Father Time remains undefeated.

The dreaded day has finally come.

Clayton Kershaw will take the mound at Dodger Stadium on Friday for the 228th and final time in his regular season career. Of course, it comes against the rival San Francisco Giants.

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The Dodgers announced on Thursday that Kershaw will retire following the 2025 season, officially closing the book on his 18-year Hall of Fame worthy career. The longest tenured Dodger, the last remaining piece of the Frank McCourt era, and one of just two active players to have been of a part of a Dodgers team that missed the postseason, will give the home fans one more memory as the team celebrates his career over their final three home games of the season.

Here are some reactions to Kershaw’s last hurrah.

Mookie Betts remarked on Kershaw’s loyalty and his persistence in wanting to finish his career with the same team that drafted him 19 years ago, per Mirjam Swanson of the Orange County Register.

“It’s definitely different,” said shortstop Mookie Betts, who was traded to the Dodgers from the Boston Red Sox ahead of the 2020 season. “I’d say virtually nobody plays with the same team for their whole career now, and so for him to do it and be a legend, that just shows who he is and what he means to the Dodgers.

Miguel Rojas spoke with Kirsten Watson of SportsNet LA prior to the Dodgers’ win against the Giants on Thursday, and admitted that he was shocked by Kershaw’s decision, but congratulated him on an excellent career.

From facing him in October to being teammates for four seasons, Freddie Freeman spoke with Kirsten Watson about Kershaw’s legacy after Thursday’s game, what it was like to be competing with and against him, and what Friday’s game means for the rest of the team.

“You’re in awe when playing against him, and I got to play against him for 12 years. Every time you step in the box, it is not fun. It was not fun to face him. You knew it was going to be a tough night at the yard. But then you come over here, and you see his daily work ethic… He deserves everything he’s going to get from the fans tomorrow… Whatever happens out there tomorrow, it’s Clayton Kershaw’s night, and I can’t wait to be a part of it.”

Andy McCullough of The Athletic writes about Clayton Kershaw’s decision to keep playing despite the fact that he had pondered retirement after the Dodgers were swept by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 2023 NLDS. He also shares how former rivals, such as Paul Goldschmidt and Madison Bumgarner, reflect on his illustrious career.

“He’s, like, my favorite guy in baseball,” long-time National League rival Paul Goldschmidt told me. “My favorite player. I hate to say that about a pitcher. I kind of joke, like, I’d spend money to buy his jersey.”

Added former San Francisco Giants rival Madison Bumgarner, “I think he’s the best pitcher to ever play, myself.”

From the bottom of our hearts, thank you, Clayton, for everything. Even through the highs of the regular season and the all too frequent postseason meltdowns, thank you. Thank you for 18 years of greatness and loyalty to the Dodgers. It will be all too bittersweet to watch the no. 22 be retired and to see him be inducted in Cooperstown in 2031.

Roki Sasaki made his first appearance out of the bullpen for the Triple-A Oklahoma City Comets, and his fastball reached a maximum speed of 100.1 miles per hour. Sonja Chen at MLB.com notes that Sasaki has a case for being in the postseason bullpen, especially considering how the pitching staff performed on Thursday.

Mookie Betts had Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Nick Castellanos on the most recent episode of On Base with Mookie Betts, where the two discussed a controversial moment where a woman snatched a home run ball away from a young fan during a game between the Phillies and Miami Marlins.

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Per Castellanos: “Whenever I’m playing catch, I always aim for a kid. You always have that ambitious adult sometimes that will come and grab it. This woman was obviously mad about a lot of other things in her life… Now, everything she has been mad about in her life for years all came out in this one moment where she felt like this man stole her opportunity for happiness.”