Hershiser, Orel L.
Baseball
b. Sept. 16, 1958, Buffalo, NY
Nicknamed the "Bulldog" by Tommy LaSorda, his long-time manager with the NL's Los Angeles Dodgers, Hershiser demonstrated toughness throughout his career, as the nickname suggests.
He won the league's Cy Young Award and was named male athlete of the year by the Associated Press in 1988, when he led the NL in victories with a 23-8 record, in complete games with 15, in shutouts with 8, and in innings pitched with 267.
A right-hander, Hershiser had three good, but not superior, pitches, a fastball, curve, and slider. His success came from being able to throw the right pitch in the right place at the right time--when the hitter is expecting something else.
Hershiser joined the Dodgers for 8 appearances at the end of the 1983 season and became a regular starter in 1984. He led the league in winning percentage in 1985, at .884, going 19-3. For the next two years, he pitched at exactly .500, at 14-14 and 16-16, and then had his Cy Young Award season.
In 1989, Hershiser had a strange season. Pitching for a weak-hitting team, he led the league in losses with 15. He also had 15 wins, set a major-league record with 59 consecutive scoreless innings, led the league in innings pitched for the third consecutive year, and posted a 2.31 ERA.
Then arm problems set in. After arthroscopic surgery on his pitching shoulder, Hershiser missed most of the 1990 and 1991 seasons, and he never returned to his old form in three more seasons with the Dodgers.
In 1995, Hershiser joined the Cleveland Indians as a free agent. He had a fine 16-6 record to help the Indians get into the playoffs, and he was named MVP of the American League Championship Series, in which he had two victories and an ERA of 1.29.
After winning a total of 29 games over the next two seasons with the Indians, he was 11-10 with the San Francisco Giants in 1998 and 13-12 with the New York Mets in 1999. Hershiser then rejoined the Dodgers for a brief stint in 2000, but he retired before the season ended.