Dodgers Way Top Ten Dodgers of All-Time: Number Ten

As another week of spring training begins, there are now just ten days left until opening day. To count down the last ten days until opening day, Dodgers Way is counting down our top ten Dodgers of all time.

Since today marks just ten days left until the regular season begins, today is number ten in the Dodgers Way top ten Dodgers of all time countdown.  All of us here at Dodgers Way listed our top ten Dodgers of all time and the results were averaged out to come up with a top ten list based off all our contributor’s rankings.

Coming in at number ten is Orel “Bulldog” Hershiser.  Orel has not yet been inducted into the baseball hall of fame and hopefully, he gets into the hall one day because his resume is definitely deserving.  Hershiser holds the MLB record for most consecutive scoreless innings pitched at 59 innings.  Making the streak even more impressive is that Orel Hershiser is from an era of baseball when starting pitchers still pitched deep into games.  He did not go out and pitch five innings each start of his scoreless streak.

The Bulldog is a three-time All-Star, 1988 World Series MVP, one-time CY Young award winner, and two-time league championship series MVP.  While Orel is always known as a clutch playoff performer, no post-season was better than his 1988 playoff run.  In 1988, Hershiser went 3-0 with a 1.05 ERA and 0.89 WHIP.  For his postseason career, Hershiser owns an 8-3 record and a 2.59 ERA.  That is almost a full run lower than his career ERA of 3.48.

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While the Dodgers are a franchise rich in baseball history, their richest area is starting pitching.  They are known for having a long line of talented starting pitchers such as Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, and even current Dodger Clayton Kershaw.  While all three of the aforementioned pitchers had filthy stuff, Hershiser got by more on control and deception.  Hershiser was a sinkerball pitcher who relied on his offspeed pitches and a cutter.  Even without power stuff, Orel’s postseason numbers show just how in control he was when the calendar turned to October.

When it comes to all-time Dodger ranks, Hershiser ranks 11th in wins (135), 16th in ERA (3.12), and 7th in strikeouts (1,456).  Orel Hershiser’s Dodger ranks would be even higher if he didn’t bounce around several teams after he was a Dodger.  Hershiser played three seasons with the Indians, one season with the Mets, and one season with the rival Giants.  Even though he played for the hated ones we will just pretend that never happened.

These days Orel can be heard doing most Dodger television broadcasts alongside Joe Davis.  Previously, Orel worked for ESPN as a commentator and he spent some time in the Texas Rangers front office.  If you had to create a punch line for Hershiser’s big league career it would a very solid starting pitcher who was at his best in the playoffs.

Next: Gut check time for Dodger fans

To date, it would be very hard to find a Dodger pitcher who had a better season than Orel Hershiser’s 1988 season in which he lead the NL in wins, won the National League CY Young, NLCS MVP, and World Series MVP.  Hershiser comes in at number ten on the Dodgers Way top ten Dodgers of all-time list.