RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif. – About an hour before first pitch, Clayton Kershaw sits in the middle of left field, not stretching. Two months since his last start, he’s alone, with his hat on and his knees bent, lost in thought. The crowd of reverent fans, many clad in Dodger blue with No. 22 on their backs, form a mass on the left-field wall and raise their phones above their heads and to the right, as if drawn to a magnet.
This isn’t Dodger Stadium but LoanMart Field — home to the Quakes, the Dodgers’ Class A advanced affiliate. And for the past hour, starting at around 5 p.m., fans have been lining up and piling in, ready to see the best pitcher on the planet pitch against the Modesto Nuts.
News came the day before that Kershaw would start here as part of a rehab assignment, his first live-game action since June 26 in Pittsburgh. “Saturday nights are already the most popular, because it’s fireworks night,” said Mike Lindskog, the voice of the Quakes on FoxSports 1350. “But when the word came that Kershaw was pitching, it took 30 minutes to sell out.”
Fans quickly noticed the difference. “It only gets anywhere close to this on bobblehead nights,” one fan said.
At 7:05 p.m. Kershaw took the mound, wearing home white and No. 40, every eye in the ballpark fixated on the mound. Few of the 4,700 in attendance milled about at concessions or the team store. Everyone wanted to see the star throw.
Kershaw started with two easy strikeouts and retired the third batter with a grounder to short. Another strikeout started the second. On the next batter, Kershaw threw one of those curveballs that floats over the top, then drops in for a strike, eliciting rousing oohs and aahs from the crowd. He got his fifth strikeout to open the third, then allowed his only hit when Modesto’s Robbie Perkins dribbled a ball just past home plate and catcher Will Smith was off target on the throw to first. A 6-4-3 double play ensured Kershaw left the game with no balls making it out of the infield.
“His slider was nasty, and his fastball was pretty good. That curveball, which wasn’t really on tonight, but when he’s got that on, you can see why he’s NL MVP.”
Rancho Cucamonga Quakes catcher Will Smith on working with Clayton Kershaw
And just like that, after some 20 minutes on the mound Kershaw was done. He threw 34 pitches on the night, 23 of which were strikes, with his fastball hitting 94 mph. After leaving the game, Kershaw threw about 15 more pitches in the bullpen to reach his pitch count. The crowd congregated again along the left-field wall, phones in hand, peering over each other at Kershaw working.
“He’s obviously the best pitcher I’ve ever caught,” said Smith, a Dodgers first-round selection out of Louisville in 2015. “I got to learn a bit from him.”
The biggest differences, Smith said, were in Kershaw’s command and sequence of pitches. “His slider was nasty, and his fastball was pretty good. That curveball, which wasn’t really on tonight, but when he’s got that on, you can see why he’s NL MVP.”
It was when talking about the curveball, which Kershaw himself said wasn’t up to par, that Smith had the widest eyes.
After Kershaw left the bullpen, the mass of fans drifted to the nondescript green door marking the home team’s clubhouse exit. A metal gate and a law enforcement officer stood between the fans and the door, and the crowd ballooned up the stairway for more than half an hour, waiting for Kershaw to come out. “Where is Clayton Kershaw?” one girl asked loudly of her mother.
Finally, Kershaw emerged, taller than the fans and employees. Wearing a dark blue shirt and blue equipment bag over his right shoulder, he walked slowly down the outdoor corridor with fans following in a trail outside the gate. He didn’t smile and didn’t speak, looking calm but tired. He stopped near the front of the gate and signed some balls amid clamoring cheers. He walked past more crowd, signed more balls and exited toward a black Suburban.
After the start, Kershaw said he thought he’d pitch in the majors in four or five days, and Dodgers manager Dave Roberts has since confirmed he’ll be back on the mound in Miami on Friday. But for one night in Rancho Cucamonga, with just three innings pitched, Kershaw was the main event.
With the black Suburban gone, the crowd dispersed back into the corridors and the walkways to catch the rest of the game. But one member of the Quakes staff stood for a moment, looking back at the now deserted gate, and said, “That was awesome.”
