Clayton Kershaw never staged a verbal campaign for the National League's Most Valuable Player Award.
The beauty of his dominance was beyond shouting and social media plugs. Kershaw's magical season was on display Wednesday, and if you only saw Kershaw's gem on this night, all you needed to do was just rinse and repeat every five days.
Kershaw was on the mound against the Dodgers' bitter NL West rival with a chance to clinch the division at Dodger Stadium. It was the kind of platform from which Hollywood scripts are born.
He delivered in every phase of the game -- pitching, fielding and hitting -- in leading the Dodgers to the NL West title with a 9-1 convincing win over San Francisco.
Kershaw didn't need to tout himself for MVP because so many in the sellout crowd of 53,387 chanted "MVP!" louder throughout the game.
You know the only thing Kershaw was campaigning for after the game? For his catcher, A.J. Ellis, to get a new contract with the Dodgers.
When Brian Wilson recorded the final out, Kershaw sprinted the fastest from the dugout to the field, jumping on catcher A.J. Ellis in a spirited embrace.
Kershaw can seemingly do everything. Perhaps, even becoming the first pitcher to win the National League's MVP since Bob Gibson in 1968. Justin Verlander was the last pitcher to win the AL MVP.
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"MVP is something I don't really think about right now, but obviously I'm honored to be (talked about)," Kershaw said, with champagne-soaked hair under his new division championship cap. "Right now, I'm trying to win more games."
Kershaw said before the season that it would be World Series or bust in 2014. The Dodgers haven't won the World Series since 1988, the same year Kershaw was born. It's been 26 years.
The Dodgers faced a 1-0 deficit through four innings on Wednesday. Tim Hudson had stymied the Dodgers until Kershaw delivered the biggest hit of the game in the fifth. He hit a shot to center field and motored around the bases for a standup triple, the first of his career. That scored Carl Crawford to tie the game.
"Show 'em why you're MVP," Crawford said he thought to himself after Kershaw's rare triple.
Kershaw threw an eight-inning gem in which he allowed one run, struck out 11 and had one uncharacteristic balk. He followed that balk with a dazzling defensive play by stabbing a comebacker from behind his back to thwart Hudson's shot and save a run in the third inning.
"He makes that huge play from behind his back, and it's almost like, what else (can you do)?" Dodgers manager Don Mattingly marveled.
Yasiel Puig did his thing in the sixth, hitting a leadoff, solo home run to right field for the go-ahead run. He raised his arm all the way to first. He knew he hit it out. And the Dodgers cruised from there.
The Dodgers even trotted out Brian Wilson, the former Giant, to finish the game in the ninth. Last year, the Dodgers clinched in Arizona and partied in their pool, which irked the Diamondbacks. Pitching Wilson was this year's version of irking an opponent in celebration.
And Kershaw got the win, his 21st of the season, and the Dodgers stormed the field in glee, Kershaw leading the charge.
"I don't know how you can vote against the guy (for MVP)," Ellis said. "... He's distanced himself from every other candidate to the point where it won't be unanimous but it should be. He's as special of an athlete and special of a baseball player as we've seen in a long time."
Because of that back injury sustained in the opener in Australia, Kershaw didn't even pitch in April. He returned in May, and he was dealing again, only this time even better than ever. Kershaw finished the season at 21-3 record with a 1.77 ERA. He struck out 239 and walked just 31.
"I'm always looking for the positive, even in a storm," Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti said. "After that, I told our guys, 'this could be a little bit of a blessing in disguise.' He might pitch 30 less innings. He goes into (the playoffs) maybe a little-less inning wise than he did a year ago. I think that's a good place to be."
Last year, the Dodgers were two wins away from the World Series.
Kershaw won't pitch again the regular season, Mattingly said. His work was done here.
"Tonight was awesome. The energy of the crowd was awesome," Kershaw said. "That's why we play the game. For nights like tonight."
It was a magical night for Kershaw, in which he pitched the Dodgers to an NL West championship. And in doing so, put an exclamation mark on what should be an MVP season.
