Over the past few years the Los Angeles Dodgers have welcomed former players into camp during Spring Training. The group has most notably included Hall-of-Famer Sandy Koufax who annually donned a uniform and provided instruction to pitchers, and legendary shortstop Maury Wills.
While Koufax resigned last year from his position as special advisor to Dodgers chairman Mark Walter, the club has an open-door policy with the famed left-hander. He was hired by Los Angeles as a special advisor in January 2013.
Former Dodgers first baseman Eric Karros and former closer Eric Gagne have also made appearances at Camelback Ranch, and so too did Hall-of-Fame right-hander Greg Maddux after he was hired in February 2016 as a special assistant to Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman.
This spring, Dodgers pitchers will be joined for a few weeks by Orel Hershiser, he explained during an interview with John Hartung on Access: SportsNet Dodgers, via SportsNet LA:
“Rick and I have had a couple phone calls, and he really hasn’t assigned me to anyone or anything. He said, ‘I want you to be there right from the time they take the ball out of the ball bag and start playing catch, just be around and observe. When guys gravitate towards you, work with them.’ I promised him that no matter what I say, I’m going to tell him everything that’s going on, so there won’t be cross-signals or coaching behind-the-back. … I don’t really expect any, ‘Go do this,’ but if they tell me, I’ve got a pretty open schedule if they assign me to a guy or two or want me to watch someone specifically.”
Hershiser went 135-107 with a 3.12 ERA over parts of 13 seasons with the Dodgers. During that span, he was a three-time All-Star, won the 1988 National League Cy Young Award and was also named MVP of the 1988 NL Championship Series and 1988 World Series.
Hershiser’s post-playing career has included working as analyst for SportsNet LA. In addition to spending time in a Dodgers uniform this spring, Hershiser will join play-by-play man Joe Davis in the SportsNet LA broadcast booth for select Cactus League games.
As for working with a staff, Hershiser was the Texas Rangers pitching coach from June 2002 to November 2005, when he was promoted to a role in the front office.
Dodgers pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training on Wednesday, Feb. 15, with position players due five days later. The first full-squad workout will be held Tuesday, Feb. 21.
