Afternoon Baseball

Orel Hershiser...Original post and complete player list
We dismissed the pretenders and spelled out the contenders. Here, we analyze each with a mix of stats and baseball POV from a dedicated fan.
Orel Hershiser, SP, Los Angeles (NL) (1983-1994, 2000), Cleveland (1995-1997), San Francisco (1998), New York (NL) (1999)
This year: Nope.
Deserving: He's a hard-luck case. Deserves an exhibit at the Hall, but probably not a plaque.
Will writers think he's deserving?: Not likely.
Stay on ballot: Yes, but only 90% sure of this.
Veteran's Committee: Late in his natural life, if at all.

Orel Hershiser will forever be remembered in baseball history. His 1988 season, which had 59-inning scoreless streak in the midst of a 23-8, 267 IP, 8 Sho, 2.26 ERA and 1.052 WHIP regular season and then being NLCS and MVP, is one the greatest single seasons by any player ever. He's also one of the great postseason pitchers of this era, and has 204 wins and a 3.48 ERA to his name.
But ultimately, HOF careers are nearly always based on a long record puncuated with greatness. Hershiser's is a bit of the opposite. The HOF indicators bear this out -- just a bit short.
Does he deserve consideration before voting against him? Certainly. The man was top 3 in ERA for 5 of 6 years, led the league in innings 3 times, shut-outs twice, won 14 or more games 8 times despite lacking run-support. Not to mention that he had a very respectable second career in the 1990s after his 1990 injury and was a vital, underrated and often-forgotten component in the 1995 and 1997 Indians and 2000 Mets reaching the World Series.
That's why he's included in this round-up of HOF candidates. But he ultimately is a bit short in numbers and greatness outside of his 1988 opus.

Labels: HOF