Orel Hershiser has been more than one of baseball's best pitchers since the mid-1980s - he's been Mr. Dependable. Perhaps his 195 consecutive starts have finally taken a toll.
Hershiser, the 1988 National League Cy Young winner and most valuable player in the playoffs and World Series, faced surgery on his right shoulder today and is almost certainly out for the season.Team physician Dr. Frank Jobe, scheduled to perform the surgery, said he believed Hershiser's injury worsened over time and that he didn't think it was career-threatening.
Hershiser, who hasn't missed a turn since joining the Dodgers' starting rotation in 1984, pitched 6 1-3 innings Wednesday night in a 5-1 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.
There was no indication during and after that game that Hershiser had a problem, but he apparently knew differently and underwent an examination Thursday morning which revealed damage to the rotator cuff.
"Last night, it hurt so much he knew he had to do something" said Jobe, who apparently was one of the few who knew something was up.
Asked if Hershiser's career might be over, Jobe said, "I don't think so. He's a hard worker. He understands the problem very well. In fact, he can describe it better than I can. I think he's going to come back and pitch starting next spring."
However, Hershiser expressed some doubts during an impromptu news conference before Thursday night's Cardinals-Dodgers game.
"I have fear that I'll never throw the ball again and that I cannot fulfill my contract with the Dodgers," he said. "I would not want to sit around for two years and have (Dodgers owner) Mr. (Peter) O'Malley pay me the kind of money he's paying me and not contribute."
Hershiser, 31, signed a three-year contract worth $7.9 million in February 1989. At the time, it was the richest in baseball.
"I want to get this surgery done with and work as hard as I can," he said. "If I miss spring training next year by one day, it will be because I waited one day too long to have this surgery."
Hershiser said his shoulder began bothering him during the off-season and that he has experienced a dull ache, not excruciating pain.
"I felt I was getting better and better in spring training and in the early games (of the season)," he said "I just thought it was just a matter of getting stronger.
"It led me to believe after the last three starts that I had better get it checked and have some pictures taken."
Jobe said arthroscopic surgery would determine the extent of the injury and whether a more complicated operation is necessary.
"We'll make a decision whether he can be rehabilitated with exercises," Jobe said. "If he cannot, then we will go ahead and do a reconstruction . . . of his shoulder."
Jobe said the surgery would be similar to the operations he performed on NFL quarterback Jim McMahon and pro golfer Jerry Pate.
Jobe said he doubted Hershiser could pitch again this season.
"There's only a very slight possibility that we'll be surprised, but I don't think that's a real possibility," Jobe said. "There's only a slight possibility he's not out for the season."
Jobe said that, if necessary, both procedures would be done today. He said he believed there was more than a 50 percent chance that both operations would be required.