Clayton Kershaw has been one of the best pitchers in baseball for several years now. He has achieved a lot in his career for the Los Angeles Dodgers and still looks to have many years left in the tank. We have put together a difficult Clayton Kershaw quiz for you to test your knowledge of his career! This includes some specific questions about what he has accomplished so far as a player. As a result, only the biggest baseball fans will be able to ace it.
Clayton Kershaw Quiz
Instructions: All you have to do is answer the trivia questions below and at the very end of the quiz, it will let you know what you scored.
When was Kershaw drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers?
How old was Kershaw when he made his MLB debut?
True Or False: Kershaw won the NL Rookie Of The Year Award
When was the first season that Kershaw was named to the MLB all-star game?
True Or False: Kershaw has thrown over 300 strikeouts in a season during his MLB career.
Which of these is the only year that Kershaw did NOT win the NL Cy Young Award?
Kershaw finished 2nd in the voting for the NL Cy Young Award in 2012. Who won the award instead of him?
Kershaw tossed a no-hitter on June 18th, 2014. Which team was this against?
What year did Kershaw win the NL MVP Award for the first time?
Which NFL Quarterback did Kershaw go to high school with?
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Clayton Kershaw Quiz: Questions And Answers
Here are some more details on the answers (but only read AFTER you have taken the quiz). This will provide some more context on each question and answer.
1) When was Kershaw drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers?
Clayton Kershaw was selected 7th Overall by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2006 Major League Baseball draft. Luke Hochevar, Greg Reynolds, Evan Longoria, Brad Lincoln, Brandon Morrow, and Andrew Miller were the guys selected ahead of him. Other big names in this draft class include Tim Lincecum, Max Scherzer, Jeremy Jeffress, and Chris Perez.
2) How old was Kershaw when he made his MLB debut?
Clayton Kershaw made his debut on May 25th, 2008 against the St. Louis Cardinals. He allowed two runs and five hits in six innings, while striking out seven. The Dodgers would go on to win 4-3 in extra innings. Kershaw was only 20 years old.
3) True Or False: Kershaw won the NL Rookie Of The Year Award
This is false as Kershaw did not win the NL Rookie of the Year award. Geovany Soto won the award in 2008 instead. Some extra trivia is that Evan Longoria won the AL Rookie of the Year award. Longoria was selected a few spots ahead of Kershaw in the MLB draft.
4) When was the first season that Kershaw was named to the MLB all-star game?
Kershaw was named to the MLB all-star game for the first time in 2011. He subsequently would be named to the game every year until 2018.
5) True Or False: Kershaw has thrown over 300 strikeouts in a season during his MLB career.
This is true as Kershaw tossed 301 strikeouts during the 2015 season. His second highest was 2011, where he tossed 248 strikeouts during the year.
Speaking of great pitchers, make sure to check out our Justin Verlander quiz after this.
6) Which of these is the only year that Kershaw did NOT win the NL Cy Young Award?
The answer is 2012 as Kershaw won the NL Cy Young Award in 2011, 2013, and 2014.
7) Kershaw finished 2nd in the voting for the NL Cy Young Award in 2012. Who won the award instead of him?
The 2012 NL Cy Young award winner was R.A. Dickey of the New York Mets. Clayton Kershaw received two first place votes but ultimate came in second.
8) Kershaw tossed a no-hitter on June 18th, 2014. Which team was this against?
On June 18th, 2014 Kershaw pitched a complete game no-hitter against the Colorado Rockies. He struck out a career-high 15 batters during the game. The only batter to reach base was due to an error, costing Kershaw the perfect game.
9) What year did Kershaw win the NL MVP Award for the first time?
Clayton Kershaw was named the NL MVP for 2014. As a result, he was the first Dodgers player to win the award since Kirk Gibson in 1988. This is the only year that Kershaw has won the award in his career.
10) Which NFL Quarterback did Kershaw go to high school with?
Kershaw went to high school with NFL Quarterback Matt Stafford. They played football and baseball together and both graduated from Highland Park High School in 2006.
If you enjoyed this, make sure to also check out our quiz on Mookie Betts’ career.
Some Additional Trivia About Kershaw
Here are some additional tidbits about Ortiz that we wanted to include but couldn’t find a spot for on our quiz.
Contracts & Career Earnings
- In 2012, Clayton signed a 2-year, $19 million contract extension with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
- In 2013, Clayton signed a 7-year, $215 million, contract extension with the Los Angeles Dodgers. This was the richest contract for a pitcher in the history of Major League Baseball. The deal surpassed the 7-year, $180 million deal signed by Justin Verlander a year prior.
- In 2018, Clayton signed a 3-year, $93 million contract extension with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
- At the end of his contract in 2021, Kershaw will have earned approximately $266,034,000 million in his MLB career. This only includes his salary in the MLB and doesn’t include any endorsement deals or off the field business ventures.
- According to Forbes, Kershaw was the highest-paid player in all of baseball in 2015, 2016, and 2017. In 2017, he made $33 million in salary and $800,000 in endorsements.
Conclusion
How did you score on our Clayton Kershaw quiz? Let us know in the comment section below and make sure to also share with your friends to compare your knowledge of the pitcher.
You can also check out our ultimate MLB quiz, which includes 50 difficult trivia questions. You should also follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook to keep up with our latest posts.