Clayton Kershaw pitched five-innings of one-run ball on Sunday against the St. Louis Cardinals to collect his first victory of the 2025 campaign and perhaps the Los Angeles Dodgers hurler was fired up a bit by a choice made by the home team before he ever stepped on the rubber.
Fans settling into their seats for the afternoon affair were treated to a highlight of former Cardinals slugger Matt Adams taking the future Hall of Fame lefty deep for a three-run home run back in the 2014 postseason. Kershaw apparently didn't much care for that.
#Dodgers lefty Clayton Kershaw on the #STLCards showing this Matt Adams three-run HR from the 2014 NLDS in the pregame (via @jmjones ): “I think it’s a little bush league, but I don’t expect anything less from these guys. So, it’s no worries.” pic.twitter.com/qSINX7FBgW
— John Denton (@JohnDenton555) June 8, 2025
"I think it's a little Bush League, but I don't expect anything less from these guys so it's no worries," he told reporters postgame.
Surrendering the home run to Adams 11 years ago led to yet another surprising and early elimination for the Dodgers and added to the narrative that Kershaw could not perform up to his incredibly high standard in October. It's obviously a lowlight for him and not something they'll be re-showing when he is welcomed into Cooperstown.
At the same time, he's had just a bit of success since then and exorcized most of, if not all, those demons. And the Adams home run is certainly something that happened. Showing a clip of it while most interested parties are too busy with their heads down in a nacho bite or filling out their scorecards doesn't seem like an egregious act.
But inspiration can be found in interesting places and Kershaw channeled it into a stellar performance.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Clayton Kershaw Calls Cardinals 'Bush League' For Showing Old Highlight on Scoreboard.
