Dodgers News: Clayton Kershaw's Respect For Albert Pujols Goes a Long Way Amid 700 Home Runs

Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw got front row seats to witness former teammate Albert Pujols reach 700 home runs

Ryan Menzie | Sep 28, 2022

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Los Angeles Dodgers

You walk a fine line between being a fan and an athlete of the game, but it's hard to shy away from greatness when it's standing right in front of you. Even for an all time pitcher like Clayton Kershaw, he was more than happy to see a guy like Albert Pujols reach a monumental moment against his team.

Kershaw has faced off against Pujols 16 times in their careers and in that span has allowed 14 hits and six walks while recording eight strikeouts (via StatMuse). In a 6-2 win over the Cardinals on Saturday, Kershaw gave up a hit to Pujols in which he hopes will be the last he will give up in his career.

With Pujols set to retire this season and Kershaw being unsure of his future, the only other chance they will have to meet would be in the postseason. Competitive nature takes over instinctively when you are a professional athlete, but Kershaw told the media after Saturday's win about his respect for Pujols.

“Obviously, you’re trying to compete in the moment, but I’m so happy for Albert that he hit those two, yesterday especially, that’s good get that out of the way. And obviously, didn’t want it to be against our team, but I’m so happy that he got to 700 and I have a lot of respect for Albert. Got to play with him, I know him pretty well now. I think he just goes about it the right way and I had a ton of fun playing with him."

Pujols is one of the great guys of the league and will go down as one of the greatest hitters of all time. Hopefully for Kershaw this will be the last time he gets to face Pujols, but of course all fans are drooling over the opportunity for one final showdown.

Published Sep 28, 2022

RYAN MENZIE

Ryan Menzie | Lead Contributor Ryan is an LA Native who has grown up praising the greatest athletes LA has had to offer. A love for sports ranging between basketball, football, volleyball and golf, a future Sports Management Masters graduate, and being engulfed into organized sports since seven years old, the passion and love for sports never ends for Ryan. If the words he writes don't paint the full picture of his true fandom, he will find more ways than one to tell the story and be more than willing to open up a nice LA sports debate with you. Favorite Player: Mookie Betts Favorite Moment: 2020 World Series. The Lakers won the NBA title and the Dodgers secured the World Series only a couple of months later. During such a rough time with COVID-19 and such a bleak look at how sports has tried to overcome the circumstances, it was a relief to see the night sky lit up for many nights and a makeshift parade in LA when it seemed like we needed it the most.