More Than a Trophy: 2025 Title Serves as Kershaw’s “Capstone” and a “New Chapter” for Dodgers.vc

The Dodgers’ back-to-back World Series title “feels different.” Clayton Kershaw’s emotional retirement comments have “stirred” the baseball world, signaling the closing of old chapters and the dawn of a new dynasty.

LOS ANGELES — As the Los Angeles Dodgers celebrate their second consecutive World Series championship, there is an undeniable feeling that this title “feels different.”

As many Dodgers fans have sensed, this wasn’t just about securing another “trophy.” This was a “capstone”—a moment that both closed an era and officially launched a “new chapter.”

The “shift” in how the team sees its place in the game is encapsulated by the context surrounding franchise legend, Clayton Kershaw. His comments, set against the backdrop of his September retirement announcement, have “stirred” the baseball world and defined the true weight of this victory.

Measuring the Weight of a Title

Fans are asking, “How do we measure the weight of a title? Is it just the trophy, or the journey and memories that come with it?”

The 2025 championship answered that question definitively.

• 2020: That title was about relief—breaking the 32-year curse.
• 2024: That title was about expectation—the “super-team” of Ohtani, Betts, and Freeman proving they could win it all.
• 2025: This title was about legacy.

The entire 2025 postseason was Kershaw’s “Last Dance.” The decade-long “journey” for the Dodgers had been defined by Kershaw’s quest to overcome his October demons. Now, that “old chapter” is officially closed.

The “Capstone” Moment That Stirred the World

The “shift” is that the Dodgers are no longer Kershaw’s team, trying to win one for him. They are the new dynasty that got to send its legend off in the most perfect way possible.

After the final out of Game 7—a game he was famously warming up for in the bullpen—he wasn’t sad. He was at peace.

This is the comment that “stirred” the baseball world and defined the “capstone”:

“It’s not a sad feeling. It really isn’t. I mean, how cool is this? I will forever for the rest of my life be able to say we won Game 7 of the World Series in the last game I ever played,” Kershaw shared. “You can’t script that… It’s just the perfect way to end it.”

That is the “weight” of this title. It’s not just a trophy; it’s a perfectly scripted ending. The burden of the “Kershaw narrative” is lifted, replaced by the “memories” of a three-time champion.

The New Chapter Begins

The “new chapter” has begun. Kershaw’s legacy is secure.

The Dodgers are now fully the dynasty of Ohtani, Betts, and Freeman. But they don’t enter that dynasty with an unresolved question. They enter it as champions who sent a legend off in the most glorious way possible.