne, worked tirelessly to raise him in a better environment.
She had to work hard to pay for her son's baseball away games and to live in an area where he could be a good influence, and Kershaw, who had difficulty receiving motherly care, sometimes had to eat at friends' houses.
Those experiences taught Kershaw a sense of responsibility and desperation early on, and he took the mound with the desperate thought, "If I don't get drafted, my family might fall apart."


His life changed when he was selected by the LA Dodgers in the rookie draft.
The first thing he did with his $2.3 million deposit was to pay off his family's debt.
Even after his success, Kershaw never lost his frugality and sincerity, and lived as an 'icon of responsibility' who devoted himself to his family more than anyone else.
Even after becoming a major leaguer, his attitude towards life did not change much, to the point where he was teased by his friends when shopping with him because he sometimes did not buy ordinary sneakers because they were more expensive than expected.

The memory of waiting for his father, who was late as a child, made him into the father who never misses his children's games.
He is so devoted to his family that he says spending time with his kids has helped him shake off any guilt or negative thoughts about mistakes or lost games, allowing him to focus more on baseball.


By his side was his wife, Ellen Melson, who was always there with faith and love.
Ellen and her family embraced Kershaw warmly during those uncertain times, especially Ellen's mother, who, upon learning of Kershaw's financial difficulties, invited him to dinner more often and, when she learned that he had no shoes for a school dance, gave him a pair of shoes as a gift, taking Kershaw in as if he were her own child.


Since then, Kershaw and Ellen have been proving their beliefs through action, working together on charity and volunteer work.
"Player 24 - Clayton Kershaw" is not simply a biography summarizing the successful career of a great player, but rather a story about a player who, even in difficult times, remained unshaken and worked desperately for his team and family.
This book contains 'Everything About Kershaw', which allows you to feel his healthy mind that grew up upright even in a difficult environment, his talent as a baseball player and professional sports player, as well as his deep faith and actions, and his love for his team, teammates, and fans.

Now, Kershaw will conclude his long career as a professional athlete, a baseball player, a major leaguer, and a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers, and move on to the next chapter of his life.
With just a couple of months left until the end of 2025, and Kershaw wrapping up his career as a player and embarking on a new path, this book would be a wonderful gift for any baseball fan.
Even if you're a baseball fan who doesn't like Major League Baseball, the LA Dodgers, or Clayton Kershaw, I can assure you that this book is well worth owning.