Phoenix — Hall of Fame pitcher Sandy Koufax was extremely complimentary of Clayton Kershaw when he stopped by Camelback Ranch on Friday to visit friends.
Of comparisons between him and Kershaw, Koufax said, "If he’s as good as I think he’s going to be, I’m honored.”
Koufax, who makes an annual visit to the Dodgers, downplayed the influence he has had on Kershaw, who won the National League Cy Young Award last season.
"I have not had a great deal to do with his success; he has," Koufax said.
Koufax said Kershaw, 23, can still improve: "He had a good year, but you can always get better. There’s nobody who doesn’t make a mistake in a game. But you get away with stuff. The better your stuff is, the more mistakes you get away with. The less mistakes you make, the better you are. He’s just going to keep getting better."
Of Kershaw's ceiling, Koufax said, "The ceiling is time, health. How long you want to play, how long you're able to play. You don’t know.”
But Koufax said he doesn’t see any limits to Kershaw's talent.
Asked if Kershaw could make a run at 300 career victories, Koufax said, "It's hard because guys don’t make as many starts anymore. Plus, how long do you want to play? You start to think about 300 games, it’s a lot of games over a lot of years. Is it possible? Everything's possible."
Koufax said what he finds most impressive about Kershaw is his desire to improve.
"He's not satisfied," Koufax said. "He wants to get better."
Koufax, who said he still cheers for the Dodgers, also took a moment to address the team’s ownership situation.
"You're sad to see it going through this kind of change," Koufax said. "Change is inevitable, but this is not the way it normally happens."
