Orel Hershiser’s scoreless innings streak

Orel Hershiser's scoreless innings streak

Orel Hershiser set the MLB record for consecutive scoreless innings pitched during the 1988 Major League Baseball season. The streak spanned from the sixth inning of an August 30 game against the Montreal Expos to the tenth inning of a September 28 game. The previous record of ​58 2⁄3 innings was set by former Dodger pitcher Don Drysdale in 1968. During the streak, he averted numerous high-risk scoring situations.

About Orel Hershiser’s scoreless innings streak in brief

Summary Orel Hershiser's scoreless innings streakOrel Hershiser set the MLB record for consecutive scoreless innings pitched during the 1988 Major League Baseball season. The streak spanned from the sixth inning of an August 30 game against the Montreal Expos to the tenth inning of a September 28 game. The previous record of ​58 2⁄3 innings was set by former Dodger pitcher Don Drysdale in 1968. During the streak, he averted numerous high-risk scoring situations. Pundits have described the streak as among the greatest individual feats in sports and among the great records in baseball history. The Elias Sports Bureau changed its criteria for the official consecutive scorelessness innings record for starting pitchers during the streak. The record-setting game was overshadowed by the 1988 Summer Olympics, football, and baseball pennant races; it was not broadcast on local television in Los Angeles. In the playoffs, he earned both the NL Championship Series Most Valuable Player Award and the World Series MVP Award. He also secured Sportsman of the Year and Associated Press Athlete of the year honors. He appeared in the 1989 MLB All-Star Game and continued to be an effective pitcher for many seasons, including two additional appearances in the World series, one of which was preceded by his winning the 1995 AL Championship Series MVP award. He was selected by Dodgers in the 17th round of the 1979 MLB draft with the 440th overall selection. He made his professional debut with the Class A Dodger farm team in the Midwest League, the Clinton Dodgers in 1979.

He became a full-time starter in the Dodgers’ rotation on July 14, 1984, and made his major league debut on September 1, 1983. His streak included a blown save on July 8 against the St. Louis Cardinals and a nine-inning shutout against the Cardinals on July 19. He joined Gaylord Perry and Luis Tiant as the only pitchers between 1963 and 2014 with at least two streaks of this length. His 1984 streak, which was the longest scoreless inning streak of theyear, was broken up on July 24 by a home run by two-time NL Most Valued Player Dale Murphy of the Atlanta Braves. His final game lasted 16 innings, of which he only pitched the first ten. Although he completed the ninth inning in each start, the streak’s final game was a Dodgers–Giants game that featured a controversial umpire’s ruling that saved the streak in the penultimate game of the 1988 season. He trailed teammate Tim Leary in the all-time MLB shutout record with six to three shutouts, but he was not counted in his total of shutouts that was not combined with other pitchers to a total of three, Walter Leary, and Walter Learys. He won the NL Cy Young Award and was a participant in the 1988 NL All-star Game, getting outs against all three batters in the 3–4 win with a 4.4 earned run average, raising his ERA from 2.6 to 3.2.