Weeks after helping lead the Los Angeles Dodgers to an improbable World Series win over the Oakland Athletics, Orel Hershiser won the 1988 National League Cy Young Award on Nov. 10. He became the first player in MLB history to win the Cy Young, National League Championship Series MVP and World Series MVP in the same season.
Hershiser finished the year 23-8 with a 2.26 ERA, 15 complete games, eight shutouts and a 1.05 WHIP in 35 games (34 starts). He led the league in wins, complete games, shutouts and innings pitched (267).
Hershiser began the historic campaign by going 6-0 with a 1.74 ERA in his first six starts. A seventh game was a relief appearance and save in the 14th inning of a game against the Chicago Cubs.
Later in the season, the Dodgers legend strung together a record streak of 59 scoreless innings. It began Aug. 30, 1988, when he finished off a complete game against the Montreal Expos with four shutout innings.
Hershiser then followed that with five straight nine-inning shutouts before finishing the season with 10 scoreless innings in a 2-1 loss to the San Diego Padres in 16 frames. Hershiser’s scoreless streak broke the MLB record that had been held by Don Drysdale (58 innings).
The postseason saw Hershiser appear in four NLCS games (three starts), logging 24.2 innings and pitching to a 1.05 ERA against the New York Mets. Included in that was earning a save in Game 4, which came one night after throwing seven innings.
Hershiser fired nine shutout innings against the Oakland Athletics in Game 2 of the World Series, and held them to two runs in another complete game to win the World Series in five games.
Along with Cy Young, NLCS MVP and World Series MVP Awards, the famed right-hander took home a Gold Glove.
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