{"id":502058,"date":"2026-01-01T22:20:20","date_gmt":"2026-01-01T22:20:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/502058\/"},"modified":"2026-01-01T22:20:20","modified_gmt":"2026-01-01T22:20:20","slug":"dodgers-mookie-betts-freddie-freeman-send-final-messages-before-clayton-kershaw-enters-retirement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/502058\/","title":{"rendered":"Dodgers’ Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman send final messages before Clayton Kershaw enters retirement"},"content":{"rendered":"

After 18 seasons in MLB and a lifetime with the Los Angeles Dodgers<\/a>, Clayton Kershaw is bringing an end to a historic career that will surely culminate in the Hall of Fame. Against this backdrop, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, and his former teammates sent a heartfelt message to the legendary pitcher.<\/p>\n

Kershaw<\/a> could not have dreamed of a better ending than the one he had, as in his final game as a professional, he was crowned World Series champion for the third time in his career. He will undoubtedly be missed by Dodgers Nation, and in a video published by the franchise on their official X (formerly Twitter) account, his former teammates sent heartfelt farewell messages.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlright 22, you know, it\u2019s been six years, bro,\u201d Betts<\/a> said. \u201cThat\u2019s a long time to play with someone like you. You have shown me what being a Dodger is supposed to look like. So, I thank you for that. I thank you for just your hard work, your blood, sweat and tears. I thank you for being here, winning two World Series and on our way to another one\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I just hope everything goes your way, bro. You\u2019ve done it the right way. You treat everybody in a beautiful manner. And I just thank you for being a great example\u2026 Good luck in your retirement and I\u2019ll see you on the links soon,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Freddie Freeman<\/a>, who faced Kershaw with the Atlanta Braves and is 8-25 with a homer and 2 RBIs in 28 plate appearances against him in his career, won two World Series with Clayton as a teammate and spoke of the great honor of having been able to share the field with him.<\/p>\n

\u201cHey Clayton, first off I just want to say congratulations on a first ballot Hall of Fame career that you\u2019ve had,\u201d Freeman noted. \u201cIt\u2019s been an honor to be on the field with you, compete against you, just everything. You\u2019re the epitome of what a great baseball player is. And even better person\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"Clayton<\/p>\n

see also<\/p>\n

Clayton Kershaw fires back at critics, compares Dodgers\u2019 dominance to NY Yankees\u2019 dynasty<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to miss, you know, your singing voice in the weight room. Shirtless Sundays. Being in the tube with you 40,000 feet up in the air, miss those flights. Just miss you. You know, everything that you bring to the Dodgers organization over your career, it\u2019s been an honor to be your teammate,\u201d Freeman concluded.<\/p>\n

Kershaw turned down offer to join Dodgers front office<\/p>\n

Having spent his entire career with the Dodgers, Kershaw will always be linked to the organization, and it would come as no surprise if he eventually ends up working within the franchise. However, despite receiving an offer to continue working with the Dodgers, Kershaw decided to turn it down, as the three-time World Series Champion wants to dedicate more time to his family.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the waning days of Kershaw\u2019s career, Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman approached him with an offer to stick around as a member of the baseball operations department. Kershaw was flattered by the offer. \u2018I don\u2019t think I have any full-time jobs in my future,\u2019 he said. \u2018Except full-time dad,\u2019\u201d Andy McCullough of The Athletic reported.<\/p>\n

It is a logical decision for Kershaw, who along with his wife, Ellen, has four children with a fifth on the way. In the future, it wouldn\u2019t be far-fetched for him to join the Dodgers\u2019 front office in a full-time role or as a special advisor; it\u2019s simply that now is not the right time to do so.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After 18 seasons in MLB and a lifetime with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Clayton Kershaw is bringing an…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":502059,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2406],"tags":[5,1147,39,815,1165,4332,4333,774,57,3224,4331,4,1526],"class_list":{"0":"post-502058","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles-dodgers","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-clayton-kershaw","10":"tag-dodgers","11":"tag-freddie-freeman","12":"tag-la","13":"tag-la-dodgers","14":"tag-ladodgers","15":"tag-los-angeles","16":"tag-los-angeles-dodgers","17":"tag-losangeles","18":"tag-losangelesdodgers","19":"tag-mlb","20":"tag-mookie-betts"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/115822174185464143","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/502058","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=502058"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/502058\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/502059"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=502058"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=502058"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=502058"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}