Sports
Sign my jersey! Everyone wants a Clayton Kershaw souvenir — including his opponents
LOS ANGELES — It was the middle of June, the San Diego Padres were in town for what promised to be a heated series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, and Joe Musgrove, their injured ace, had one thing on his mind:
Securing a signed Clayton Kershaw jersey.
Major league players often send each other jerseys for personalization, to commemorate friendship or admiration or even milestones. But Musgrove had done that only a handful of times in his nine years as a major leaguer — all for former teammates he was once close with, never for a prominent member of the Padres’ biggest rival.
“This is the first that I’ve sent one over in admiration for what someone has done for the game,” said Musgrove, who grew up a Padres fan before ultimately pitching for the club. “I know he’s flooded with them now, and it might seem like a lot, but he’s made a big impact on this game — not only as a player, but for the way he handles himself.”
Kershaw will make his final regular-season start at Dodger Stadium on Friday, in what we now know will be one of the last appearances of his career. But even before the news of his impending retirement became official Thursday, the likelihood of it was high enough for Major League Baseball to extend him a special invitation to this year’s All-Star Game. And for a number of opposing players to seek opportunities to pay respect in their own way, whether it’s offering praise, expressing gratitude or, often, seeking autographs.
Kershaw, 37, has noticed that jersey requests have “slightly increased from years past” but stressed it’s “nothing crazy.” Sometimes a home series will go by and nobody will ask. Others, he’ll be flooded with them. “It’s like they all talk,” Kershaw said. He signs them all, either by listing his accomplishments — 3X NL Cy Young, 2014 NL MVP, 2X WS Champ! as he wrote on one for Colorado Rockies starter Kyle Freeland — or scribbling a brief message. In his mind, it wasn’t long ago that he was on the other side.
“It’s amazing how fast that flips, you know?” Kershaw told ESPN last week. “You don’t think that you’re the old guy until it happens, and then you are. It happens fast.”
WHEN KERSHAW SIGNED his fourth consecutive one-year contract with the Dodgers in March, he was considered a luxury. Blake Snell and Roki Sasaki had already been added. Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tyler Glasnow were coming back healthy. Shohei Ohtani was on track to return as a two-way player. The likes of Emmet Sheehan, Tony Gonsolin and Dustin May were next in line.
But when Kershaw rejoined the rotation in the middle of May, in the wake of offseason knee and toe surgeries, he helped stabilize a staff that had once again absorbed an avalanche of injuries. In August, as the Dodgers’ rotation began to round into form, he found another level, winning all five of his starts while posting a 1.88 ERA. Kershaw is throwing the slowest fastball of his career, offsetting it with a slider that oftentimes lacks its traditional bite and resorting to more inventiveness than ever, even with the occasional eephus pitch. And yet his record is 10-2 and his ERA is 3.53.
“He’s making jokes about how he’s only throwing 86, 87 — and he’s still getting outs,” San Francisco Giants starter Logan Webb said. “To me that’s the most impressive thing.”
Webb was a 12-year-old in Northern California when Kershaw made his major league debut. His high school years coincided with a four-year stretch from 2011 to 2014 that saw Kershaw claim three Cy Young Awards and an MVP, accumulate 72 regular-season victories, tally 895⅓ innings and establish himself as one of the greatest of his era. Competing against him, as a fellow frontline starter on a division rival, hasn’t taken any of the shine away.
Said Webb: “He seems to amaze me every single time.”
Two months ago, Webb shared an All-Star team with Kershaw for the first time and was adamant about securing a jersey from him, even though, he said, “I usually feel awful asking guys.” On Friday, Webb will watch from the opposite dugout as Kershaw makes what might be the final Dodger Stadium appearance of his career, depending on how he factors into L.A.’s October plans.
The Dodgers boast a six-man rotation at the moment, and two of those members, Yamamoto and Snell, are basically guaranteed to start in a best-of-three wild-card series. The third spot would go to Ohtani, unless the Dodgers surprise outsiders by deploying him as a reliever. Then there’s Glasnow, who was lavished with a $130 million-plus extension to take down important starts, and Sheehan, a promising right-hander who has been effective out of the bullpen.
Kershaw wasn’t healthy enough to contribute to last year’s championship run and wants nothing more than to help with this one. But he’s also realistic.
“We’ll see,” Kershaw said. “We’ll see what happens. My job is just to pitch well. Whatever decision they make, or if I get to make a start or do whatever — they’re going to make the best decision for the team. I’ll understand either way. Obviously making it hard for them is what I want to do.”
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts doesn’t know what role Kershaw might play on a postseason roster, but he said “there’s a place for him” on it.
“The bottom line is I trust him,” Roberts said. “And for me, the postseason is about players you trust.”
ANDREW ABBOTT SAT alongside Cincinnati Reds teammate Chase Burns in Dodger Stadium’s first-base dugout on Aug. 26 and couldn’t understand what he was seeing.
“Is that a changeup?” he asked.
Kershaw famously doesn’t throw many changeups, largely because he has never been confident in his ability to do so. But suddenly Abbott was watching him uncork a pitch that traveled in the low 80s and faded away from opposing right-handed hitters, the continuation of a split-change he began to incorporate a couple years ago. To Abbott, it spoke to the ingenuity that has extended Kershaw’s effectiveness.
“He knows what he’s doing,” Abbott said. “He can just figure things out on the fly.”
The Reds’ third-year starting pitcher had shared a clubhouse with Kershaw for the first time during the All-Star Game in Atlanta this summer. He wanted so badly to pick his brain about pitch sequencing, but he also didn’t want to waste Kershaw’s time; he made small talk about their Dallas ties and left it at that.
Six weeks later, when the Reds visited Dodger Stadium, Abbott made it a point to provide a visiting clubhouse attendant with a Kershaw jersey to be sent to the other side for a signature. He already had one of Christian Yelich, who represented his first strikeout; Edwin Diaz, the brother of his former teammate, Alexis; Joey Votto, a Reds legend; and Aaron Judge, arguably the best hitter on the planet. Abbott initially didn’t want to bother Kershaw, worried that he might just be adding to an overwhelming pile, but he couldn’t run the risk of missing what might be his final opportunity.
“I watched Kersh since I was a kid,” Abbott said. “I mean, I was 9 when he debuted. I just like to have guys that I’ve watched and I’ve kind of idolized. Those are the ones I go after. It’s cool that you’re in the job with him, too.”
After spending the past four years pitching for two of their biggest rivals — first the Padres, then the Giants — Snell signed a five-year, $182 million contract with the Dodgers over the offseason and told president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman that he wanted his locker next to Kershaw’s. Snell’s locker neighbored Kershaw’s in spring training, and he now resides just two lockers down inside Dodger Stadium’s newly renovated home clubhouse.
As a fellow left-hander, Snell has tried to soak up as much as he can from watching Kershaw, specifically how he utilizes his slider. He has learned, though, that a lot of his success is driven by his mindset.
“He never gives in,” Snell said. “He’s a competitor. And you can’t, like, train that or teach that. You either have it or you don’t. And he’s very elite at competing. The game comes, and he’s the best version of himself.”
Snell arrived in the major leagues as a 23-year-old former first-round pick. But he did not believe he would stay very long, so he made it a point to gather as many personalized jerseys as he could. He already has two framed Kershaw jerseys hanging on an office wall littered with other sports memorabilia, but the end of his first year with the Dodgers has left him wondering if he has enough.
Said Snell: “I might get me another one.”
TO THOSE WHO have observed Kershaw throughout his career, the thought that he would even allow himself to be miked up while pitching in a game — let alone revel in it — stood as a clear indication that this would probably be it. Roberts, who managed the National League All-Stars earlier this summer, noticed a more reflective, appreciative side to Kershaw even before he took the mound for his 11th Midsummer Classic.
Roberts noticed it when Kershaw addressed his NL teammates before the game, reminding them this was an opportunity to honor those who got them there. He noticed it 13 days before that, on the night of July 2, when Kershaw finished a six-inning outing with the 3,000th strikeout of his career and spilled onto the field to acknowledge the fans. Most of all, he has noticed it through the ease with which Kershaw seems to carry himself this season. “The edges,” Roberts said, “aren’t as hard anymore.”
“He knows he’s had a tremendous career, and I think that now he’s making it a point. He’s being intentional about taking in every moment.”
Kershaw allowed himself to savor his 3,000th strikeout — a milestone only 19 other pitchers have reached — and made a conscious effort to take in every moment at this year’s All-Star Game. His wife, Ellen, and their four children have made it a point to travel for every one of his starts this season, even when Texas schools restarted earlier this month, adding a layer of sentimentality to the stretch run.
But for as much as Kershaw would like to soak in every inning remaining in his major league career, he can’t. The season keeps going, the stakes keep ratcheting up, and Kershaw believes in the link between dismissing success and maintaining an edge. “The minute you savor, the minute you think about success, you’re content,” he said. But that also means he can’t truly enjoy the end.
There’s a cruelty in that.
“Yeah,” Kershaw said, “but that’s OK. Because you want to go out competing, just like you always did. At the end of the day, being healthy, being able to compete and pitch well, being on a great team — that’s all you can ask for. If you do all of the other stuff, you become content or satisfied or whatever it is. Then it’s all downhill.”
ESPN’s Jesse Rogers contributed to this report.
Mohamed Salah formally broke the news on Tuesday that many Liverpool fans had felt was coming for several months: that he will be cutting his contract short and leaving Anfield on a free transfer at the end of the season.
Salah signed a new two-year deal with the Reds last summer. However, since then a dip in form, a slip down the pecking order, an explosive public outburst and a subsequent nosedive in his relationship with head coach Arne Slot, has seen the Egypt international fail to get as much game time as he feels he deserves.
However, since arriving in 2017, Salah has firmly established himself as one of Liverpool’s greatest-ever players and will undoubtedly depart a hero regardless of the current circumstances.
– Why Salah beats Ronaldo, Henry as Premier League’s greatest
– Salah will get the Liverpool farewell, but he leaves a void to fill
– Liverpool’s ‘greatest’: Mohamed Salah saluted by teammates
The 33-year-old has scored 255 goals in 435 appearances for the club (putting him third on their all-time list) and been instrumental in two Premier League title triumphs, domestic cup successes and the UEFA Champions League trophy in 2018-19.
He has also collected a number of individual plaudits, including three PFA Players’ Player of the Year awards, two Premier League Player of the Season awards and four Premier League Golden Boots.
Salah was also bestowed with the illustrious Puskás Award as part of The Best FIFA Award gala night in 2018, which — unlike the majority of his vast array of prizes and trophies — raised more than a few quizzical eyebrows around the world.
The forward was handed world football’s Goal of the Year award via an online fan vote for his strike against Everton in December 2017, when he collected the ball on the edge of the box before darting between two defenders and curling an exquisite finish beyond the goalkeeper.
Of course, it was and remains a perfectly decent goal. Yet many at the time were baffled to see Salah’s effort deemed to be the most beautiful goal scored that year … when it wasn’t even his best goal of 2017-18, or anywhere close.
The sentiment was even echoed by teammate James Milner, who offered wry congratulations to his then-Liverpool teammate after the winner was announced, fending off competition from Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and a clutch of scorching golazos from the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
“Congrats Mo Salah on your 7th best goal from last season winning goal of the year,” Milner wrote in a social-media post which also featured “#oneofmanyworldies” among several hashtags and emojis.
But was Milner right? By our count there were at least six Salah strikes from his imperious 2017-18 season that deserved a place on the Puskás short list ahead of his goal in the Merseyside derby. But, whether you agree with this subjective list or not, it serves as a reminder of just what a player Salah has been for Liverpool.
Salah scored twice in a 3-0 victory against Southampton including a lovely effort from outside the box. The precise, angled finish was fairly similar to his strike against Everton but from a little further out.
2. Nov. 29, 2017 vs. Stoke City
Another rampant 3-0 win saw Salah score the goal of the game when he connected with a dinked cross from Sadio Mané to thump a vicious volley past the goalkeeper. The powerful finish was actually voted Goal of the Month by Liverpool fans.
Liverpool inflicted a first Premier League defeat of 2017-18 on Manchester City with a frantic 4-3 victory over the leaders at Anfield that went down as the game of the season. The score went from 1-1 to 4-1 in the space of just nine hectic minutes with Salah scoring what proved to be the decisive goal with an audacious 35-yard lob.
Liverpool and Spurs contested another dramatic thriller that saw the two sides trade stoppage-time goals in a pulsating 2-2 draw at Anfield. Salah opened the scoring for the home side before Victor Wanyama pegged them back with an absolutely monstrous hit from distance. The Egypt international then looked to have snatched a 91st-minute win when he wriggled through a cluster of four defenders and belted it past Hugo Lloris. However, a 96-minute penalty from Harry Kane spoiled the party somewhat.
5. March 17, 2018 vs. Watford
Salah scored four goals (and assisted the other) in a 5-0 rout at Anfield on what proved to be one of many virtuoso displays for the nimble forward this season. His first was good, the second was slick and the third was nigh-on ingenious as the Reds star somehow fended off an entire pack of defenders before prodding an improvised finish past the goalkeeper.
6. April 24, 2018 vs. AS Roma
If you’ll forgive the obvious pun, Salah filed another five-star performance in Liverpool’s 5-2 thrashing of his former club in the first leg of the Champions League semifinal. He opened the scoring with his best goal of the night, curling an immaculate shot beyond the outstretched arm of future teammate Alisson Becker. He then dinked home a second before laying on assists for the Reds’ third and fourth goals of the evening.
Tiger Woods’ turbulent career veered into fresh turmoil on Friday when the golf icon was arrested and charged with driving under the influence after a rollover crash near his Florida home, authorities said.
Woods, 50, escaped injury but was detained after his vehicle clipped a truck while attempting to overtake on a residential road on Jupiter Island, flipping onto its side before sliding to a stop.
Martin County Sheriff John Budensiek said Woods — who was arrested for driving under the influence in 2017 — showed signs of “impairment”, although he passed a breathalyser test.
“When it came time for us to ask for a urinalysis test, he refused, and so he’s been charged with DUI, with property damage and refusal to submit to a lawful test in the crash,” Budensiek said.
The 15-time major champion was released later on Friday, with Florida law requiring him to remain in jail for at least eight hours before he could post bail.
Budensiek said drug recognition experts who examined Woods at the scene found the golfer “lethargic” and believed he was impaired with “some kind of medication or drug.”
No drugs or medication were found in his vehicle and since Woods refused the urine test, his right under Florida law, authorities “will never get definitive results as to what he was impaired on at the time of the crash,” Budensiek said.
‘Could have been worse’
While neither Woods nor the driver of the other vehicle was injured, Budensiek said the incident on the two-lane road “could have been a lot worse.”
“Had somebody been moving in the opposite direction, we would not be having a conversation saying there was no injuries,” he said.
Budensiek said he didn’t know how fast Woods was driving in the moments before the crash.
He said the driver of the truck had slowed to make a turn, then tried to move to the side of the road when he saw Woods’s fast-moving vehicle attempting to overtake him.
“When I show you the photos, they kind of speak for themselves … you can see that [Woods] slid for a decent space before he came to a stop,” said the sheriff, who said that after the crash Woods climbed out of the passenger-side window of his Land Rover.
President Donald Trump expressed sympathy for Woods in remarks to reporters in Miami following the incident.
“He’s got some difficulty, there was an accident, and that’s all I know,” Trump said. “Very close friend of mine. He’s an amazing person, amazing man, but, uh, some difficulty.”
Woods was arrested in Jupiter in 2017 after police found him asleep at the wheel of his damaged car. Woods eventually pleaded guilty to reckless driving and said he had taken a mix of painkillers.
Five years ago, Woods was involved in a serious car crash in California that left him with severe right leg injuries that required pins inserted in his foot and ankle and a rod in his tibia as well as a follow-up surgery in 2023.
Woods returned from that crash at the 2022 Masters, where he struggled to walk all four rounds on the way to a 47th-place finish.
Woods, whose clean-cut image was left in tatters after a 2009 sex scandal that upended his career, has been working to return from an Achilles tendon rupture last March and back surgery last October.
He competed earlier this week in the TGL simulator indoor golf league finals and had not ruled out playing in next month’s Masters, where his five victories include his first major title in 1997 and his most recent in 2019.
“This body … it doesn’t recover like it did when it was 24, 25. It doesn´t mean I’m not trying,” Woods said. “I keep trying.”
Woods, whose 82 PGA Tour career victories are level with Sam Snead for the all-time record, has not competed on tour since missing the cut at the British Open in July 2024.
He last made the cut at the 2024 Masters, where he finished 60th.
The first half of the Elite Eight is set with Arizona, Illinois, Purdue and Iowa punching their tickets Thursday. Who could join them in the regional finals of the 2026 men’s NCAA tournament?
ESPN reporters on-site in Chicago and Washington, D.C. tracking Friday’s Sweet 16 action in real-time.
Jump to: Game previews, predictions
SWEET 16 LIVE TRACKER
SWEET 16 PREVIEWS
All times Eastern.
9:45 p.m., CBS
Borzello’s prediction: UConn 68-64
Medcalf’s prediction: UConn 70-65
How Michigan State can advance to Elite Eight: Personnel matchups generate the most headlines during the NCAA tournament, but coaching matchups are equally — if not more — impactful. During a tenure that began in 1995, Tom Izzo has developed an uncanny ability to zero in on an opposing team’s top players and create problems for them. That’s the Spartans’ ticket to another Elite Eight.
Izzo’s primary mission against UConn is to limit Tarris Reed Jr.’s impact on the game. The Huskies are a different team when he’s a dominant presence in the post. If Reed is grabbing offensive rebounds and giving them an abundance of second-chance opportunities, Michigan State will be in a tough spot. The good news for the Spartans is that they are connecting on 35.9% of their 3-point attempts and capitalizing on second-chance opportunities with a No. 10 national ranking in offensive rebounding rate. It will be key for them to hit more 3s, extend UConn’s defense and create more paths to the basket for Jeremy Fears Jr. & Co. They have to give UConn a reason to guard on the perimeter — if the Spartans just allow the Huskies to sit in the lane, challenge shots around the rim and grab rebounds, Michigan State could lose.
Izzo has been in this position before — against better teams — and won. His experience will matter in a matchup against Dan Hurley.
How UConn can advance to the Elite Eight: To beat Izzo, UConn will have to show up as the top-notch defensive outfit that held UCLA to just a 39% clip inside the arc in the second round. The Huskies’ win over the Bruins served as a reminder that they can be a great defensive team when they want to be. In the Big Ten tournament, UCLA had produced 132 points per 100 possessions in a win over Michigan State. In the round of 32, the Bruins — who played without leading scorer Tyler Bilodeau (knee) — scored only 57 points, their second-lowest total of the season. UCLA star Donovan Dent had nine assists but also finished 2-for-9 shooting with a pair of turnovers. That’s the same attention UConn will need to give Fears. When he’s comfortable, Michigan State’s offense soars. The Huskies can’t let that happen.
On offense, Braylon Mullins could be an X factor. Reed had a double-double against UCLA but not the historic numbers he put up against Furman in the first round (31 points, 27 rebounds). Alex Karaban recorded a career-high 27 points against the Bruins, with Solo Ball and Silas Demary Jr. scoring two points combined. If Reed and Karaban can create a balanced inside-outside attack, Michigan State will have to find a way to disrupt that, which could give Mullins — who is averaging 14.5 points in two NCAA tournament games — more freedom and opportunities to make plays and create off the dribble or on off-ball screens.
The Huskies have a multitude of options to score, and as long as most of them are effective, they can get back to the Elite Eight. — Medcalf
10:10 p.m., TBS/truTV
Borzello’s prediction: Iowa State 67-65
Medcalf’s prediction: Iowa State 74-68
How Tennessee can advance to the Elite Eight: To beat Iowa State, Tennessee will have to play the same disciplined defense that stopped Virginia in the final minutes of Sunday’s second-round game. That task begins with Felix Okpara, who had four blocks against the Cavaliers and altered other shots, including a late drive by Thijs De Ridder that Okpara blocked during Virginia’s comeback attempt. Opposing players had made only 30% of their shots around the rim against Okpara entering Sunday’s game, per Synergy Sports data. He’ll have to protect the rim against Iowa State, which had a significant advantage in paint points against Kentucky (34-20) — but he won’t have to do it alone.
Tennessee has the personnel to handle every one-on-one matchup defensively. The Vols can guard at every spot. They will have to put pressure on Tamin Lipsey, sharpshooter Milan Momcilovic and Joshua Jefferson, if he plays, to win. That defensive effort coupled with standout performances from Ja’Kobi Gillespie and Nate Ament would be the formula for a Tennessee trip to the Elite Eight.
How Iowa State can advance to the Elite Eight: With or without Jefferson, Iowa State will have the same blueprint against Tennessee: Move the ball to find the best shot on offense, force turnovers with defensive pressure and score on fast breaks. Although they didn’t have Jefferson, who is a game-time decision because of an ankle injury, the Cyclones forced 20 turnovers in their second-round win over Kentucky. Playing through Lipsey — who finished with 26 points, 10 assists and only three turnovers against Kentucky — the Cyclones registered 150 points per 100 possessions and made 63% of their shots after halftime. They are 18-2 when Lipsey’s assist-to-turnover ratio is 3-to-1 or better.
Gillespie and Ament combined for five turnovers in Tennessee’s second-round win over Virginia. Iowa State can pressure that duo into the same mistakes Otega Oweh and Denzel Aberdeen (eight turnovers combined) made for Kentucky, even if Jefferson sits out another game. That’s how the Cyclones can advance. — Medcalf
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