Orel Hershiser was named the unanimous winner of the 1988 National League Cy Young Award on this day in Los Angeles Dodgers history. The honor came weeks after Hershiser helped the Dodgers to an improbable World Series win over the Oakland Athletics.
Furthermore, the right-hander became the first player in MLB history to win the Cy Young, and MVP of both the National League Championship Series and World Series in the same season. To date there have been 11 pitchers to unanimously win the NL Cy Young Award, with Clayton Kershaw the last to accomplish the feat in 2014.
Hershiser went 23-8 with a 2.26 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, 15 complete games and eight shutouts in 35 games (34 starts) during the 1988 season. 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 time taking the mound came in the form of a relief appearance that resulted in earning a save in the 14th inning of a game against the Chicago Cubs.
Later in the season, the famed Dodgers hurler strung together a record streak of 59 scoreless consecutive innings. It began August 30, 1988, when he finished off a complete game against the Montreal Expos with four shutout innings.
Hershiser 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 1988 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 completing a save in Game 4, which came one night after a seven-inning start.
Hershiser tossed 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.
Orel Hershiser awards in 1988
Along with Cy Young, NLCS MVP and World Series MVP Awards, Hershiser took home a Gold Glove in 1988 as well.
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