Orel Hershiser

Orel Leonard Hershiser IV was nicknamed “Bulldog” by baseball team manager Tommy Lasorda due to his fiercely competitive spirit.  Hershiser was born on September 16, 1958, in Buffalo, New York and now resides in Las Vegas, Nevada where he is currently an analyst for Wednesday Night Baseball and Baseball Tonight on ESPN.  He was the star pitcher of his school’s baseball team and pro scouts noticed him when he pitched at Bowling Green State University.

A former right handed pitcher in Major League Baseball, in 1988 Hershiser won the Cy Young Award, the NLCS MVP and the World Series MVP with the Dodgers, and the Gold Glove.

Hershiser began playing competitive poker in 2006 and is a regular around Las Vegas poker rooms, like Red Rock Casino and Bellagio, where he enjoys playing No Limit Holdem and due to the competition that he maintains, he is now known as ‘The Bulldog’ at the poker table.

In 2008 he played the NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship and progressed to the quarterfinals.  He defeated Ted Forrest, Allen Cunningham, and Freddy Deeb before he was defeated by Andy Bloch.  He also competed in the 2008 World Series of Poker (WSOP), the 2009 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, and took 9th place in the $10,000 PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker on September 7th, 2008, for a $54,570 Prize.

Hershiser has signed with Poker Royalty and PokerStars—where he plays as ‘O. Hershiser.’  

Hershiser and Jamie Byars divorced in 2005; they have two sons—Orel Leonard V (known as Quinton) and Jordan.

Hershiser also competed in the World Series of Blackjack Tournament held in Las Vegas in 2007.  

Known to sing hymns to stay calm and relaxed in the dugout during the 1988 World Series, you may or may not deduce it as a tell if he starts singing when you face off against him in a big pot at the poker table.