As a baseball player coming up in the late 1970s, Orel Hershiser was never seen as a red-hot prospect.No scouts made the trek to Bowling Green State University in Ohio to check out his arm. As Hershiser describes his entrée into Major League Baseball, “I was a 17th-round draft pick that signed for a new glove and $10,000.”
Even after he made it all the way to the Los Angeles Dodgers’ bullpen in 1983, Hershiser figured he’d be lucky to stay in the majors for five to seven years. Early on, while nurturing the skills that would lead him to a Cy Young Award, a World Series win and many other accolades, Hershiser had his eye on becoming a sports broadcaster as a second act for his career.
“If you realize you’re not going to pitch forever and play forever, you might want to think about what you are going to do with those years that are greater than your playing days,” Hershiser tells Variety.
Hershiser applied the same commitment, discipline and hard work to learn his way around a microphone as he did in learning how to mow ’em down from the mound. Twenty-five years after he got his start in TV sports as an analyst for ESPN, the beanpole kid who was nicknamed “Bulldog” by legendary Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda has earned a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his work as a TV sports analyst and color commentator. The unveiling is set for Aug. 13 at 6755 Hollywood Boulevard.
