Kershaw retires -- again -- after time with Team USA

HOUSTON -- Clayton Kershaw has hung ‘em up. Again.

Team USA’s 5-3 win over Canada in the quarterfinals of the World Baseball Classic on Friday night at Daikin Park served as Kershaw’s final game on an active roster. He’ll be replaced prior to the semifinals against the Dominican Republic by Blue Jays right-hander Jeff Hoffman, as the U.S. will no longer have a need for the low-leverage “break glass in case of emergency” role that temporarily coaxed the Dodgers great and future Hall of Famer out of retirement.

Though Kershaw did not make any appearances for Team USA, aside from an exhibition outing against the Rockies, he said this experience was every bit as gratifying as he thought it would be.

“I’m definitely glad I did it,” Kershaw said Friday. “Being around this group is a fun way to end it, honestly. I got to know some of these guys that are kind of the faces of the game moving forward, and I got to meet them and watch them up close. It’s been a blessing.”

Kershaw, who will join NBC Sports’ pregame coverage this year, blessed the Dodgers and MLB with his talent for 18 seasons, winning an MVP, three Cy Youngs and five ERA titles and making 11 All-Star appearances. And he went out in the best way possible -- a World Series champion.

His final trip to the mound proved to be an impactful one -- a key out recorded in relief at Dodger Stadium in the 18-inning epic that was a Game 3 win over the Blue Jays.

“It's hard to describe,” Kershaw said of that ending. “Like in a 100 million years, I never would have thought that it would be that perfect of an ending. Baseball's not easy, and we’ve had a lot of ups and downs in this thing. But to be able to go out like that and for us to end up winning that game and end up winning the World Series, I mean, to get to run on that field one last time with my teammates, you really can't script it. I'm just so grateful and thankful for the time that it was and how it happened.

While the World Baseball Classic is not the World Series, Kershaw said it does inspire similar emotions.

“The guys that I talked to that had done this before told me that it really feels like a playoff atmosphere and that the intensity is real,” Kershaw said. “You can see by the guys that have signed up. They didn’t just do it for fun. They want to win. And the intensity and atmosphere has been a blast. I put it in a separate bucket from the World Series, just because it’s different. But the intensity and atmosphere and the desire to win, all those elements are there.”

And Kershaw will be there, in Miami, rooting on his teammates. He was headed home to Dallas after the quarterfinals and then flying to Miami with his family during his kids’ spring break.

So for Kershaw, who turns 38 next week, the transition from player to fan will happen basically overnight.

“The game is in good hands, you know?” he said. “These guys are special, special players and really good humans.”