Clayton Edward Kershaw was born on March 19, 1988 in Dallas, Texas. He is a 28 year old left-handed strikeout American professional baseball pitcher and plays for the Los Angeles Dodgers team. He made his debut in the year 2008 and was the youngest player in his team. In 2016, he was at rank 33 among the world’s highest paid athletes.
Biography and Family of Clayton Kershaw:
Christopher George Kershaw, a musician, was the father of Clayton Kershaw. He was born on May 24, 1949 and died in the year 2013. He went to college at Southern Methodist University and directed his first music at the young age of 18. He also won the Clio award for his work in music. He had a deep bond with his sister and Clayton’s aunt Joanne Margaret Brockman.
Clyde Tombaugh was the great-uncle of Clayton. He was an astronomer who discovered Pluto in 1930 along with asteroids and UFOs.
Marianne Tombaugh is the mother of Clayton who is Clyde Tombaugh’s niece. Clayton is the only child of his parents and has no siblings. He got married to Ellen Melson in 2010 and they have a daughter named Cali Ann who was born in the year 2015.
Early Life and Education:
Clayton went to school at Highland Park high school and had been a baseball player since school days. He performed extraordinarily and was selected by USA Today as ‘High School Baseball Player of the Year’ when he struck out all 15 batters during a match. He played in youth sports leagues in school including the Little League Baseball.
Career:
Clayton Kershaw started his career in pitching with Gulf Coast League Dodgers. He highlighted a ball at 154km/hr and was rated Dodger’s second best in his first match by Baseball America. His pitching style relies on double-dealing the batter. He wears ‘22’ number on his jersey to honor Will Clark who is a former first baseman. He is known to be a perfectionist by the fellow teammates.
Major Matches Played:
In 2011, he struck out 11 batters from Detroit Tigers team in just nine innings. And allowed no runs to the team winning the game by 4-0.
- On May 12, 2016, his team played against the New York Mets. Even after having a herniated disc in his back he performed out of the ordinary.
- In 2015, San Francisco Giants ended up losing from the Dodger’s team by getting 13 batters struck out by Kershaw.
- He struck out 55 batters in 42 innings during a match played against San Diego Padres in the year 2016.
- His best game so far has been considered as the match against Colorado Rockies played in 2014. The match is also known to be the best nine-innings match of modern baseball history. Clayton and his team scored eight runs on the evening of June 18, 2014. Kershaw pitched a no-hitter in this very match and ended up striking out 15 batters.
Achievements:
Clayton won the Pitching Triple Crown in 2011.
He was awarded with three Cy Young Awards.
He also won the title of Most Valuable Player in the year 2014.
Clayton Kershaw was the 22nd pitcher to pitch a no-hitter in 2014.
He led MLB for four consecutive years from 2011-2014.
He is the face of Wilson Sporting goods and Subway.
He has co-authored a book with his wife titled “Arise” to raise money for an orphanage.
Kershaw was awarded the Roberto Clemente Award and also the Branch Rickey award for his altruistic work.
Net worth:
As of 2015, he has an estimated net worth of $40 million.