Nearly 40 years ago, the Dodgers celebrated their championship parade on the streets of Los Angeles. In 1988, the Boys in Blue managed to pull off a historic upset, clinching the five games needed to beat the Oakland A’s, who were heavily favored at the time.
“We became the world champions because we wanted it more than anyone else,” then-manager Tommy Lasorda exclaimed to the crowds during the parade.
At the helm of the Dodgers’ celebrations was the Bulldog. Acclaimed pitcher Orel Hershiser is widely credited with leading the Dodgers to victory in 1988, the same year he was proclaimed MVP by the World Series and the NL’s Championship Series.
With so many accolades under his belt, it’s easy to wonder what exactly Hershiser is up to now. Here’s more on his unforgettable legacy and what he’s been up to after retiring from the MLB.
The Bulldog’s unmatched MLB legacy
Though Hershiser started his career with the Dodgers after being selected in the 1979 MLB draft, he was criticized for his slight frame, poor ball control, and inability to deal with pressure. That’s why he was assigned to its Class A farm team, the Clinton Dodgers—but he worked his way up to the AA San Antonio Dodgers, which was part of the LA Dodgers’ farm system at the time, and eventually the Triple-A Albuquerque Dukes. By 1983, he was considered the team’s top rookie in spring training and won a Mulvey Award for his efforts.
That same year, he debuted on the Dodgers’ roster for the MLB. That experience helped him get rid of his timidity on the pitch. During this time, Lasorda mentored him in what his teammates called the “sermon on the mound, giving him the nickname “Bulldog” to help him build a tougher attitude on the field. That motivation—along with Hershiser’s hard work—paid off.
By 1985, he was leading the NL in winning percentage. He held that record in the best season of his career in 1988—when he broke MLB history by making 59 consecutive scoreless innings pitched. That performance makes him the first and only MLB player to win the Cy Young Award, as well as MVP Awards from both the World Series and NL Championship Series, in a single season.
Hershiser wasn’t one to rest on his laurels, and he continued to pitch for the Dodgers despite incurring multiple injuries. However, he was also involved in negotiations during the MLB strike of 1994-95, signaling the end of his time with the Boys in Blue. Having developed a variety of pitch techniques throughout his career and put them to good use, Orel Hershiser is a three-time All-Star we recognize as the 57th-best pitcher in our all-time rankings.
What Hershiser’s been up to since retirement
Working in MLB
After spending over 12 seasons with the Dodgers, Hershiser went on to play for the Cleveland Indians, San Francisco Giants, and New York Mets, then returned to LA for one last season before retiring in 2000. That’s why it’s no surprise that he briefly stayed with the Dodgers after the turn of the century. This time, however, he acted as a player-personnel consultant.
Finding that there wasn’t much to do or fix, he moved on to the Texas Rangers in 2001. Here, he acted as a special assistant to general manager John Hart. By 2002, he was the Rangers’ pitching coach. He then served as the team’s executive director from 2005. However, he left the position after a year, ending his stint working directly with MLB teams.
Playing professional poker tournaments
Poker is Hershiser’s most documented pastime. Retiring amid the early 2000s poker boom, he moved to Nevada, met a poker instructor, and started frequenting local poker rooms. By 2006, he began playing professionally, finding it easy to master the sport due to its similarities with baseball.
“You break down poker hands like you break down the sequence of a hitter,” he explained to Sports Illustrated. “Am I on turf or grass? Do I have a one-run lead or am I down by three? Is it the third inning or the seventh inning? To learn poker, I just started plugging in new questions and answers.”
After getting Poker Royalty to represent him, he was invited to the 2008 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship—and shocked spectators by beating former event champ Ted Forrest to make the quarterfinals. That won him a deal playing under a leading online operator, allowing him to make it to the Finals of the World Championship of Online Poker that same year. In the Finals he competed against pro poker player Chris Moneymaker.
Moneymaker is credited for starting the poker boom after winning the 2003 World Series of Poker—and he was the first to do so by qualifying online. Nowadays, he’s the top ambassador for ACR Poker, America’s leading poker website. Through his work with the brand, he’s cemented his legacy in poker through his very own tournament, the Moneymaker Tour. The fact that the Bulldog played at the same table as a poker player of his caliber—and finished ninth, with Moneymaker just a few spots away at fifth place—shows how much effort he put into mastering poker. To date, the MLB All-Star has earned just under $100,000 in live poker tournaments and continues to enjoy private games at home.
Working with SportsNet LA
Given his extensive experience in the sport, it’s no wonder that Hershiser currently works as a broadcaster and sports analyst covering the MLB. This is something he’s been doing as early as the 2000s, when he began working on ESPN shows like Wednesday Night Baseball, Sunday Night Baseball, and Baseball Tonight.
Eventually, however, he left ESPN to become one of the talents of SportsNet LA upon its launch in 2014. This regional network serves as the exclusive television home for the Dodgers, covering its performance in local and national events and airing dedicated news features, documentaries, and interviews related to the team. Here, Hershiser provides color commentary, using his wide-ranging baseball knowledge to further viewer understanding and analysis of each game.
Today, Hershiser’s legacy in baseball, poker, and the sports world as a whole remains unmatched. With all the work he’s put into his MLB career and post-retirement ventures, it’s no surprise he’s getting a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame this year—the only other sports personality aside from David Beckham to earn that recognition in 2025.
