Dodger pitcher-turned-broadcaster Orel Hershiser receives star on Hollywood Walk of Fame

Record-setting Dodger pitcher-turned-broadcaster Orel Hershiser received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame today, with the 1988 World Series MVP crediting his teammates and the Dodger organization for his success.

“You don’t become who you are by yourself,” Hershiser said during the ceremony. “I’ve figured out that life is a team sport. On the mound you can feel alone, but you’re not by yourself. You have your team.”

He added, “To succeed with a ball, and to succeed with a microphone it depends on your team. There’s going be one name on this star, but there could be hundreds. But if I could put one more word on that star it would go above my name. It would be the name Dodger.”

Retired Dodger pitcher Clayton Kershaw, Dodger manager Dave Roberts, Hershiser’s broadcast partner Joe Davis and retired Dodger broadcaster Jaime Jarrin joined Hershiser at the ceremony at 6755 Hollywood Blvd., about a block east of Highland Avenue.

Bob Costas served as master of ceremonies.

Kershaw described Hershiser as a mentor who was always willing to help.

“Orel was always there to be a helpful guy, somebody that was never negative, never told you what you did wrong,” Kershaw said. “Even when it wasn’t going good.”

Roberts recalled Hershiser’s rise from a 17th-round draft pick to one of baseball’s top pitchers.

“He went from becoming an underdog to becoming the Bulldog,” Roberts said. “There isn’t a person here who has had any interaction with Orel that can’t say that he was a great teammate and he made them better.”

The star, awarded in the sports entertainment category, is the 2,853rd since the completion of the Walk of Fame in 1961 with the initial 1,558 stars.

Hershiser became the third former major leaguer with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, joining the late actors Chuck Connors and John Beradino.

Hershiser has been a Dodger broadcaster since 2014 after working as an ESPN broadcaster from 2006-13.

He pitched 13 seasons for the Dodgers after they selected him in the 17th round of the 1979 Major League Baseball draft out of Bowling Green University, the 440th selection overall.

“I was a suspect, not a prospect,” Hershiser said in 2023 when he was inducted into the Legends of Dodger Baseball. “I am truly an organizational player because what this organization did was it gave me people around me that were trying to achieve excellence every single day.

“I’m an accumulation of great examples, great people and great expectations.”

Then-Dodger manager Tommy Lasorda gave Hershiser the nickname “Bulldog” in 1984 in an effort to get him to adopt a tougher attitude on the mound.

Lasorda’s words paid a quick dividend. After going 11-8 with a 2.66 ERA in 1984, his first full major league season, Hershiser was 19-3 for a major league-leading .864 winning percentage and a 2.03 ERA in 1985, helping lead the Dodgers to the National League West championship.

Hershiser had his best season in 1988, when he became the first pitcher to win a Cy Young Award, League Championship Series MVP and World Series MVP in the same season. No one has accomplished the feat since then.

Hershiser concluded that regular season with a major league-record 59 consecutive scoreless innings, breaking Hall of Famer Don Drysdale’s previous record of 58 2/3 innings set in 1968 with the Dodgers.

Hershiser won a career-high 23 games, pitched a major league-leading 15 complete games and eight shutouts — including five in a row — and was selected the National League Cy Young Award winner by a unanimous vote.

Hershiser was selected the National League Championship Series MVP for pitching a five-hit shutout in Game 7 as the Dodgers completed an upset of the heavily favored New York Mets. He was selected World Series MVP for shutting out the highly favored Oakland Athletics in Game 2 and recording a complete-game victory in the series-clinching victory in Game 5.

The sports entertainment category was announced in 2021 by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, which administers the Walk of Fame. It honors individuals — not teams or sports affiliated groups — who have made significant contributions to the world of entertainment and demonstrated “longevity of excellence.”

New York Giants Hall of Fame defensive end turned “Good Morning America” anchor Michael Strahan was the first recipient in the sports entertainment category, in 2023.

The second recipient was the late Carl Weathers, honored in 2024 for a nearly 50-year acting career after playing for the Oakland Raiders, best remembered for his portrayal of Sylvester Stallone’s boxing nemesis-turned-friend and mentor Apollo Creed in the first four “Rocky” movies.

Tennis legend and feminist pioneer Billie Jean King became the third recipient last year and retired British soccer star David Beckham the fourth in June.