It's difficult to see Clayton Kershaw as anything other than an ace - the NL MVP, a three-time Cy Young winner and one of the best pitchers in baseball.

But everybody has to start somewhere, and while Kershaw had the tools that gave him an edge on most other players, he still had to refine those tools and work hard to get to where he is now.

As the Dodgers' general manager for nine seasons, it was my pleasure to watch that transformation first-hand. He was the first player drafted during my tenure in Los Angeles, and we knew we had someone special right away as the left-hander came out of the Texas high school ranks and developed into a dominant big league star.

I thought it would be good to look back and share some Kershaw stories - what we thought of him early on, how we landed him in the draft, and the lengths we went to in order to help him have the best chance at success in the major leagues.

15 batters, 15 strikeouts

When I joined the Dodgers as general manager in November of 2005, I inherited a team that had just gone 71-91 and finished fourth in the NL West. The record meant a high draft pick - No. 7 overall - and it was important that we started off well.

I had a lot of faith in Logan White, who was Vice President of Amateur Scouting, and his staff. They had done a great job in the draft before I arrived, especially in 2002 (James Loney, Jonathan Broxton, Russell Martin) and 2003 (Matt Kemp, Chad Billingsley, A.J. Ellis).

Logan and I had conversations about multiple players that we were considering for the No. 7 spot, but Logan kept coming back to Clayton Kershaw. Logan had seen Kershaw probably three times, and Calvin Jones, our Texas area scout, had seen him eight or nine times. Both of them were there to see Clayton pitch a five-inning high school game in which he struck out all 15 players he faced. 15 up, 15 down.

When I heard about it, I thought "Who does that?"

Calvin was a big fan of Clayton's. Calvin had been a professional pitcher as well, making it to the majors for two seasons with the Seattle Mariners in 1991-92. He was not a guy prone to exaggeration, so it caught my attention when he said Clayton was the best prospect he had ever seen, and he kept emphasizing "ever."

In sports you hear a lot "well it's the only time I've seen this, or it's the first time I've seen that." You always hear phrases that introduce a player or play or topic. But the inflection in Calvin's voice -- he wasn't exaggerating. It was real to him.

And you could see why Calvin liked him. Even at a young age, as an 18-year-old, Kershaw had a curve ball that he threw from two different angles, one of them ended up becoming a slider for him. He had a loose and easy delivery and he was just outstanding in everything he did.

But to me he's always had a special characteristic that goes beyond his physical gifts, and that's his ability to be ultra-competitive and to have a stubbornness about him which he uses to his benefit. Many times the best are stubborn but they can't always use it to their benefit, but he does. He wants to learn, and he's able to take what he learns and then put it into play on the field.