Orel Hershiser, baseball player, 1983-2000

Orel Hershiser

Born: 9/16/1958 in Buffalo, NY, USA

MLB Debut: 1983-09-01 | Final Game: 2000-06-26

Bats: R | Throws: R | Height: 6'3" | Weight: 190 lbs

Full name: Orel Leonard Hershiser

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Biography

Orel Hershiser was a prominent American professional baseball pitcher, born in 1958, whose career spanned from 1983 until his retirement in 2000. Renowned for his exceptional pitching skills and competitive spirit, Hershiser achieved a career record of 204 wins and 150 losses, with an earned run average (ERA) of 3.48. Over the course of his career, he recorded 2,014 strikeouts and notched 5 saves, solidifying his position as one of the premier pitchers of his era. Hershiser's most notable achievements included winning the prestigious Cy Young Award, along with being named the Most Valuable Player (MVP) in both the World Series and the National League Championship Series (NLCS), showcasing his ability to perform under pressure. He also earned All-Star selections three times, further emphasizing his impact in Major League Baseball. Playing primarily for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Hershiser was a key figure in the team's success during the late 1980s, particularly during the 1988 season when he led the Dodgers to a World Series championship. His combination of skill, resilience, and strategic thinking on the mound made him a respected figure in the sport's history.

Career Pitching Statistics

W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
204 150 510 466 68 25 5 3130.3 2939 1211 235 1007 2014 3.48 0

Career ERA 3.48 vs. league average 4.17 across their career seasons — 16.5% better than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Year Team Lg W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER BB SO ERA Lg ERA Pitcher PIV
1983 LAD NL 0 0 8 0 0 0 1 8.0 7 3 6 5 3.38 — -
1984 LAD NL 11 8 45 20 8 4 2 189.7 160 56 50 150 2.66 3.81 (+30%) -
1985 LAD NL 19 3 36 34 9 5 0 239.7 179 54 68 157 2.03 3.89 (+48%) -
1986 LAD NL 14 14 35 35 8 1 0 231.3 213 99 86 153 3.85 3.97 (+3%) -
1987 LAD NL 16 16 37 35 10 1 1 264.7 247 90 74 190 3.06 4.29 (+29%) -
1988 LAD NL 23 8 35 34 15 8 1 267.0 208 67 73 178 2.26 3.73 (+40%) -
1989 LAD NL 15 15 35 33 8 4 0 256.7 226 66 77 178 2.31 3.71 (+38%) -
1990 LAD NL 1 1 4 4 0 0 0 25.3 26 12 4 16 4.26 3.86 (-10%) -
1991 LAD NL 7 2 21 21 0 0 0 112.0 112 43 32 73 3.46 3.91 (+12%) -
1992 LAD NL 10 15 33 33 1 0 0 210.7 209 86 69 130 3.67 3.75 (+2%) -
1993 LAD NL 12 14 33 33 5 1 0 215.7 201 86 72 141 3.59 4.19 (+14%) -
1994 LAD NL 6 6 21 21 1 0 0 135.3 146 57 42 72 3.79 4.51 (+16%) -
1995 CLE AL 16 6 26 26 1 1 0 167.3 151 72 51 111 3.87 4.45 (+13%) 168.9
1996 CLE AL 15 9 33 33 1 0 0 206.0 238 97 58 125 4.24 4.61 (+8%) 1655.0
1997 CLE AL 14 6 32 32 1 0 0 195.3 199 97 69 107 4.47 4.39 (-2%) -2962.6
1998 SFG NL 11 10 34 34 0 0 0 202.0 200 99 85 126 4.41 4.43 (avg) -
1999 NYN NL 13 12 32 32 0 0 0 179.0 175 91 77 89 4.58 4.71 (+3%) 358.6
2000 LAD NL 1 5 10 6 0 0 0 24.7 42 36 14 13 13.14 4.77 (-175%) -

Career Batting Statistics

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
521 810 65 163 29 2 0 50 8 27 182 0.201 0.230 0.242 0.472 -4273.7

Career AVG .201 vs. league average .263 across their career seasons — 23.3% below league average.

Career OBP .230 vs. league average .331 across their career seasons — 30.5% below league average.

Career SLG .242 vs. league average .404 across their career seasons — 40.1% below league average.

Career OPS 0.472 vs. league average 0.735 across their career seasons — 35.8% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Year Team Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG Lg AVG Lg OBP Lg SLG Lg OPS PIV
1983 LAD NL 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1984 LAD NL 45 50 4 10 0 0 0 2 0 3 14 0.200 .259 (-23%) .322 (-20%) .384 (-48%) .707 (-35%) -280.1
1985 LAD NL 37 76 5 15 1 0 0 4 1 4 20 0.197 .257 (-23%) .323 (-24%) .390 (-46%) .714 (-36%) -444.6
1986 LAD NL 37 71 4 17 3 0 0 8 0 1 17 0.239 .257 (-7%) .325 (-23%) .395 (-29%) .720 (-26%) -322.0
1987 LAD NL 40 90 10 19 5 0 0 7 2 2 17 0.211 .262 (-20%) .331 (-31%) .415 (-36%) .746 (-34%) -541.5
1988 LAD NL 36 85 1 11 2 1 0 6 0 1 18 0.129 .254 (-49%) .317 (-56%) .377 (-53%) .695 (-55%) -773.9
1989 LAD NL 35 77 4 14 4 1 0 2 0 4 25 0.182 .254 (-28%) .319 (-31%) .375 (-31%) .694 (-31%) -418.6
1990 LAD NL 4 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0.000 — — — — 0.0
1991 LAD NL 21 31 6 8 2 0 0 2 1 3 8 0.258 — — — — 0.0
1992 LAD NL 35 68 6 15 5 0 0 5 1 1 10 0.221 .255 (-14%) .322 (-29%) .377 (-22%) .699 (-25%) -311.6
1993 LAD NL 34 73 11 26 4 0 0 6 0 2 5 0.356 .265 (+34%) .332 (+12%) .403 (+2%) .735 (+7%) 82.8
1994 LAD NL 22 44 4 9 0 0 0 4 1 2 10 0.205 — — — — 0.0
1995 CLE AL 26 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1996 CLE AL 33 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1997 CLE AL 32 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0.000 — — — — 0.0
1998 SFG NL 34 66 7 10 2 0 0 1 1 3 16 0.152 .266 (-43%) .335 (-40%) .420 (-57%) .755 (-49%) -571.8
1999 NYN NL 32 62 3 9 1 0 0 3 1 1 18 0.145 .271 (-46%) .344 (-55%) .433 (-63%) .778 (-60%) -692.5
2000 LAD NL 10 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0.000 — — — — 0.0

Postseason Statistics

Playoff Career Batting

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
22 24 3 5 2 0 0 3 1 5 0.208

Playoff Batting by Year

Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
1999 NLCS NYN 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
1999 NLDS2 NYN 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
1997 ALCS CLE 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
1997 ALDS1 CLE 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
1997 WS CLE 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0.000
1996 ALDS1 CLE 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
1995 ALCS CLE 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
1995 ALDS1 CLE 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
1995 WS CLE 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
1988 NLCS LAN 4 9 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 2 0.000
1988 WS LAN 2 3 1 3 2 0 0 1 0 0 1.000
1985 NLCS LAN 2 7 1 2 0 0 0 1 0 2 0.286

Playoff Career Pitching

W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
8 3 22 18 1 132.0 103 38 43 97 2.59

Playoff Pitching by Year

Year Round Team W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
1999 NLCS NYN 0 0 2 0 0 4.3 1 0 3 5 0.00
1999 NLDS2 NYN 0 0 1 0 0 1.0 0 0 0 1 0.00
1997 ALCS CLE 0 0 1 1 0 7.0 4 0 1 7 0.00
1997 ALDS1 CLE 0 0 2 2 0 11.3 14 5 2 4 3.97
1997 WS CLE 0 2 2 2 0 10.0 15 13 6 5 11.70
1996 ALDS1 CLE 0 0 1 1 0 5.0 7 3 3 3 5.40
1995 ALCS CLE 2 0 2 2 0 14.0 9 2 3 15 1.29
1995 ALDS1 CLE 1 0 1 1 0 7.3 3 0 2 7 0.00
1995 WS CLE 1 1 2 2 0 14.0 8 4 4 13 2.57
1988 NLCS LAN 1 0 4 3 1 24.7 18 3 7 15 1.09
1988 WS LAN 2 0 2 2 0 18.0 7 2 6 17 1.00
1985 NLCS LAN 1 0 2 2 0 15.3 17 6 6 5 3.52

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Position G GS PO A E DP
P 510 467 332 569 51 44

Season-by-Season Fielding

Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1983 LAN P 8 0 0 2 0 1
1984 LAN P 45 20 17 28 5 2
1985 LAN P 36 34 20 45 7 4
1986 LAN P 35 35 22 36 3 6
1987 LAN P 37 35 37 34 5 6
1988 LAN P 35 34 32 60 6 6
1989 LAN P 35 33 24 51 4 2
1990 LAN P 4 4 1 3 0 0
1991 LAN P 21 21 12 18 1 1
1992 LAN P 33 33 28 41 3 2
1993 LAN P 33 33 20 43 3 1
1994 LAN P 21 22 22 24 2 3
1995 CLE P 26 26 16 31 2 1
1996 CLE P 33 33 20 47 2 3
1997 CLE P 32 32 20 29 4 2
1998 SFN P 34 34 21 36 1 3
1999 NYN P 32 32 19 35 3 1
2000 LAN P 10 6 1 6 0 0

Career Games by Position

Position Games
Pitcher 511

Awards & Honors

Year Award Notes
1998 Pitcher of the Month May
1996 Pitcher of the Month June
1995 ALCS MVP
1993 Silver Slugger P
1988 Babe Ruth Award P
1988 Cy Young Award
1988 Gold Glove P
1988 NLCS MVP
1988 Pitcher of the Month April
1988 Pitcher of the Month September
1988 Player of the Week Week of 1988-09-30
1988 TSN All-Star RHP
1988 TSN Major League Player of the Year
1988 TSN Pitcher of the Year
1988 World Series MVP
1987 Pitcher of the Month June
1987 Player of the Week Week of 1987-06-12
1986 Player of the Week Week of 1986-08-01
1984 Pitcher of the Month July
1984 Player of the Week Week of 1984-07-13

Salary History

Year Team League Salary
2000 LAN NL $2,000,000
1999 NYN NL $2,500,000
1998 SFN NL $3,720,000
1997 CLE AL $3,100,000
1996 CLE AL $1,750,000
1995 CLE AL $1,500,000
1994 LAN NL $3,333,334
1993 LAN NL $4,333,333
1992 LAN NL $4,333,333
1991 LAN NL $3,166,667
1990 LAN NL $1,966,667
1989 LAN NL $2,766,667
1988 LAN NL $1,100,000
1987 LAN NL $800,000
1986 LAN NL $1,000,000
1985 LAN NL $212,000
Total Career Earnings $37,582,001

College History

School Name City State Years Attended
Bowling Green State University Bowling Green OH 1977, 1978, 1979

Award Voting History

Year Award League Finish Points Won Points Max Votes First
1989 Cy Young Award NL 4th 7.0 120 1
1988 Cy Young Award NL 1st 120.0 120 24
1988 Most Valuable Player NL 6th 111.0 336 0
1987 Cy Young Award NL 4th 14.0 120 2
1985 Cy Young Award NL 3rd 17.0 120 0
1985 Most Valuable Player NL 16th 9.0 336 0
1984 Rookie of the Year NL 3rd 15.0 120 0