(LOS ANGELES) — In the wake of retiring as a three-time World Series champion, Los Angeles Dodgers legend Clayton Kershaw has finally broken his silence on the one title that still haunts him: the 2017 loss to the Houston Astros.
In an emotional exit interview reflecting on his nearly two decades in Dodger Blue, Kershaw, 37, called the 2017 Fall Classic “tainted” and stated that the cheating scandal represents the “greatest injustice in modern baseball history.”
The Haunting Asterisk
Kershaw, who secured his third ring with the Dodgers’ recent back-to-back championships, was candid about the one missing piece of his otherwise perfect Hall of Fame legacy. He admitted that the wounds from that series, in which he pitched brilliantly in Game 1 but struggled mightily in the infamous Game 5 in Houston, have never fully healed.
“I’ve been to one other seven-game World Series, and we lost that one,” Kershaw said, his voice dropping. “Ah, well, there’s an asterisk on that one. But we won this one.”
The legendary lefty was clearly referencing the revelations that the Astros utilized an illegal sign-stealing system throughout their 2017 championship run. For Kershaw, who was the unquestioned ace of the staff at the time, the loss overshadows the incredible career farewell he received, which was perfectly capped by the 2025 Game 7 victory.
The Injustice of a Stolen Legacy
The pain for Kershaw and the Dodgers stems not just from the loss, but from the circumstances surrounding it. The Dodgers were forced to confront years of narratives about Kershaw’s supposed “postseason struggles” before the cheating was fully exposed.
Kershaw believes that by allowing the players to go unpunished and the title to stand, MLB compromised the integrity of the sport and robbed an entire generation of Dodgers players and fans of a rightful championship moment.
“It’s the greatest injustice in modern baseball history because it directly affected the outcome on the biggest stage,” he continued. “The hardest part is that you can’t go back and fix it. You can’t take back the narrative. Winning this one and the others helps, but that feeling—that one was stolen—that stays with you forever.”
Kershaw’s retirement marks the end of an era, but his final, powerful statement ensures that the “tainted” title of 2017 will remain an unresolved scar on the legacy of both the Dodgers and Major League Baseball.
