Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw announced Thursday that he will retire from professional baseball at the end of the current season. After several months of uncertainty, he has finally decided to put an end to his extraordinary career.

The press conference announcing his retirement proved to be very emotional, as might be expected from a player who has played for the same team for 18 seasons.

One of the most special moments was when Kershaw addressed his teammates, declaring that leaving them will be the hardest part of this decision.

“The hardest one is the teammates, so I’m not even going to look you guys in the eye,” he said, as can be seen in a video posted to X by the official Dodgers account. “Just you guys sitting in this room, you mean so much to me. We have so much fun. I’m going to miss it. I’m going to miss working out day one in the weight room, listening to crazy music with you guys, shirtless Sundays. I’m going to miss all of that.

“I’m going to miss the flights. I’m going to miss everything about them. Freddie, you know what I’m talking about. I’m going to miss all those. The game in itself, I’m going to miss a lot, but I’ll be OK without that. I think the hard part is the feeling after a win, celebrating with you guys. That’s pretty special.”

It was also made public that Friday will be Kershaw’s final home start of the regular season.

However, it won’t be the last chance to see him in action. With an 86-67 record entering Friday, the Dodgers are one step away from winning the NL West. If things hold true, they will play the wild-card series at home, facing the third place in the wild-card standings, a position currently held by the New York Mets.

Kershaw will almost certainly see action in that series, and in subsequent ones if the team advances.

The Dodgers’ No. 22 is ending a Hall of Fame-like career in which he has 222 wins (ranked second in franchise history), 3,039 strikeouts (first), and a 2.54 ERA (first). He was an 11-time All-Star, a three-time Cy Young Award winner, a one-time NL MVP, and a two-time World Series winner. This does not include what the current season may still bring.

More MLB: Mookie Betts Reveals 1 Wish to Go Along With World Series if Dodgers Repeat