The Bookshelf Conversation #180: Andy McCullough

As I keep mentioning, regular readers of The Bookshelf know of my disdain for superlatives and similar declarations, such as “Greatest,” “Worst,” “Complete,” in titles. But there are a few cases in which they seem totally appropriate.

In the case of Andy McCoullough’s new (and first) book, Clayton Kershaw just might be The Last of His Kind.

I wonder if we’ll ever see someone win 300 games or throw 3,000 innings (other than the outside possibilities of Kershaw (210/2,713) and Max Scherzer (215/2,845); (Justin Verlander has the lead with 260 wins with 3,382 innings). No other active pitcher is even close to 200 wins (Johnny Cueto is next with 144). I also can’t see someone regularly throwing 200 innings in a season. The game is changing, and changing the way we consider what constitutes a pitching great. Can you imagine Warren Spahn and Juan Marichal laughing about “quality starts” as an indicator of, well, quality? As Jimmy Dugan told Dottie Henson in A League of Their Own, “It’s supposed to be hard. If it wasn’t hard, everyone would do it. The hard is what makes it great.”

When you’re that good that young, there certainly is a burden, especially when you’re in a financially distressed situation, as was Kershaw, whose parents divorced when he was young. People are counting on you to excel and in many cases those high expectations of greatness come from within. You are afraid of letting disappointing people: family, friends, teammates, coaches.

But as we all know, the road to success is never smooth. Kershaw had his moments of pain and doubt, especially in the post-season (the Dodgers have only won one World Series title during his tenure, which began in 2008). That plays into his insecurities and impacts his behavior. Fortunately, he is a devoted family man which helps to keep him on an even keel. He is also a man of faith, although Last doesn’t overuse that characterization as some books might.

McCullough — a senior writer for The Athletic, has covered Major League Baseball since 2010, working for several newspapers including the Los Angeles Times, the Kansas City Star, and The Star-Ledger in Newark, NJ — does a marvelous job of presenting Kershaw as a determined athlete from the get-go. His plan was never in doubt; he was going to be a major leaguer. And we know how that has turned out; Kershaw is appropriately included in discussions about the greatest pitchers of all time.

Predicting The Last of His Kind will be on the short list of organizations that pick the best baseball books of the year. Here’s my review on Bookreporter.com.