Orel Hershiser
Orel Leonard Hershiser IV (born
September 16,
1958 in
Buffalo, New York) is a former professional right-handed
pitcher and Executive Director for the
Texas Rangers.
Known for his slight frame and fierce competitive spirit, Hershiser was nicknamed "
Bulldog" by team manager,
Tommy Lasorda.
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.
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 the major leagues.
Hershiser was called up to the
Los Angeles Dodgers on
September 1,
1983.
He had a breakthrough season in
1985 when he led the
National League in winning percentage.
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.
In his final start of the year on
September 28, Hershiser needed to pitch 10 shutout innings to set the mark—meaning not only that he would have to prevent the
San Diego Padres from scoring, but that his own team would also need to fail to score in order to ensure
extra innings. The Dodgers' anemic offense was obliging, however, and Hershiser pitched the first 10 innings of a scoreless tie, with the Padres eventually prevailing 2–1 in 16 innings. Hershiser almost did not pitch in the 10th inning, in deference to Drysdale, but was convinced by the Hall of Famer to take the mound and try to break the record.
In the
1988 National League Championship Series (between Hershiser's Dodgers and the heavily favored
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 dream 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
Cy Young Award and
Sports Illustrated magazine's
Sportsman of the Year award for his accomplishments in 1988.
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.
Hershiser returned after the injury to still be an excellent pitcher, but he never regained his level of brilliance of the late
1980s.
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.
He later joined the
San Francisco Giants (
1998) and
New York Mets (
1999) before rejoining the Dodgers for a final season in
2000.
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 (baseball) and then a color commentator for
ESPN's coverage of baseball.
Hershiser has two children with ex-wife Jamie, Jordan and Orel Leonard V (known as Quinton). He currently lives in the Dallas area and is a broadcaster for
ESPN.
*
*
*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 Ranger's pitching coach and join their front office as Executive Director.
*In early
February 2006, a mere four months since he joined 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*
*
Hershiser joins ESPN
