The Los Angeles Dodgers have been atop the National League standings for nearly the entire season, so their reclaiming of the NL West crown was inevitable. It got to the point where the Diamondbacks had security on hand to guard their outfield pool from celebrating Dodgers players.
But when it came time to actually celebrate their ninth NL West title in the past 10 seasons, the Dodgers were focused on larger goals.
The official Twitter account for the Dodgers shared a video from the clubhouse celebration following the 4-0 win over the Diamondbacks on Tuesday. The video showed manager Dave Roberts emphasizing that this was just the first step towards a postseason journey. The celebration also included Clayton Kershaw getting put on the spot to give a speech.
The NL West is back in Los Angeles. pic.twitter.com/XHrsw4jIgC
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) September 14, 2022
Roberts said:
“This is the first step. This is the first step. We got a lot of first timers here. … There’s a lot of hard work in to winning the division. The championship, the west, is back in Los Angeles where it deserves to be. Where it belongs to be … Congratulations, everybody. Everybody’s that’s here, everybody’s that’s not here, it’s about you guys — the players.”
And then, of course, Kershaw followed with his delightfully uncomfortable speech.
Dodgers fans loved the video too, as expected.
This was how Twitter reacted
Kershaw is so chill man. #AlwaysLA https://t.co/RNCr5C2QPG
— JD (@JasonD79) September 14, 2022
“No goggles. Make the burn sweet.”
– Clayton Kershaw https://t.co/r5I3iULQXT— Matthew Davis (@_mattywood_) September 14, 2022
This speech from Dave 🫶🏽 https://t.co/3U6Rpq8Vib
— Lorena (@SoElleBee) September 14, 2022
i love my team so much https://t.co/ZXHbtR9bZR
— Ari Tata (Win For Vin) 🌙 (@Ariichiiyoko) September 14, 2022
That was an awesome speech https://t.co/wWJxvh85GW
— Jose (@XolosBarca) September 14, 2022
🥹🥹 Kersh is so dang pure & soft. I love it!! https://t.co/TUPeBz8fFL
— Kawehi 🥀 (@wehikins) September 14, 2022
i could cry from how much I love kersh 😭 https://t.co/OfkpbWilR8
— ash (@ashleymedds) September 14, 2022
Kershaw kicked off the celebration… "I love you guys, thank you for being so good…" https://t.co/c7RHcW1H3x
— Bleednblue (@BleednblueJohn) September 14, 2022
We will never forget this team https://t.co/Lcl6GgtEGc
— J (@DodgerJesse) September 14, 2022