{"product_id":"the-last-of-his-kind-clayton-kershaw-and-the-burden-of-greatness-9780306832598","title":"The Last of His Kind: Clayton Kershaw and the Burden of Greatness","description":"\u003cb\u003eThis \"outstanding\" biography of Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw examines the genesis of his brilliance, his epic quest to win the World Series, and his singular place within the evolving baseball landscape--based on exclusive interviews with Kershaw and more than 200 others (\u003ci\u003eThe Los Angeles Times\u003c\/i\u003e).\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e More than any baseball player of his generation, Clayton Kershaw has embodied the rewards and burdens of athletic greatness. He is a three-time Cy Young award winner, the first pitcher to win National League MVP since Bob Gibson, and a surefire, first-ballot Hall of Famer. Many of his peers consider him the greatest pitcher to ever climb atop a big-league mound. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e In an age when baseball became more impersonal, Kershaw personified the game's lingering humanity, with his joy and suffering on display each October as he chased a championship. He pitched through pain, placing his future at risk on the game's grandest stages. He endeared himself to teammates and foes alike with his refusal to make excuses, and with his willingness to shoulder the blame when he failed. He further impressed them when he returned, year after year, even as his body broke down from the strain of his profession. When the Dodgers finally won a title in 2020, the baseball world exulted in his triumph. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Last of His Kind \u003c\/i\u003etraces Kershaw's path from a boyhood fractured by divorce to his development as one of the most-heralded pitching prospects in Texas history to his emergence in Los Angeles as the spiritual heir to Sandy Koufax. The book also charts Kershaw's place in baseball's changing landscape as his own stubbornness butted against the game's evolution. The story of baseball in the 21st century can be told through Kershaw's career--to understand how baseball is played today, and how it got that way, you must understand the journey of Clayton Kershaw.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAndy McCullough \u003c\/b\u003eis a senior writer at \u003ci\u003eThe Athletic\u003c\/i\u003e. He has covered Major League Baseball since 2010, previously for the L\u003ci\u003eos Angeles Times, \u003c\/i\u003ethe \u003ci\u003eKansas City Sta\u003c\/i\u003er, and \u003ci\u003eThe Star-Ledger \u003c\/i\u003ein Newark, N.J. His work has been honored by the Associated Press Sports Editors on seven occasions for beat writing, explanatory reporting, and feature writing. He lives in New York with his wife, the writer Stephanie Apstein. This is his first book.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Grand Central Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50697129656594,"sku":"9780306832598","price":23.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_79f0eadc-4f47-45b9-bb1b-da763dde3daf.jpg?v=1746298750","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-last-of-his-kind-clayton-kershaw-and-the-burden-of-greatness-9780306832598","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}