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Orel Leonard Hershiser IV (born September 16, 1958 in Buffalo, New York) is a former professional right-handed pitcher and is currently an analyst for "Baseball Tonight" on ESPN.
Known for his slight frame and fierce competitive spirit, Hershiser was nicknamed "Bulldog" by team manager, Tommy Lasorda.
Early life
Hershiser attended Cherry Hill High School East in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, where he was the star pitcher on the school's baseball team. He first caught the attention of pro scouts as a pitcher at Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio; where he was a member of the Sigma Phi Epsilon social fraternity.
Minor League Career
Hershiser was selected by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 17th round of the 1979 amateur draft and was assigned to their farm team in Clinton, Iowa. He spent four more seasons in the minor leagues with San Antonio and Albuquerque before being called up to the major leagues.
Major League Career
Hershiser was called up to the Los Angeles Dodgers on September 1, 1983. He began as a middle reliever in 1984, and he went 11-8 with a 2.66 ERA and four shutouts. He became a full-fledged starter in the Dodger rotation on July 14, 1984.
He had a breakthrough season in 1985 when he led the National League in winning percentage, compling a 19-3 record with a 2.03 ERA. The Dodgers won the National League West, and Hershiser finished third in Cy Young Award voting.
In 1986, Hershiser went 14-14 with a 3.85 ERA. The next year he was selected to his first All-Star game while compiling a 16-16 record with a 3.06 ERA.
1988
His best season was 1988 when he led the league in wins (23), innings (267), and complete games (15). He finished the season with a record 59 consecutive scoreless innings pitched, breaking the mark held by Dodger great Don Drysdale. He also won his first Gold Glove and was unanimously selected at the Cy Young Award winner.
In the 1988 National League Championship Series (between Hershiser's Dodgers and the New York Mets, who had beaten the Dodgers 10 out of 11 times in the regular season), one of Hershiser's amazing accomplishments was recording the final out in Game 4 in relief for a save, after having started Games 1 and 3, a rarity at that time for starting pitchers.
Hershiser further pitched series-clinching Game 7 of the NLCS. He then capped the season in the World Series by pitching a shutout in Game 2 and the clinching victory in Game 5, winning the World Series MVP Award. He later received both The Sporting News Pitcher of the Year and Sports Illustrated magazine's Sportsman of the Year award for his accomplishments in 1988.
In 1989, Hershiser actually pitched better than the previous year but suffered from a lack of offense from the Dodgers. His ERA was virtually unchanged in 1989, rising only to 2.31, but his won-loss record plummeted to 15-15. The scoreless innings streak ended on April 5, 1989, in Cincinnati. Barry Larkin ended the string in the top of the first by singling, moving to second on an errant pickoff throw by Hershiser, and scoring on a Todd Benzinger single.
Injury
After averaging over 250 innings per season from 1985–89, Hershiser suffered a career-threatening injury when he tore his rotator cuff in his pitching arm on April 25, 1990 against the St. Louis Cardinals. He missed 13 months before coming back on May 29, 1991. He went 7-2 as the Dodgers finished in second place.
American League Career
In 1995, he joined the Cleveland Indians, and posted a 16–6 mark to play a pivotal role in helping the team reach the World Series for the first time since 1954.
Hershiser became the most valuable player of the American League Championship Series against the Seattle Mariners. He was 14–6 for the 1997 pennant-winning Indians. Hershiser is the only player to win the LCS Most Valuable Player Award in both leagues.
He later joined the San Francisco Giants (1998) and New York Mets (1999) before rejoining the Dodgers for a final season in 2000.
Possible Manager
As of October 2006 Hershiser was mentioned as a possible replacement for Ken Macha of the Oakland Athletics. [1]
Career Statistics
In his career, Hershiser had a 204–149 regular season record with 2,014 strikeouts and an ERA of 3.48. In retirement, Hershiser has served as a pitching coach for the Texas Rangers and then a color commentator for ESPN's coverage of baseball.
Personal
Hershiser has two children with his wife Jamie Byars: Orel Leonard V (known as Quinton) & Jordan. He lives in Dallas where Jordan is a highly regarded high school pitching prospect. Hershiser is currently a broadcaster for ESPN, but has been considered for several managerial vacancies.
Books
Trivia
- Orel Hershiser is the brother of Gordie Hershiser, who played minor league for the Dodgers organization, and later became a TV sportscaster on various stations, including Fox News Channel with Steve Doocy.
- Hershiser is a born-again Christian. He was a guest star on an episode of the Christian children's video series The Adventures of McGee and Me entitled Take Me Out of the Ball Game. He was also seen singing hymns to stay relaxed in the dugout during the 1988 World Series. On a subsequent appearance on The Tonight Show, Johnny Carson talked him into singing one for the audience.
- Hershiser appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated three times: twice by himself, and once in a group photo with other Dodgers.
- In October 2005, Hershiser interviewed for the position of manager with the Los Angeles Dodgers, which had been vacated by Jim Tracy earlier that month, but instead opted to resign from his current job as the Rangers pitching coach and join their front office as Executive Director.
- In early February 2006, a mere four months after joining the front office of the Texas Rangers, Hershiser resigned from his Executive Director position. And on February 13, 2006, Hershiser announced he would be rejoining ESPN as a baseball analyst on Baseball Tonight.
See also
- List of MLB individual streaks
External links
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