Clayton Kershaw made his season debut Saturday, and although his performance over four innings was forgettable, he still added another accomplishment to his illustrious career.
Kershaw has now played in 18 seasons for the Dodgers, tying the franchise record held by outfielder Zack Wheat and shortstop Bill Russell. Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts may have taken over as the team’s big stars, but Kershaw’s role in helping Los Angeles become a powerhouse should not be understated.
And like Russell, Kershaw has never played for any other major league team. That makes his tenure in Los Angeles even more special.
Here’s a list of each team’s longest-tenured player who spent his whole career with that franchise in that city. Only current teams — in their current locations — are included. So the Athletics are left out, and so are stars like Mel Ott, who spent 22 seasons with the Giants before they moved to San Francisco.
Baltimore Orioles: Brooks Robinson (23 seasons)
Boston Red Sox: Carl Yastrzemski (23)
Chicago Cubs: Cap Anson (22)
St. Louis Cardinals: Stan Musial (22)
Detroit Tigers: Al Kaline (22)
Chicago White Sox: Ted Lyons (21)
Kansas City Royals: George Brett (21)
Pittsburgh Pirates: Willie Stargell (21)
Cleveland Guardians: Mel Harder (20)
Milwaukee Brewers: Robin Yount (20)
San Diego Padres: Tony Gwynn (20)
Houston Astros: Craig Biggio (20)
New York Yankees: Derek Jeter (20)
Cincinnati Reds: Dave Concepcion and Barry Larkin (19)
Atlanta Braves: Chipper Jones (19)
New York Mets: Ed Kranepool (18)
Los Angeles Dodgers: Bill Russell and Clayton Kershaw (18)
Philadelphia Phillies: Mike Schmidt (18)
Seattle Mariners: Edgar Martinez (18)
Colorado Rockies: Todd Helton (17)
Washington Nationals: Ryan Zimmerman (16)
Minnesota Twins: Tony Oliva and Joe Mauer (15)
Los Angeles Angels: Mike Trout (15)
San Francisco Giants: Jim Davenport and Matt Cain (13)
Toronto Blue Jays: Garth Iorg (nine)
Texas Rangers: Rusty Greer (nine)
Tampa Bay Rays: Brandon Lowe (eight)
Arizona Diamondbacks: Brandon Webb, Kevin Ginkel and Merrill Kelly (seven)
Miami Marlins: Jesús Sánchez (six)
Feast or famine
There are three pitchers with 6-0 records in the major leagues right now. One is former Cy Young Award winner Robbie Ray of the Giants. Another is prized free agent acquisition Max Fried of the Yankees.
The third? Reliever Jorge López of the Nationals, who is somehow 6-0 despite a 6.86 ERA.
This isn’t a case of López constantly giving up leads and then having his teammates rescue him offensively. In four of his six victories, he produced a scoreless outing, and he allowed one run in the other two. The reason his ERA is so high is because he’s already had three outings allowing at least three runs — and didn’t pick up a decision in any of them.
In the live ball era, the most wins a pitcher has received in a season with an ERA over 6.00 — while pitching exclusively in relief — is seven. Bob Kline went 7-2 with a 6.80 ERA for the Senators and A’s in 1934, George Frazier went 7-8 with a 6.39 ERA for the Cubs in 1985, and Curt Leskanic went 7-5 with a 6.23 ERA for the Rockies in 1996.
Trivia time
Which two players spent their entire 21-year careers with one team, but did not make the list above? One of them played for a team that is no longer in that city. The other was with a franchise that had another player with an even longer tenure.
Line of the week
Wilmer Flores homered three times and drove in eight runs to lead the San Francisco Giants to a 13-5 win over the Athletics on Friday night. Flores is hitting .258 with just 12 extra-base hits, but he leads the majors with 42 RBIs. Flores is hitting .395 with runners in scoring position.
Comeback of the week
The Rockies won a wild 14-12 game Saturday, and it wasn’t even at Coors Field.
Colorado had a 3.2% chance of winning according to Baseball Savant when it fell behind 11-6 in the bottom of the fifth. Then the Rockies scored four runs in the sixth and three in the seventh on the way to their eighth win of the season.
The next day? Arizona beat Colorado 1-0.
Trivia answer
Walter Johnson spent his whole 21-year career with the Washington Senators, who are now the Minnesota Twins. Cal Ripken Jr. played 21 seasons for the Orioles, two shy of Robinson’s mark.
___
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
