LOS ANGELES -- Most of the attention being paid to the 25th anniversary of the Dodgers last World Series title has been centered on the dramatic Kirk Gibson home run, which gave the Dodgers a 5-4 Game 1 win and they never looked back, beating Oakland 4 games to 1.
Hershiser is the only player ever to win the Cy Young Award, the NLCS
MVP Award, and the World Series MVP Award in the same season. Now a
baseball analyst, he took some time at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday afternoon
to join The Joe McDonnell Podcast (click here to listen)
and talk about his remarkable 1988 season -- and that of his Dodgers
team.
He also discussed not wanting to break Drysdale's record and the
great joy he feels every time he returns to Chavez Ravine.
The badly injured Gibson's blast certainly was the most memorable moment of the 1988 season, but if there hadn't been a pitcher named Orel Hershiser, there would have been no championship and no Gibson miracle.
On August 30, 1988, Hershiser defeated the Expos in Montreal 4-2 to begin a streak of six consecutive shutouts to tie Dodgers Hall of Famer Don Drysdale for the major league record.
A member of the Dodgers broadcast team in 1988, Drysdale was also the MLB record-holder with 58 straight scoreless innings. Hershiser broke that record, too, tossing 59 innings without allowing a run. Hershiser actually had to pitch 10 innings against the Padres in San Diego in order to claim the record, which he still holds today.
