Gordie Hershiser followed brother Orel to pros, made AA
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After skipping the Expos to continue in college, Gordie Hershiser finally signed a professional contract in May 1987, with the Los Angeles Dodgers, the team his brother Orel Hershiser played for.
Gordie Hershiser expressed readiness to play.
"It's up to me now," Hershiser told reporters then. "I have the opportunity to play for the Dodgers and hopefully play with my brother."
Hershiser ended up playing for the Dodgers over four seasons, but he never got to Los Angeles. He topped out at AA San Antonio.
Hershiser, though, stayed in sports, becoming a local sports broadcaster and later a professor in the field.
Hershiser's career began that year in 1987, signed by the Dodgers as a free agent out of the University of Alabama. Hershiser was also credited as Gordon Hershiser.
Hershiser started with the Dodgers at single-A Vero Beach in 1987. He saw 18 outings, 11 starts. He went 1-6, with a 3.23 ERA.
For 1988, he played between the rookie Gulf Coast League and short-season Salem. Overall, he went 8-1, with a 2.33 ERA.
Along the way, though, Hershiser had surgery on his right arm twice since 1985. He spoke to The El Paso Herald-Post in April 1989 about being the brother of a well-known major leaguer and the expectations that came with it.
"Orel's success has already altered my life, too," Hershiser told The Herald-Post. "You look at my stats alone and you wouldn't say I'm a shoe-in prospect. But then people see my last name and all of a sudden they expect something more."
Hershiser played that 1989 season at AA San Antonio. He saw 36 outings, three starts. He went 0-3, with a 3.86 ERA and six saves. He then returned to San Antonio for three final outings in 1990 to end his career.
Hershiser then went into his second career, as a broadcaster. By 1993, he was in Portland, Maine, working at WGME. He later worked at WKMG in Orlando, Florida. Hershiser has since worked as a professor of broadcasting at Florida's Full Sail University.
- Greenville News, wire reports, May 22, 1987: Orel's brother joins L.A. organization
- El Paso Herald-Post, April 25, 1989: Orel not the only Hershiser
Made the Majors:1,450-31.7%
Never Made Majors:3,130-68.3%-X