Clayton Kershaw, closer.
Hey, why not? After a division series round where bullpens mattered more than ever, why not end it all with the best pitcher of our generation coming out of the bullpen to get the final two outs?
Kershaw did it, finishing off the Los Angeles Dodgers’ 4-3 win over the Washington Nationals. Their matchup was the only division series to last the full five games.
Not that any of these series were easy.
In 10 of the 15 division series games, it was either tied in the ninth inning or the losing team had the tying run at the plate in the ninth. There were big home runs, four-run rallies and even a walk-off race to the plate on a throw to first base.
There was the emotion of David Ortiz’s farewell, and we learned how to correctly spell Conor Gillaspie (don’t let autocorrect tell you you’re wrong).
If you watched to the end every night, you missed out on a lot of sleep, but you didn’t miss any of the drama. And you probably feel a little like Kershaw did when it all ended well after midnight Friday morning.
“We’re all exhausted after every game, even if you’re sitting on the bench,” he told Fox Sports‘ Jon Paul Morosi. “These games are such grinds that it’s such a relieving feeling when they’re over and you win.”
It’s over. The Dodgers won, and so did the Chicago Cubs, Cleveland Indians and Toronto Blue Jays.
There was plenty of excitement, plenty of stars and plenty to fill this year’s edition of Bleacher Report’s League Division Series Awards.