Los Angeles Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw reiterates it was the 'right call' to remove him from perfect game

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When baseball fans throughout the country watched him get pulled from a perfect game the day before, he wondered what could have been.

At the end of the day, it felt like the right decision.

The first perfect game of his illustrious career was on the verge of becoming a reality with only six outs remaining. He had only thrown 80 pitches, and had recorded 13 strikeouts, by the time he made quick work of the Minnesota Twins in the bottom of the seventh.

He missed the last two months of the season because of an elbow injury and was making his season debut after an abbreviated spring training.

After the Dodgers home opener on Thursday, he acknowledged that a younger version of himself might have handled it differently, but he defended the decision after the road trip finale.

His manager agreed.

Dave Roberts said thatClayton has grown immensely as a man. His life has changed a lot. He would have reacted differently.

The only other player in major league history to complete at least seven and get removed with a perfect game still intact was Kershaw. Rich Hill, his former teammate, suffered the same fate after throwing 89 pitches in a game against the Miami Marlins. Hill was also removed by Roberts. He was protecting him from blisters, but later said he felt like he was sticking to his stomach.

Roberts seemed to be at peace with the case.

I would like to think that we are all fans of baseball, he said. Fans want to see good moments. I understand that. He wants to see a great moment for himself. I cannot manage a ball club with my fan cap on.

Many others expressed their opinions through social media. Despite the circumstances, Roberts decision was viewed as a reflection of why the casual fan continues to avoid baseball in the modern age, arguing that the over-protection of starting pitchers has stripped the sport of its soul.

Roberts was on the other side of the debate when Kevin Cash took away the starting pitcher from the World Series Game 6 and the Dodgers came back to win the title.

I would want to see someone finish the game, from a fan's perspective. I wish I could have done it. Yesterday was not the day.

During the second half of last season, he had a problem with his elbow and had to spend 10 weeks recovering. He returned in the middle of September, completed four starts, then felt a similar pain in the second quarter of October, days before the start of the playoffs. He walked solemnly off the Dodger Stadium mound that night and didn't pitch again that season, as the Dodgers were eliminated by the Atlanta Braves in the National League Championship Series because their starting staff was running on fumes.

Many wondered if he would retire until he signed a one-year, $17 million contract with the Dodgers, which was agreed to almost immediately after the lockout was lifted. He made four starts in the spring and felt good after a five-inning workout on April 7. He had not exceeded 75 pitches in any of those outings.

There is no way of knowing what type of risk he would have put himself in by trying to finish the perfect game. I would have been fine for the rest of the season. I could have hurt myself the next day. Nobody knows. I felt like that was the right call for my health, the best interest of the team and me being ready in October. It all seemed like the right call at the time.

If Hanley Ramirez had thrown the ball away, the Dodgers would have had a perfect game. On Wednesday, the pitcher threw his pitch at an average of 91.8 mph and had an average of whiffs on his pitches. The possibility of a perfect game began to feel real to Kershaw when he saw a slick play by Gavin Lux in the seventh. Roberts told him he was done.

The 24th perfect game would have to wait.

I understand what it means to the game of baseball, and I don't take that for granted. I understand that there have only been 20-something throughout history. The individual stuff is not the reason I continue to play the game. I want to win. That supersedes everything else for me.

On June 1, 2012 the New York Mets' Terry Collins backfired when he allowed Santana to finish a no-hitter that required 134 pitches. Santana, who still owns the only no-hitter in Mets history, struggled through 10 more starts that year, then underwent a second shoulder surgery and never pitched again.

On Sept. 2, 1996, Joe Torre took David Cone out of the game for a no-hitter. The New York Yankees overcame a two-games-to-none deficit to win the World Series. He is hoping for the same outcome.

It was tough to swallow, but the World Series victory will mean something.