Clayton Kershaw is about to make his playoff broadcasting debut, and he’s doing it in a spot that is guaranteed to get a reaction in San Diego.
The longtime Dodgers left-hander will be on the NBC Sports call for the Padres’ Wild Card series opener against the Cubs on Tuesday night. It’s a notable assignment for Kershaw, but it’s the kind of news that will land very differently depending on which side of the rivalry you’re on.
For Padres fans, the name alone brings back a long stretch of misery. Kershaw faced San Diego 50 times in his 18 seasons, starting 48 of those games, according to Baseball Reference.
He went 24-11 with a 2.17 ERA against the Padres, striking out 320 while allowing 213 hits. Over those outings, he gave up 88 runs, and only 74 were earned.
That kind of track record makes the broadcast choice easy to understand from NBC’s perspective. Kershaw’s Hall of Fame-caliber résumé gives him instant credibility as the “Inside the Pitch” analyst. But it also means Padres fans will have to sit with a familiar face tied to a lot of bad memories.
Friars on Base’s Tremayne Person put it plainly, writing that the Padres “have spent the better part of two decades watching him ruin nights.”
“The résumé explains why NBC hired him. The uniform explains why the Friars don’t want to see it,” Person wrote.
Person added that Kershaw “will probably be terrific” in the booth, but said that won’t be enough to calm down Padres fans.
“Rivalries carry memory. Kershaw wasn’t some anonymous, brief middle reliever who passed through LA,” Person wrote. “He was the face of the Dodgers’ rotation, a future Hall of Famer and a recurring reminder of the gap San Diego spent years trying to close.”
So while Kershaw gets his first crack at postseason television, Padres fans are left hearing from one of the most familiar tormentors in their recent history. Dodgers fans, naturally, seem to be having a good time with the whole thing.
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