Count Mr. October among those outraged that the Los Angeles Dodgers pulled Clayton Kershaw after seven perfect innings Wednesday against the Minnesota Twins.
On his Twitter account, Reggie Jackson expressed outrage after Kershaw got the hook.
“Clayton Kershaw Perfect game 80 pitches, take him OUT !!!!! WHAT THE! what’s the game coming to?” the Yankees legend demanded to know.
“[One] of the era’s best, and you take him out with a perfect game in the 7th, 7-0 Dodgers winning. Take him OUT! THIS IS BASEBALL PLEASE PEOPLE THAT HAVE NEVER PLAYED GET OUT OF ITS WAY”
Jackson, 75, played in MLB from 1967 through 1987, famously hitting three homers in a game for the Yankees in Game 6 of the 1977 World Series against the Dodgers.
Fergie Jenkins, the Hall of Famer who pitched from 1965 through 1983, was on the same wavelength as Jackson.
“Not even if I had a broken arm and had to roll the ball over the plate am I leaving a perfect game in the 7th,” Jenkins tweeted.
ESPN baseball reporter Jeff Passan summed up the feelings of many, tweeting that there have been over 220,000 games in MLB history — and just 23 perfect ones. “Everything —especially a pitch count of 80 — is lining up to at least let Kershaw try,” Passan wrote. “You cannot pull him.”
Last year, Kershaw missed the playoffs with a forearm injury, and he still is building up his strength in returning to the mound.
After the game, he put on a brave face and said he supported the team’s decision to take him out of the game.
Kershaw told reporters that while he would have loved to share the moment of throwing a perfect game with his catcher, Austin Barnes, that would have been an “individual” accomplishment.
“Those are individual things. Those are selfish goals,” Kershaw said. “We’re trying to win. That’s really all we’re here for. As much as I would’ve wanted to do it, I’ve thrown 75 pitches in a sim game. I hadn’t gone six innings, let alone seven. Sure, I would’ve loved to do it. Maybe we get another chance, who knows.”
Kershaw was pressed on if part of him wanted to fight to remain in the game.
“I would’ve loved to have stayed, but bigger things, man,” he answered.
