Clayton Kershaw vs. Max Scherzer: Dodgers, Blue Jays legends square off 17 years after historic first meeting

Clayton Kershaw. Max Scherzer.

Two of the greatest pitchers of this, or any, generation.

Both approaching the end of their legendary, future Hall of Fame careers. Both members of the 3,000-strikeout club. Both still appointment viewing whenever they take the mound.

And on Friday night, they'll oppose one another, likely for the final time.

Kershaw gets the ball for the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Toronto Blue Jays call on Scherzer. So 17 years after their first meeting, they pitch against one another for the fourth time in the MLB regular season.

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It's a good excuse to revisit that first showdown for a second. It was September 7, 2008, and the Diamondbacks were playing the Dodgers.

The pitching matchup that day was supposed to be 44-year old Randy Johnson against 42-year old Greg Maddux.

Both future Hall of Famers were scratched, and their replacements were Scherzer, who hadn't won a game yet, and Kershaw, who had three career wins at the time.

They become the first duo to have faced off as rookies and both reached 3,000 career strikeouts, per MLB Network's Sarah Langs.

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Kershaw has spent his whole career with one team.

Scherzer has bounced around more, from Arizona to Detroit to Washington to an 11-start stint with the Dodgers, to the Mets, Rangers and now Blue Jays.

Both are two-time World Series champions.

And they're two of the last of their kind. They don't make starting pitchers like this anymore, guys who will take the ball as deep into the game as they can, bulldogs with nasty stuff who somehow stayed dominant as they aged because of immense wisdom about the craft of pitching.

It doesn't even matter what happens in Friday night's game, even as it's a thrilling matchup of two first-place teams.

It's just a special moment in this moment in baseball time, a chance to appreciate greatness on the mound at its finest, righty Scherzer and lefty Kershaw, dueling for old time's sake.

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