Clayton Kershaw has won three National League Cy Young Awards, one N.L. Most Valuable Player Award and a World Series. He has thrown a no-hitter and compiled a near-certain Hall of Fame résumé.
But he has never thrown a perfect game, and his best chance at accomplishing that exceptionally rare feat may have disappeared thanks to circumstances including a manager’s decision, his age and recent injury history and, possibly even, the owner-imposed lockout that threw Major League Baseball into uncertainty this winter.
Kershaw, 34, was absolutely dominant in his first start of the season, striking out 13 Minnesota Twins over seven innings and 80 pitches on a cold, 38-degree day at Target Field in Minneapolis.