Orel Hershiser
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Birth Name: Orel Leonard Hershiser IV College: Awards: 1988 NLCS MVP, 1988 NL-GG, 1988 NL CY Young, 1988 WS MVP, 1995 ALCS MVP
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For one moment in 1988 Orel stood on top of the world. Just about anyone could recite that Kirk Gibson was the 1988 NL MVP. Everyone remembers Kirk Gibson hitting a home run off of Dennis Eckersly in Game 1 of the 88 Series. However what is forgotten is; Orel was the 88 post season for the anemic Dodgers. Following the season Hershiser was awarded the NL Cy Young award. A shoulder injury in 1990 almost ended his career but proving his nickname well Orel returned to win 106 games after Tommy John surgery.If the decade your looking at is the 80’s the second half undoubtedly belonged to Orel. Hershiser made his debut on September 1, 1983 at the age of 24. On June 29, 1983 Hershiser pitched the final two innings of a game against the Giants to pick up his first save. After struggling early in 1984 Tommy LasSorda summoned Orel to his office.“I’ve seen guys come and go, son, and you’ve got it! You gotta go out there and do it on the mound! Take charge! Make ‘em hit your best stuff! Be aggressive. Be a bulldog out there. That’s gonna be your new name: Bulldog. You know, when we bring you in in the ninth to face Dale Murphy and he hears, ‘Now pitching, Orel Hershiser,’ man, he can’t wait till you get there! But if he hears, ‘Now pitching, Bulldog Hershiser,’ he’s thinkin’, Oh no, who’s that!? Murphy’s gonna be scared to death!” - Tommy Lasorda, thus the nickname ‘Bulldog’ was derived
Hershiser turned his 1984 season around and even started 20 games for the team. In 1985 he was the teams number three starter and proved he belonged with a 19-3 record, a 2.03 ERA and five shutouts. On April 26 he would one hit the Padres in a 2-0 Dodger win. Orel Hershiser would be on the mound October 2nd when the Dodgers clinched the division, it was his 11th consecutive victory. On February 7 1987 Hershiser became the second player in major league history forced to take a pay cut in arbitration, he’s is given a $800,000 salary for the 1987 season. Orel then went into a slide, two .500 seasons and a ERA hovering around the league average everyone had figured Orel had sunk back down to earth. Then the 1988 season came. Orel Hershiser would be the word to best describe that season. Orel mopped the floor with just about everyone. His 23-8 record 2.26 ERA 15 complete games and 8 shutouts made him the unanimous choice for Cy Young. Orel also tied for the lead in sacrifice hits and was selected to the All Star team. The Bulldog grew stronger as the season went, notching five consecutive shutouts and breaking Don Drysdale record for consecutive scoreless innings. He ended the season with 59 consecutive scoreless. If you count his post season efforts against the Mets he totaled 67 consecutive scoreless innings. His 5-0 shutout of the Reds on September 10th was his second straight and would make him a 20 win pitcher for the only time in his career. Hershiser was in line for a win in game one of the NLCS but was unable to close the door on the Mets. The Mets rallied from a 2-0 deficient and defeated the Dodgers 3-2. Undaunted the Bulldog went into Game 3 pitching well enough to win. Hershiser allowed one earned run however the Dodgers bull pen would again be unable to hold the game and the team lost 8-4. In game 4 Dodger starter John Tudor lasted only 5 innings. Tommy Lasorda sensing the series slipping away wasted no time going to his bullpen. Brian Holton for one, Ricky Horton for two, Alejandro Pena for three, Tim Leary, Jesse Orosco for a third. It had worked; the pen had prevented the Mets from scoring any additional runs and the Dodgers were set up to win the game in the twelveth.There remained a problem. There was still one out to get. Leary has allowed two hits, Orosco a walk before he left. Lasorda had no choice but to call upon Hersh’ to get the final out. Hershiser was able to get Kevin McReynolds out. The bases loaded disaster had been avoided and the series was tied at two. After splitting games 5 and 6 the two teams met at Chavez Ravine for game 7. Ron Darling of the Mets was chased from the game in the second inning. The Dodgers had a 6-0 lead and Orel finished out the series with a complete game shut out. Hershiser allowed only five hits and walked two. It was pretty obvious who the NLCS MVP was. Hershiser wasn’t finished though. In game 2 versus the A’s Hershiser went 9 innings allowing only 3 hits. He also was 3 for 3 with two doubles, a run and an RBI. In game 5 Orel finished off the Athletics with a complete game. Hershiser allowed 2 runs on 4 hits and was selected World Series MVP after the game. Orel Hershiser was on top of the world. In February of 1989 Hershiser became the first player in the history of the majors to sign a contract worth more then 3 million. Despite allowing a run in his first inning of work snapping his 59 consecutive inning scoreless streak, 1989 was another fine year for Hershiser but the anemic Dodger offense never scored. Hershiser had to settle for a 15-15 record. Then tragedy struck. In April of 1990 Hershiser left a game in the 6th inning against the St. Louis Cardinals. Hershiser was forced to have arthroscopic surgery on his right shoulder sitting him down until the following season. Hershiser returned in 1991 after two games in the minors starting 21 games and finishing with a 7-2 record. Orel was just average from 1992-1994 and he left for the Cleveland Indians prior to the 1995 season. In 1995 Hershiser compiled a 16-6 record and a 3.87 ERA. He won the ALCS MVP award after picking up two wins helping the Tribe make it to the World Series. In the World Series the 36 year old was 1-1 with a 2.57 ERA. It was not enough for the Indians to defeat the Braves though. In 1996 Orel posted his first season with an ERA over 4. It was obvious that his time was running out. Hershiser began to rely on his defense more then ever. This was none more evident then the 1997 World Series where Hershiser was 0-2 with an ERA of 11.70 in his 11 innings of work. Not to be one to walk away from the game Hershiser signed a deal with the San Francisco Giants for the 1998 season. Hershiser went 11-10 despite an ERA well above the league average. His 202 innings that year would be the last time he would reach 200 in a season. 1999 brought Hersh’ to the Mets. Hershiser lead the team in wins and losses with his 13-12 record. Despite his record Hershiser was left to the bullpen for the post season. He pitched 5.3 scoreless innings of relief in his final post season. The Dodgers signed Hershiser for the 2000 season, hoping for one more glimpse of glory. Hershiser plummeted to new lows. One could argue what was more disturbing.. his 1-5 record.. his 13.14 ERA.. the fact he hit 4 batters in his last game…. or the Dodgers releasing him on June 27th. A few days later on the 6th of July the Bulldog announced his retirement from baseball. It didn’t take long for Hershiser to find a place in baseball though. When Orel became the pitching coach of the Texas Rangers he knew he had a tough task ahead of him. He met it head on and in 2004 the Rangers contended in the AL West till the last weekend behind surprisingly strong outings from their starting pitchers. After spending the final months of 2005 interviewing for managing positions Hershiser resigned from his executive director position with the Texas Rangers in February 2006. A few days later he announced he had joined ESPN’s Baseball Tonight.
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