On a May 2009 afternoon in Philadelphia, seven weeks after he turned 21, Clayton Kershaw walked into the visiting manager’s office at Citizens Bank Park. One night earlier, the Phillies had pilloried him, scoring four runs in five innings, benefiting from Kershaw’s recurring inability to throw strikes. Kershaw understood what an invitation to sit with the skipper usually meant. He suspected he was being demoted — maybe from the starting rotation, maybe from the team itself. Joe Torre had another idea in mind. He decided to stage an intervention.
Seven starts into his second season, Kershaw was teetering on the brink of a return to the other side of the bridge.